Tag Archives: North Carolina

Beer month showcases N.C.’s status as ‘Brewing mecca of the South’

Published in Asheville Food, North Carolina News on April 2, 2013


English: Visitors posing with bottles of LoneR...

English: Visitors posing with bottles of LoneRider beer after a tour of the LoneRider Brewery in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

N.C. Beer Month, brought to you by the state’s Division of Tourism, is a 30-day celebration of the craft beer industry. The group wants pint lovers to head out – responsibly, of course – to breweries across the state for all-things beer. That includes specialty brews, beer dinners, beer cooking classes, beer making and “beer memories” intended to last longer than those from college.

It’s called beer tourism, and local breweries are ready for you to belly up to the bar.

Wilmington’s Front Street Brewery is participating all month with pint specials, a beer-pairing dinner and a limited-edition beer with an undeniable coastal flavor.

Brewmaster Kevin Kozek took a bushel of Eagle Island Fruit Seafood oysters up to NoDa Brewing Co. in Charlotte where he and the NoDa crew brewed an oyster stout. He said it’s a dark, English-style stout with notes of briny oysters.

“It will

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Move afoot to bring 37-mile rail line back to life

Published in North Carolina News on April 2, 2013

Rail Transport Museum Class 59 No 5910 light e...

The steam-powered locomotives chugged 37 miles between Gainesville and Helen, helping to forge a connection and commerce among rural North Georgia communities in the early part of the 20th century.

But progress crept in, with the advent of the automobile and roads and highways to support them, leading to the abandonment of the railroad in 1934.

Today, nearly 80 years later, the iron rails and wooden ties are gone. Beaten-down pathways serve as the lone reminder of that era.

However, forces are at work to bring new life to the former Gainesville Northwestern Railroad, with the concept forming to perhaps some day turn at least some of those stretches into bike and pedestrian trailways.

“This is an area that’s big on tourism and outdoor recreation, so anything you can create that feeds into that is likely going to succeed,” said Adam Hazell, planning director for the Gainesville-based Georgia Mountains Regional Commission.

“We think the idea of bona fide bikeways, preferably paved, would be very strong tourist draws.”

Hazell and Sarah McQuade, regional planner for the GMRC, have both discussed

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Does the Piedmont Triad have its footing back?

Published in North Carolina News on April 2, 2013



N.C. Commerce Secretary Sharon Decker

Major roads and cities in the Piedmont Triad a...

N.C. Commerce Secretary Sharon Decker speaks at the Piedmont Triad Partnership’s State of the Region breakfast Thursday.

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Film industry creates big business for Charlotte region

Published in North Carolina News on March 28, 2013

By: Adam Rhew

 

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CHARLOTTE — When the Showtime hit Homeland returns to the Queen City next month to shoot its third season, the production will employ local crews, actors and caterers.

“Anything that they can get in this region, there has to be a business base for and there are a lot of companies setting up shop here that weren’t here five years ago,” said Keith Sweeney, executive producer at Dalliance Films.

But those companies may be so busy they won’t have time for the next project. Producers say it’s the best kind of problem to have.

“I don’t necessarily think we’ve missed out on a lot but

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Smokies, Blue Ridge tourism loss over funding-related closures expected to hurt Western Carolina

Published in Asheville Attractions, North Carolina News on March 28, 2013

ASHEVILLE — The usually much-anticipated spring and summer seasons in Western North Carolina’s national parks will come with fewer places to camp on the Blue Ridge Parkway and Great Smoky Mountains National Park; a disappearance of rangers and their familiar Stetson hats; and longer waits for restrooms, picnic areas and visitor centers to open.

The full effect of the so-called sequestration budget cuts on the National Park Service hit full force this week, when park administrators devised plans to meet the budget slashing.

All parks must cut their budgets by 5 percent, including the parkway, the most visited of all national park units, for the rest of the year. Parkway superintendent Phil Francis said the immediate effects will mean the loss of some 40 jobs and all seasonal interpretive programs for the remainder of the year to accommodate the $784,000 budget cut.

“We’re going to cut 21 seasonal interpretive jobs. There are four districts between North Carolina and Virginia — the cuts will be equally distributed,” Francis said. “We’ve got four maintenance seasonals we won’t be able to hire, a handful of seasonal rangers in the campgrounds we can’t hire.”

Continue reading at the Asheville Citizen-Times

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Sequester Smacks Great Smokey Mountains, Blue Ridge Parkway

Published in Asheville Attractions, North Carolina News, Pic of the Day on March 28, 2013

PHOTO: April will bring the blooms of Redbuds in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Due to federal budget cuts under the sequester, 3 campgrounds, 2 picnic areas and 1 horse camp will not open this summer. Photo credit: Public Domain
PHOTO: April will bring the blooms of Redbuds in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Due to federal budget cuts under the sequester, 3 campgrounds, 2 picnic areas and 1 horse camp will not open this summer. Photo credit: Public Domain

March 15, 2013

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Federal budget cuts mean you may have to revise those summer vacation plans.

The sequester is leading to closures and cutbacks on services offered at places such as the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Great Smoky Mountains.

That’s because the National Park Service is among the areas that got hit with the automatic spending cuts that began to take effect this month.

Don Barger, Southeast regional director of the National Parks Conservation Association, says the impact will be felt since there was little-to-no wiggle room before.

“When paying for staff and fixed costs take up about 90 percent of your budget and you get a cut of 9 percent in your spending authority for

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Spring blossoms bring color to WNC

Published in Asheville Attractions, North Carolina News on March 28, 2013

Plants expected to produce unusually vibrant colors, due to the mild winter and rainy weather

Springtime in Western North Carolina displays a beautiful illustration of color that lasts throughout the Summer.

The plants and trees are beginning to produce flowers which display vibrant colors such as pink, yellow, red, purple, blue, gold, and orange, which will exhibit more color than usual, due to weather conditions.

Fall in WNC is famous for its gorgeous display of multicolored foliage, but Spring delivers different types of colors from the wildflowers and blossoming plants, which are just as breathtaking as the fall foliage.

“Many travelers come to Haywood County to see the flowers throughout the year,” explains Lynn Collins, Director of the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority. “The colors during the spring are truly breathtaking, much like the fall foliage.”

If you are planning to make a trip to Western North Carolina this year, below you will find a list of bloom times for various plants in the area, with many of them budding in the spring and blossoming throughout the summer:

March April

Over sixty different flowers and plants grow during the springtime. Here’s a few you can expect to see:

• Trout Lilly, Bloodroot , Jack In The Pulpit, Oconee

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