own hobbies and interests be your guide into a fascinating new world.
There’s No Place Like Home Check out your own North Carolina backyard At one point in the movie “The Wizard of Oz,” Glinda the Good Witch asks Dorothy what she’s learned. Dorothy replies, “If I ever go looking for my heart’s desire again, I won’t look any further than my own backyard.” So forget Europe, forget out West. Take your family and go looking in your own beautiful state.
How to be an in-state tourist For overviews of the most common North Carolina destinations—the ones all the tourists visit—as well as intriguing peeks of little-known attractions, contact the North Carolina Travel and Tourism bureau at (800) VISITNC (847-4862) or visit its Web site, www.visitnc.com Its wealth of resources include a free 2009 tourism guide and 34 APRIL 2009 Carolina Country
N.C. highway map you can order or download, as well as more than 125 brochures and publications on various attractions and areas. Another great Web site to surf is www.wegoplaces.com. Click on North Carolina and discover why tourists like visiting here so much. Another informative site is www.roadsideamerica.com, which features oddities and curiosities and allows users to write their own reviews. Do you know an oddity or a museum that’s not listed? Submit it and let others in on the secret. For festivals and shows, Web sites such as www.festivalusa.com offer a number of these by state. But the easiest way to find them seems to be to type in “festivals” and North Carolina into a search engine such as Google. Let your
Camp in your own backyard If you’re not sure if your kids like camping—or if being away from indoor plumbing isn’t your idea of fun—pitch your tent in the backyard, with your amenities just a stone’s throw away. Have your kids help put up the tent, and give them responsibilities such as gathering the sleeping bags and helping with the food. Gather around the grill to cook hotdogs, potatoes and ears of corn wrapped in foil, toast marshmallows, or make s’mores. Campers love banana boats, and they are simple to make. Here’s how: Peel a banana. Wiggle your thumb in it along the inside curve until the banana begins to separate. Fill the new cavity with tiny marshmallows and chocolate chips. Wrap the banana in foil and place in the coals for about 10 minutes. Yum! Remember, you can even order pizza if you want to keep it easy. The National Wildlife Federation promotes The Great American Backyard Campout every June. Visit the site www.nwf.org/backyardcampout for its tips, including games, songs and recipes. Campsites across N.C. If you want to camp and travel, visit www.reserveamerica.com and search for private campsites in North Carolina. You can search by the type of camping you prefer: tent, RV, cabin or trailer— descriptions will tell you the site’s amenities, fees and booking policies. To browse all that North Carolina’s state parks offer, go to www.ncparks.gov. It lists all parks and you can search by a park’s name or location. For general information and to order a brochure, you can call (919) 733-4181 or e-mail parkinfo@ncmail.net
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Sources for this story include writer Cher Smith, for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.