Melissa Reardon

Aug 5, 2024 | ourstate.com | Lara Ivanitch |Melissa Reardon |Jimmy Tomlin |Brad Campbell

SPONSORED BY Lifting one front leg and holding it in place while raising the opposite back leg, C’sar nimbly glides into balancing table pose — well, as nimbly as you would expect a 12,000-pound elephant to glide. Keepers use a target pole to show him where to lift his feet and motivate him with snacks of carrots and sweet potatoes between yoga poses.

Aug 4, 2024 | ourstate.com | Melissa Reardon |Jimmy Tomlin |Brad Campbell

A $500 American Express® Simon Giftcard®Concord Mills is the largest outlet, value, and entertainment destination in the state of North Carolina. Beyond shopping, Concord Mills entices local residents and visitors coming to the area with its strong mix of store brands, unique entertainment opportunities, and dining options. Sign up to receive emails about promotions and contests. Name First Last ZIP Code CAPTCHA

Jul 30, 2024 | ourstate.com | Melissa Reardon |Lynn Wells |Hannah Lee Leidy |Brad Campbell

Rex Farrior looks out at the lawn of his restaurant, Happs Place Barn and Grill in Glenville. The sun shines above diners as they sip cocktails and eat Neapolitan-style pizzas covered with local mushrooms and tomatoes. Families play cornhole by an old red barn with a tin roof. One of the many bands that frequent the lawn’s stage welcomes the crowd. Before Farrior purchased the old Happs building and reopened the restaurant in 2021, he was a patron just like the people he now serves.

Jul 29, 2024 | ourstate.com | Molly Harrison |Melissa Reardon |Jimmy Tomlin |Brad Campbell

A red-winged blackbird teeters on a blade of needlerush along a winding tidal creek. Beach towels blow on a clothesline strung between the porch posts of a weathered Nags Head cottage. A line of surfers hover on their boards in a glassy green ocean, their bodies angled eastward to watch for the next set of swells. Using a vibrant palette of oils, painter Marcia Cline captures familiar Outer Banks scenes in a style that is anything but ordinary.

Jul 26, 2024 | ourstate.com | Tamiya Anderson |Melissa Reardon |Jimmy Tomlin |Brad Campbell

When Debbie Carson first walked by The Reeves Theater in the 1990s, the 1941 movie house had been sitting vacant for years, and water was leaking from a crack in the roof. “I was not convinced it was salvageable,” says Carson, a former member of Elkin’s Main Street Advisory Board. But she couldn’t shake the thought of the decades-old theater being demolished. In 2013, Carson; her husband, Chris Groner; and their friend Erik Dahlager bought the building.