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| Love North Carolina!!!! |
When my brother and sister in law last year decided to move to North Carolina, I was very excited; not only for them to start a new adventure in their own lives, but to get a chance to explore an area of the United States I have only drove through! On our long family road trips to South Carolina growing up, North Carolina was always admired for its beauty, but generally only through the car windows!
Back in August before back to school was upon us, we made our first trip out to visit them in Statesville, North Carolina, just about 30 minutes outside of Charlotte, which is where we flew into. You definitely realized quickly you weren't in the cornfields of Illinois, Iowa or Nebraska as miles and miles of forest and hills and mountains were upon us!!!
We had such a wonderful week with so much to do, our list has grown longer for what we want to explore on our next visit! We did enjoy wonderful restaurants around the Statesville/Charlotte area to enjoy dinner and drinks!
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| Lunch in Charlotte! |
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| On the trails! |
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| Waterfall at the end! |
Two activities that really stuck out to us the most was visiting the US White Water Rafting Center and also hiking up in the Appalacian Mountains, a mere hour from where they lived!!! The hike was absolutely beautiful, and took us around crystal clear streams that we enjoyed wading through, and mini pockets of watering holes to cool off when too hot. The topper of it all was once you made it to the end of the trail; a beautiful majestic waterfall was awaiting our arrival, as well as more crystal clear deep water to swim in! Magical was truly the way to describe it! I have some to realize that Paige may be more of an outdoors girl that I thought...she just really hasn't gotten a chance to explore!!! You can find some great hiking trails in North Carolina by visiting
http://www.trailsofnc.com/.
Nothing is better than a nice hike to work up a sweat...and an appetite! I believe afterwards we trekked back to Statesville and ordered some delicious pizza!!!
Now onto the US National Whitewater Center...oh my gosh you guys, this place was AMAZING! Visit their site here at
http://usnwc.org/. So you can pay a one time fee to basically do everything the facility has to offer, and there is an insane amount to do! Or you can pick and choose what you want to pay to do that day. There are huge rope courses built inside the forests, zip lining, kayaking, hiking, rock walls and much, much more! Also, there is a fantastic restaurant with craft beers galore. Can you say heaven??
Onto the white water rafting. Anyone remember watching this on the Summer Olympic games? Yep...thats exactly what we were doing! The rapids are man made, and when I say man made, I mean they can be super super intense if you want them to!!! You start out by taking a short class and then off you go with a guide who can really show you some intense rapids!!!! We had an absolute blast, and ended with two bloody lips (Paige and I) and Brian flipping over the side! I say that was a success!!! :) If you plan on visiting, definitely check out their website because there are numerous festivals and other events that take place. I honestly think Paige may have enjoyed all of this better than even Disney World. No joke. I couldn't get her off the ropes course! I, however, had to turn around before making it to the first tree! Yep...I was that girl! :)
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I have included a few extra pictures of the White Water Rafting Center...because even though the pictures don't do the facility justice, they at least give you a glimpse of what they have to offer.
I would say if you have never visited the Charlotte area, mark it down as an absolute must do! There is so much to see, and really get a feel for what the outdoors has to offer! I may be an outdoor adventurer and just didn't even realize it! :)
Thanks Adam and Miranda (and Miriam) for a new wonderful vacation destination!!!! Can't wait to come back again soon!
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| We love you Miranda, Adam and Miriam! |
Two activities that really stuck out to us the most was visiting the US White Water Rafting Center and also hiking up in the Appalacian Mountains, a mere hour from where they lived!!! The hike was absolutely beautiful, and took us around crystal clear streams that we enjoyed wading through, and mini pockets of watering holes to cool off when too hot. The topper of it all was once you made it to the end of the trail; a beautiful majestic waterfall was awaiting our arrival, as well as more crystal clear deep water to swim in! Magical was truly the way to describe it! I have some to realize that Paige may be more of an outdoors girl that I thought...she just really hasn't gotten a chance to explore!!! You can find some great hiking trails in North Carolina by visiting http://www.trailsofnc.com/.
Onto the white water rafting. Anyone remember watching this on the Summer Olympic games? Yep...thats exactly what we were doing! The rapids are man made, and when I say man made, I mean they can be super super intense if you want them to!!! You start out by taking a short class and then off you go with a guide who can really show you some intense rapids!!!! We had an absolute blast, and ended with two bloody lips (Paige and I) and Brian flipping over the side! I say that was a success!!! :) If you plan on visiting, definitely check out their website because there are numerous festivals and other events that take place. I honestly think Paige may have enjoyed all of this better than even Disney World. No joke. I couldn't get her off the ropes course! I, however, had to turn around before making it to the first tree! Yep...I was that girl! :)
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