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3 weeks ago | 
ourstate.com | Tamiya Anderson
A salty breeze rolls gently off the Intracoastal Waterway, carrying the scent of shrimp and sea air across the dining deck at Provision Company. Owner Paul “Shorty” Tilling leans in the doorway, nodding to his sandy-toed and sun-kissed guests. “Grab whatever you like,” he says with a casual wave toward the self-serve cooler stocked with chilled bottled drinks.
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1 month ago | 
ourstate.com | Tamiya Anderson
As Tom Cotter slowly walks the aisles of his antiques mall in Concord, the floorboards of the 124-year-old building creak underfoot. He passes booth after booth before pausing by a glossy Blue Willow china set, which has attracted some attention. “We’ve got people who’ve been coming here for years,” he says, the delicate clink of porcelain tinkling as a couple on a mission inspects one of the blue-and-white plates.
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1 month ago | 
ourstate.com | Katie Schanze |Rebecca Woltz |Tamiya Anderson |Lynn Wells
Murphy to Manteo: Finding new adventures, historic detours, and the soul of North Carolina on the state’s longest highway: U.S. Route 64. Read the series. I’m bobbing and weaving through a crowd as I chase after my toddler, who is surprisingly quick, despite his general lack of coordination or understanding of gravity.
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1 month ago | 
ourstate.com | Tamiya Anderson
In the tasting room of Laurel Gray Vineyards in Hamptonville, owner Kim Myers stands behind the counter, her eyes locked on the movement of wine as it swirls in the glasses of her guests. They raise the rims to their lips, faces softening as they take in the richness of red cherries, blueberries, raspberries and a hint of buttered toast.
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1 month ago | 
ourstate.com | Rebecca Woltz |Tamiya Anderson |Lynn Wells
SPONSORED BY Falling for Franklin & NantahalaTake a scenic drive through stunning fall colors, look for waterfalls, go fishing in crystal-clear water, and explore kid-friendly hikes in these two mountain communities within Nantahala National Forest. Your Guide to Franklin & NantahalaWithin Nantahala National Forest, just off the Appalachian Trail, Franklin welcomes travelers with outdoor adventures and small-town charm.
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2 months ago | 
ourstate.com | Rebecca Woltz |Tamiya Anderson |Lynn Wells |Mark Kemp
You open the front door of Madison Dry Goods and Country Store using the shop’s original 1908 handle. As you step onto the creaky wood floor, you smell cinnamon and brown sugar, hear the twang of bluegrass music playing over the speakers, and see local antiques lining the shelves. “When you walk in the door, you’re touching and you’re hearing and you’re feeling history,” says owner Michael “Smitty” Smith.
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2 months ago | 
ourstate.com | Jason Frye |Rebecca Woltz |Tamiya Anderson |Lynn Wells
The bar purrs. Ice rattles against a shaker, keeping rough time with the lo-fi blues spilling from the speakers. Around the room, conversations hum like bumblebees, floating over the clink and chime of glasses and silverware. At Nanas, time hangs suspended between past and present. There’s the decor — a contemporary homage to mid-century glamour and Ralph Lauren’s classic vision of American style. The menu — a mingling of familiar and reinterpreted classics.
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2 months ago | 
ourstate.com | Rebecca Woltz |Tamiya Anderson |Lynn Wells |Mark Kemp
The first thing that guests at Opal & West House see when they walk into the historic inn is a golden dogwood flower on a blue wall. The bloom was painted by Heather Stevens, who owns the inn with her husband, Seth, and their daughter, Lynsie, and is one of many personal touches that the family has added to the 1860 property in the Central Shelby Historic District. When the Stevenses bought the former residence in 2022, it had been empty for a decade.
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2 months ago | 
ourstate.com | Chloe Klingstedt |Rebecca Woltz |Tamiya Anderson |Lynn Wells
A bus from South Stokes High School sits in front of Mitchell’s Butchery. Inside the shop, a group of students crowd around the butcher table behind the meat coolers. Before them lies the culmination of their class project: half of a pig carcass. Most of the kids are dressed in jeans and boots. A few live on nearby farms. Some are on the livestock show team. Still others are part of Future Farmers of America (FFA). By now, they’re used to working with animals.
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2 months ago | 
ourstate.com | Kristin Davis |Rebecca Woltz |Tamiya Anderson |Lynn Wells
I’m not yet as tall as the chain-link fence at Herman Park, a green space spanning a city block in the center of Goldsboro. It’s a spring day in the early 1980s. The sprawling magnolias are blooming, their scent carrying on a breeze as warm as breath. It’s my first time standing on the dirt platform that serves as the station for the Kiwanis Special, a miniature train that runs around a quarter-mile track in one corner of the city’s oldest park.
