Southbound

I stumbled onto Jekyll Island’s Driftwood Beach for the first time nearly a decade ago. This was, not coincidentally, the same week that a spider wrote me a note.

Truman Capote was not born inside New Orleans’s Hotel Monteleone. But when he drank there with friends, which was often, he liked to claim he was.

Situated on a mountain plateau in western North Carolina, some 4,000 feet above sea level, the four-stoplight town of Highlands is no secluded hamlet. Dubbed the Aspen of the East, it attracts 200,000 visitors a year.

Some AAA Five Diamond resorts are playgrounds for A-listers like Sir Elton John, Cameron Diaz, and Sofia Vergara. Others have a history of welcoming American royalty like the Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, and Astors. But few resorts can make both claims.

As a co-host for Today’s third hour and news anchor for Today and MSNBC Live, Craig Melvin has reported live from the Summer Olympics in Rio, the Notre-Dame cathedral fire in Paris, and three presidential inaugurations. The assignment closest to his heart? A trip back to Columbia, South Carolina, for a “Hometown Glory” segment in 2019.

No need to be a pro to tee up at these five courses

I would start by kayaking on the French Broad River downtown with a six-pack of Asheville Brewing Company’s Perfect Day IPA. Then I’d go to South Slope, our unofficial brewery district with eleven breweries.

Nestled on a picturesque riverbend in the Appalachian foothills, this cheerily named town has long delighted the young at heart.

Proudly stitched, stamped, or stuck on tea towels and baby clothes, luggage and stationery, even the rear windows of cars, monograms are ubiquitous in the South.

Georgia’s coast has long called to visitors with its rich cultural history and world-class hospitality. But there’s another side, a wilder side, to this 110-mile stretch of coastline and its fifteen barrier islands, which holds its own timeless appeal.