North Carolina Blue Ridge to Beaches 10 Nights / 11 Days

Day One - Arrival to North Carolina Day Four - Chimney Rock State Park Arrive in North Carolina and check-in to your local area hotel. Enjoy breakfast at the hotel this morning prior to checking out. (Meals: None) Arrive at Chimney Rock State Park and meet your GUIDE and Park Ranger who will speak with the group about the park. Enjoy lunch on Day Two - Biltmore Estate & Antler Village your own and free time in historic Hendersonville, NC. Afterwards, Enjoy breakfast at our hotel this morning. Depart for the Biltmore visit the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site. Carl Sandburg Estate. Tour Biltmore Chateau & Gardens during the Festival of Home NHS is located on 264 acres in Western North Carolina. Depart Flowers. The house itself, built by George Vanderbilt in the Blue for Winston-Salem. Check-in to the Brookstone Inn and enjoy a Wel- Ridge Mountains, has over 250 rooms! Stroll through gardens created come Wine Reception while bags are being delivered to your rooms. by America’s father of landscape architecture, Frederick Law Olmsted. Enjoy dinner included tonight at a local Tavern. Enjoy free time this Enjoy special events and the beauty of tulips, azaleas, and countless evening at the Inn. (Meals: B, Wine Reception, D) other flowers during the Festival of Flowers. Enjoy an included buffet lunch today. Depart for Antler Village and relax with music and Day Five - Museums & Gardens Exploring entertainment on the lush green. Learn more about the Vanderbilt’s in Enjoy breakfast at the hotel this morning. Arrive at the Winston- the Antler Hill Barn with a short film narrated by George Vanderbilt's Salem CVB for a Welcome Reception. Meet your GUIDE and depart great-granddaughter, Dini Cecil Pickering. Take a self-guided tour of for the Old Salem Visitor Center. Take a Guided Tour of the Historic the Winery at Biltmore. Return to your hotel to rest and freshen up Town of Old Salem, an authentic restoration of the Moravian for the evening. Dinner tonight is included at a local Tavern. (Meals: community that was started in 1766. The Moravians are a Protestant B, L, D) faith started in the 1400s in the province of Moravia, now part of the Czech Republic. Next, enjoy a guided tour of the Museum of Early Day Three - City Tour of Ashville & Lake Lure Boat Tour Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA), the only museum dedicated to Enjoy breakfast at our hotel this morning prior to checking out. Meet exhibiting and researching the regional decorative arts of the early your GUIDE, and visit the Thomas Wolfe Memorial House, considered South. Enjoy lunch included at a local favorite. Tour the Reynolda by many to be one of the giants of 20th Century American Literature. House Museum of American Art and Gardens. It displays a premier After visiting, continue with your City Tour of Asheville. Enjoy lunch collection of American art ranging from the colonial period to the on your own and free time for shopping in historic downtown present. In addition to the house, twenty-eight of the original thirty Asheville. Stop at the Southern Highland Craft Guild. Nestled among buildings remain. To the west lie the restored formal gardens, noted the pines and dogwoods of the Blue Ridge Parkway, yet only a few for their Japanese cryptomeria and weeping cherry trees. The sixteen- miles from I-40 and downtown Asheville, North Carolina, the Folk Art acre lake behind the house has reverted to wetlands, which provide a Center is the Guild's flagship facility. The Center showcases the finest home for a variety of wildlife. Visit the Reynolda Village Shops, enjoy in traditional and contemporary craft of the Southern Appalachians. free time to shop and browse. The shops are housed in buildings, Arrive at the Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center. See the movie: The which supported the 1,067-acre estate of R.J. Reynolds family. The Blue Ridge Parkway - America's Favorite Journey, a 24-minute film buildings now house stores, restaurants, services, and offices. Arrive shown in high-definition surround-sound, uses breathtaking aerial at your hotel for the evening. Enjoy free time and dinner on your own photography and the story of a father-daughter motorcycle trip to this evening at your choice of any of the many nearby locations introduce visitors to the natural and cultural heritage of the adjacent to, or within walking distance of, the hotel. (Meals: B, L) mountains and the history of the construction of the Parkway. Arrive at the Lake Lure Marina and check in for your cruise. Discover the Day Six - Winston Cup Museum & Historic District beauty and charm of Lake Lure on your Lake Lure Boat Tour. Relax Enjoy breakfast at the hotel this morning prior to checking out. on one of their covered tour boats while your skipper guides you past Tour the Winston Cup Museum, displaying cars and memorabilia local attractions and landmarks. Return to the dock and check-in to from NASCAR Cup history. Meet your GUIDE and visit the Greensboro the Lake Lure Inn & Spa. One of the original North Carolina land- Historical Museum, which celebrates Greensboro’s local culture and marks, built when the waters of Lake Lure first began to fill. Over the the city’s prominent place in American history. Enjoy lunch on own in years, the Inn has hosted a diverse range of celebrities, from F. Scott Greensboro’s Downtown Historic District. Tour the International Fitzgerald, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Emily Post, and Calvin Coolidge, to Civil Rights Center & Museum, an archival center, collecting Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey during the filming of “Dirty Danc- museum, and teaching facility devoted to the international struggle ing”. Enjoy a buffet dinner included at the restaurant at the Inn. for civil and human rights. The Museum celebrates the nonviolent (Meals: B, D) Protests of the 1960 Greensboro sit-ins that served as a catalyst in Market. Depart on a driving tour of the Oakwood Historic District. the civil rights movement. Enjoy a tour of Replacements, LTD and Oakwood contains Raleigh's largest collection of nineteenth-century explore the world’s largest collection of old and new dinnerware, Victorian-era dwellings and its richest diversity of architectural styles including, china, stoneware, crystal, silver, collectible, and more! Enjoy overall. See the Joel Lane House, built in the 1770s. Joel Lane is a family style dinner at a local barbeque restaurant, where good referred to as the father of Raleigh, NC. Visit Mordecai Historic Park, friends meet for southern cooking, good food, and family dining. No located in the heart of downtown Raleigh, home to some of North visit to North Carolina is complete without some famous Carolina BBQ. Carolina's most extraordinary treasures, including the Mordecai House Check-in to your local hotel for the evening. (Meals: B, D) and the Birthplace of Andrew Johnson - 17th president of the United States. Arrive at the hotel to rest and freshen up for the evening. En- Day Seven - Chapel Hill, Life & Science, and Butterflies joy dinner this evening at a warm and inviting fine dining atmosphere Enjoy breakfast at the hotel this morning. Depart with our GUIDE, for inside the hotel. Featuring an elegant décor and seasonal menus, the a tour of historic Chapel Hill, NC. Visit the University of North restaurant is Forbes Four-Star, and AAA Four Diamond rated. (Meals: Carolina, Chapel Hill. Visit the quadrangle named for President B, D) James K. Polk. Born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, in 1795, Polk moved to Tennessee at the age of ten with his family. Visit the Day Nine - Manteo Exploring & Shopping American Tobacco Campus & Historic District. American Tobacco's Enjoy breakfast at the hotel this morning before departing to explore design and landscaping has collected industry awards for Best Mixed- the Manteo Waterfront. Enjoy the boardwalk, see the lighthouse, and Use Development, Best Renovated Commercial Property, and Best explore the attractions. Depart for Fort Raleigh where New World Redevelopment Project. Enjoy lunch on own at the American Tobacco Settlements were found in the 1500s. Next, a trip to the North Historic District. Tour the Chapel at Duke University. Duke Chapel is Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island. Depart for The Outer Banks an example of Neo-Gothic architecture in the English style. Depart Christmas Shop, it's not just a Christmas Shop, it's an experience! with your guide for a walking tour of Duke University at Chapel Hill. Explore the 25,000 square foot store, full of unique gifts, Christmas Tour the crown jewel of Duke University, the Sarah P. Duke Gardens. ornaments & decor, locally made candy & snacks, jewelry, local art, The 55-acres garden is recognized as one of the premier public and so much more! Dinner this evening is included at a waterfront gardens in the United States, renowned both for landscape design seafood restaurant! After dinner, check-in to your local area hotel. and the quality of horticulture, each year attracting more than (Meals: B, D) 300,000 visitors from all over the world. Arrive at the Museum of Life & Science and visit Magic Wings Butterfly House. Magic Wings is a Day Ten - Beach Ponies, Lighthouse, & Whalehead “total immersion” butterfly exhibit where guests will walk through a Enjoy breakfast at the hotel this morning. Depart for the beaches rainforest surrounded by 1000 tropical butterflies. Visit the Duke and see ponies roaming in their natural environment via open-air four Homestead Historic Site and see the early home, factories, and farm -wheel vehicles. After exploring, enjoy lunch on own in Duck. Later, where Washington Duke first grew and processed tobacco. Return to depart for the Currituck Lighthouse, at 162' feet tall, the lighthouse's the hotel to freshen up for dinner. Depart for an included dinner this First Order Fresnel light, (the largest size available for American light- evening at a local favorite. (Meals: B, D) houses), can be seen for 18 nautical miles as the light rotates in 20 second increments. Next, depart for Whalehead. Set on 39 pristine Day Eight - Touring, Farmers Market, & Historic Park acres along the Currituck Sound in Historic Corolla, the Whalehead is Enjoy breakfast at the hotel this morning. Depart with your GUIDE for a beautifully restored 1920s-era Art Nouveau-style mansion listed on a day of touring. Tour the North Carolina State Capitol Building, the National Register of Historic Places. Later, return to the hotel to completed in 1840, the building is one of the finest and best pre- freshen up then enjoy a Farewell Dinner included at a local favorite. served examples of a major civic building in the Greek Revival style of (Meals: B, D) architecture and is a National Historic Landmark. Visit the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science, featuring an array of Day Eleven - Jockey’s Ridge State Park & Wright Brothers permanent and special exhibits, live programs, and educational films Enjoy breakfast at the hotel prior to check-out. Depart for Jockey’s which appeal to audiences of all ages. The North Carolina Museum of Ridge State Park, the fun includes a Visitor Center, Museum, and a Natural Sciences encourages visitors to explore the natural world and 360-foot boardwalk with exhibits explaining the dune’s ecology and their connections to it. Visit the State Farmers Market, boasting are a gradual entry to the massive dune field. Our final destination bountiful offerings of fresh produce, cheeses, crafts, baked goods, before lunch is the Wright Brothers National Memorial. Lunch today grocery stores, restaurants, markets, imports from around the world, is included at a local favorite fresh seafood restaurant. (Meals: B, L) and more. Enjoy free time and lunch on your own at the Old City To start creating your experience, email: [email protected] Mid-Atlantic Tours & Receptive Services Post Office Box 1390 Stephens City, VA 22655; Phone: 540-869-1864; Fax: 540-869-1826 Tour Includes: 10 nights‘ hotel accommodation; 10 breakfasts; 3 lunches; 7 dinners; admissions to events and guide service as stated in the itinerary. Fla. Seller of Travel Reg. No ST39040; State of California Seller of Travel Reg. No 2121204-40