THE CAROLINAS

This tour is a favorite for anyone who has experienced “The Carolinas.” From the mountains to the beaches we include a little bit of everything. We like to run this tour in the spring as the flowers and gardens are magnificent, plus the weather is a little more cooperative. The air is fresh, colors vivid and the spirits soar. Many interesting and unusual activities included!

Day 1: We are on our way for an exciting and fun-filled two weeks. Make yourself comfortable as we get acquainted with our traveling friends, who will become family, as we discover the Carolinas together. Our first night out will be just east of St. Louis. 

Day 2: Today will be a day of mostly driving as we head east through the beautiful hills of Kentucky. This afternoon, we’ll enjoy viewing the well-kept horse farms and tobacco barns among the rolling hills. By evening, we will be in the Huntington, W.V. area for the night. 

Day 3: Today we will start enjoying the interior of North Carolina. Our noon meal will be in Andy Griffith’s hometown of Mt. Airy at a family restaurant. The town was portrayed as Mayberry in the TV series. Late afternoon we will make a picture stop at the North Carolina capital building in Raleigh. Then it’s on east to Greenville, N.C. for the night. 

Day 4: Located in eastern N.C., Greenville is in the heart of the largest flue-cured tobacco market in the world. We will enjoy learning more about this agricultural industry. After our interesting and educational morning, we will continue east, arriving on the Outer Banks late afternoon, where man first attempted to settle the New World then broke the bonds of gravity to fly for the first time. At the Wright Brothers National Memorial, you will walk the very site where Orville and Wilbur left the ground for the first time in 1903. We’ll spend the night right there on the island at Kitty Hawk, N.C. 

Day 5: Our local step-on guide will be with us most of the day. This morning we will enjoy a tour of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore on the Outer Banks, comprised of over 100 miles of remote, unspoiled barrier island beaches, known for pirates, shipwrecks, and hurricanes. We’ll visit the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, which still guards these waters known as the graveyard of the Atlantic. A couple of ferries will serve as our transportation today as we go from island to island on the Outer Banks. Truly a day to be remembered! After leaving the islands, we will arrive in Morehead, N.C. for the night. 

Day 6: This morning, as we get into Wilmington we’ll make a short stop at the Visitors Center, then invite a guide on board to show us the interesting sights of this historic town. Our lunch will be aboard the Henrietta III Riverboat as we cruise the Cape Fear historical coast. Late afternoon we will check into the oceanfront Landmark Hotel Resort which will be home for 3 nights. You will be able to watch the waves roll in or enjoy a walk on the white sandy beaches. 

Day 7: We’ll take a drive through the town, down the Grand Strand, seeing many of the shops, attractions, hotels, restaurants and entertainment spots that has made Myrtle Beach such a popular vacation spot. Mid-morning, we stop at Barefoot Landing, where we can explore the waterfront festival of over 110 shops and restaurants built on a 20 acre freshwater lake. If weather permits, and we can find the shrimp boats, what an adventure is in store for us today!! In the small town of Calabash, we will board a 90 foot cruise boat, run through the intercoastal waterway and IF WEATHER PERMITS, pull right along side a working shrimp boat as our knowledgeable guide explains shrimping, while we watch the fishermen harvest those delicacies. Depending on weather, we may see porpoises and possibly a shark feed off the by-catches from the shrimping nets. If weather doesn’t permit the shrimping, we will have a chance to see many species of birds that live along the coastal waterways. This evening we will want to be ready for the Dixie Stampede. It’s a horse racing, whip cracking, wagon bustin good time; a north/south rivalry with sensational horses, plus a more than you can eat feast. Back to same hotel. 

Day 8: For those of you who love art and nature, this morning’s tour is sure to excite you. Brookgreen Gardens was the first public sculpture garden in the U.S. having been founded in 1931. There are 560 sculptures in the gardens, setting among the great alley of live oaks. These 250 year old oaks prepare you for the splendor to come in the form of more than 2,000 varieties of native flowers, shrubs and trees. We will then return to the hotel where you can enjoy a relaxing day at the beach or take the short walk to the shopping areas. Back to same hotel.

Day 9: This morning it is on to the Mount Pleasant and Charleston area. A tour to the south should include a visit to an old Plantation Home. Following lunch, our visit will be to Boone Hall, which was a cotton plantation in the 18th and 19th centuries. Greeting us is the plantations famous one-half mile avenue of massive, Spanish mossdraped, live oaks, which are, unsurpassed anywhere. We will then make a short drive to the USS Yorktown and Patriot’s Point Naval & Maritime Museum. At nearly 900 feet in length and weighing in at more than 27,000 tons, the USS Yorktown was one of the modern marvels during WWII. The museum also includes priceless warplanes from WWII, Korea, Vietnam and Desert Storm. We’ll check into our motel in the Charleston area where we’ll be for two nights. 

Day 10: Our first stop this morning is at the Visitors Center where we can gather some information on this historic town. With our local guide we will learn about this old city and how Charles Towne developed into a vigorous port and a prosperous and fashionable Colonial city in the mid- 1700’s. It still carries the gracious air of the old South. Our lunch will be enjoyed in Charleston’s historic downtown City Market with its many stands, shops and restaurants. After lunch, we will make our way to the harbor where we will board for a relaxing boat ride through Charleston harbor on our way to Fort Sumter. At this interesting National Monument we will learn more about this island where the first shot of the Civil War was fired. Back to the same motel. 

Day 11: It’s time to leave the beaches and head inland again to explore South Carolina’s interior. We’ll stop in the small town of Sumter, where we’ll visit Swan Park. As we arrive in Columbia, mid-afternoon, we will tour the State Capital Building. We will retire at our motel in Spartanburg, S.C.

Day 12: This morning’s drive puts us back into North Carolina to start enjoying the mountainous part of the Carolinas. This time of year, we should see many wild flowers in bloom. We’ll arrive at Chimney Rock State Park. There may be some time for a short hike or a longer one for those who enjoy a more strenuous hour-long hike. As we take an elevator to the top of Chimney Rock we will have a chance to enjoy nature at its best. We’re hoping for a clear day so you can have the wind in your face and the world spread before you. You will stand in awe of the view -1200 vertical feet down along Hickory Nut Gorge to Lake Lure and, on a clear day, beyond to the Blue Ridge Mountains. From there we travel on into Asheville for a visit to The Biltmore Estate. Beginning in 1890, it took an army of stonecutters and artisans five years to construct the Biltmore House. When they were done, it was the largest private home in America, as it remains today. This 255-room mansion still stands in the remote majesty of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Our motel tonight is in the Asheville, NC area. 

Day 13: Today we have another exciting day in store for us as we explore the Smoky Mountains. First we will make a stop at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian. Artifacts have been found indicating people lived here more than 11,000 years ago. When the first Europeans arrived in the 1500s, the Cherokee were settled where they remained until the 1830s when the federal government no longer needed the Cherokees as strategic allies and the government forced the removal of the Cherokees to Oklahoma. Following lunch, we’re back on our motorcoach, with a local step on guide, for a drive west through the Smoky Mountain National Park, the majestic climax of the Appalachian Highlands. We’ll travel through these unspoiled forests, similar to those the early pioneers found. Leaving the park on the west, we will be in Gatlinburg, TN, the unique arts and crafts community, where we spend the night. You will want to explore the downtown area, all within walking distance. 

Day 14: Our first stop this morning will be at the Christus Gardens. Here we experience the “Greatest Story Ever Told” as we view highlights from the life of Christ in the gallery. Before lunch, we will arrive at the entertainment capital of the Smokies-- Dollywood, just outside of Pigeon Forge. This 88-acre landscaped theme park evokes the homespun fun and traditions of the Smoky Mountains. There are working craft shops, rides and attractions as well as the Dolly Parton Museum, which traces Dolly’s rise to stardom. You’ll also want to take in the professional quality shows in the park. They have Bluegrass, Country, 50’s, Gospel, Comedy, and Dolly’s Family’s performance. The night will be in Cookeville, TN area. 

Day 15: As we get on the road there’s still great viewing as we travel west on I-40 along the Cumberland Plateau. The drive will be very scenic here on the Plateau, as we view valleys, cliffs, and beautiful woodlands. All too soon we will be back into Kentucky, and then Illinois, and into the St Louis area for our last night out. 

Day 16: Today our motorcoach carries us toward home, across Missouri and Kansas, we’ll enjoy visiting and sharing memories we have made in the Carolinas. It will have been 16 days of experiences, which we shall never forget.