Travel

From James Taylor to Eric Church, Carolina lingers in the hearts of its songwriting sons. This sentiment is shared by students and alumni of the oldest public university in the country, UNC-Chapel Hill, and by those who visit this town in the Piedmont of North Carolina.

From the skunk ape to the lizard man, these curious destinations offer a look at some of the region's legendary homegrown horrors.

Savvy Birmingham shoppers in search of the perfect gift head “over the mountain” to the cozy suburb of Homewood. Their destination? Eighteenth Street South, a wide, old-fashioned boulevard with an abundance of locally owned boutiques and restaurants.

“I’ve played enough Minecraft to know where diamonds are,” my 19-year-old cousin says as we schlep across acres of muddy furrows with our rented bucket, sieves, and shovels. Although I’m highly skeptical of the real-world applications of Minecraft, there’s no sense in arguing when he points out a small rivulet of water trickling through the muck.

Some of our picks are celebrated locales; others may be new to you. All share these essential elements: natural splendor, a colorful history, and a slate of interesting places to drink, dine, and do a little shopping.

I was nineteen the first time I ever drove over the drawbridge into Beaufort, North Carolina. Good Southern girl that I was, I had arrived for a debutante party. One look, and I was absolutely smitten.

“There are very few times when I'm not on the road," says Julia Reed. As if to illustrate the point: She’s pausing for this interview while on a whirlwind tour promoting her fifth book, South Toward Home, a collection of wry essays chronicling the people, places, and traditions of the South.

With a harvest season that runs from late September through November, pecans are an essential element of fall spreads, from pecan pie to pecan-flecked sweet potato casserole.

"Being Jimmy Buffett’s sister is not at all the most interesting thing about me,” Lucy Buffett says, leveling her blue gaze. Neither is the fact that she’s the CEO of LuLu’s, a sprawling restaurant-cum-tourist destination with three locations in as many states.

Political odd couple Mary Matalin and James Carville call a truce in their adopted hometown.