5 days in South/North Carolina - what to do?

[russy01]

Evening,

Travelling over to USA late May for a few weeks and have 4/5 days spare at the start of the trip with no plans. What do you recommend?

- flying into Charlotte.
- no accommodation.
- will have a car and happy to drive.
- have 2 young children.
- not interested in heading to the coast as will be doing this later in the trip.

So far have considered getting a log cabin in the mountains to the west and having an easy few days exploring or Driving down to Atlanta to do the aquarium - but don’t know what else?

Interested to see if any of you have any ideas.

Thanks

[Nickyboy]

In the Charlotte area is a few places

Tiger World, a big cat rescue place, well worth a visit. http://www.tigerworld.us/

If the kids (or you) like trains there is the NC Transportation museum, train rides available also. https://www.nctrans.org

There is also Carowinds theme park, might not be suitable for the kids if they're really young but might be worth a look to see if there is a younger kids section.

[Nickyboy]

There is also an aquarium not far from Charlotte

https://www.visitsealife.com/charlotte-concord/

[russy01]

Thanks for your replies...

Carowinds - been before without kids.

Tiger place sounds ok, but wanting to get away from Charlotte a bit.

Been looking at the Great Smokey Mountains since making the thread and this placed called Gatlinburg looks decent...

[eldar]

Cape hatteras, outer banks, kittyhawk. Worth researching.

[geeman237]

Charleston SC resident here.
I’ve always found Charlotte a bit “vanilla” and lacking much character. I think you’re on the right idea for heading to the mountains. Gatlinburg is a popular destination. I may have been many many years ago but I don’t recall. Have you considered Asheville? It’s a popular mountain destination too with the Biltmore House (although I hear it’s a bit pricey). Asheville has quite an artsy vibe and several micro breweries. Haven’t been there for ages mind you. Weather should be really nice in the mountains about then too.
There really isn’t much to see inland from Charlotte to Atl. Atl is big and v busy.
If you’re hitting the coast later on your trip, Charleston is a must. Great beaches for the kids too.

[Frank7]

If you like history, Charleston will blow you away, it’s where the opening shots of the Civil War were fired, when the fledgling Confederate forces bombarded Fort Sumter, in Charleston harbour.
You could spend a couple of days looking around there, and even then only make a dent in it.
Around 100 miles to the south, is Savannah GA., for my money, one of the most beautiful cities in the U.S., lots of laid out squares, parks, and monuments, to Revolutionary figures, War of 1812 soldiers, and naturally, Civil War monuments.
Savannah is where Gen. Sherman finished his march from Atlanta to the sea, promising to make Georgia howl.
Tybee Island, a small sandy resort town is a short drive from Savannah.

[bridgdav]

Asheville, Blue ridge parkway, Biltmore, tail of the dragon, Boone..
All Within spitting distance of Charlotte.
Charlotte motor speedway.. NASCAR hall of game.

Do you want the views, countryside and mountains, history, sightseeing, driving, kids activities, relaxing...? brewery tours hic..?

[russy01]

Thanks for your replies...

We have done Charlotte centre, nascar etc. It’s ok, but no rush to go back anytime soon.

Asheville - will consider this and have a look online.

Charlestone - I like history but it’s not really suitable for the little ones. For the beach component we’re heading to Hilton Head Island.

Savannah - planning to go here for a day whilst at HH.

I’m basically looking for a relatively relaxing few days before a hectic week with another family (more kids) on the beach at Hilton Head island.
Was considering a cabin in the mountains so we can adventure around in the day, grab a nice lunch and then head back in the evening, stick the BBQ on and jump in the hot tub when the kids are in bed.

[geeman237]

russy01 said:

Thanks for your replies...

We have done Charlotte centre, nascar etc. It’s ok, but no rush to go back anytime soon.

Asheville - will consider this and have a look online.

Charlestone - I like history but it’s not really suitable for the little ones. For the beach component we’re heading to Hilton Head Island.

Savannah - planning to go here for a day whilst at HH.

I’m basically looking for a relatively relaxing few days before a hectic week with another family (more kids) on the beach at Hilton Head island.
Was considering a cabin in the mountains so we can adventure around in the day, grab a nice lunch and then head back in the evening, stick the BBQ on and jump in the hot tub when the kids are in bed.

How old are the kids? Do they have any interests?
Asheville : You should be able to drive that in 1-2 hours from Charlotte. Once you get to the Smokies the roads can really wind and it takes a lot longer to get to places.
Check out Murphy, NC. I have been there. Its a nice little town in the mountains. Not far from there is where the watersports from the 1996 Olympics were held and you can see the water ways etc still there. There is a small town nearby with an old railway and running train on it that does tours up and down. A friend has a cabin near Murphy with a hot tub overlooking the mountains and 4 wheelers, its not a bad place to chill out. If you were to head to Hilton Head (HH) from Murphy I would allow a good 7-9 hours drive though. Asheville to HH I'd say 4-5 hours.
There is nothing much along the I-85 through Greenville and Spartanburg, but near Spartanburg is the BMW factory. They have a small visitor centre and I think still do tours of the factory. They make some of the X series SUV's there.

Have you been to HH before or know of it? I have been many times to the Hilton Head Concours weekend. HH is a tourist destination, but at the nicer end generally. There are lots of resort hotels along the beaches. Its also a place for a lot of retirees who like to golf. Almost nothing is built above tree level and there are a lot of trees. However, I find the whole place very disorientating and hard to find my way around, but that's maybe just me. You can't really walk anywhere, but I think most of the resorts offer shuttle buses and you can get Uber.

I don't know your "demographic" but I am speaking as an ex pat, been here 15 years, no kids, sort of middle class, so take that for what its worth.

Its worth a half day or so out to Beaufort. There's a small air force museum down I-95 that would kill a couple hours (maybe). There is a racetrack at Roebling Road, around an hour or less from Savannah and behind the Westin Hotel overlooking Savannah is another racetrack that is used for historic racing during the HH Concours. Savannah is very nice. The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) is quite prominent in d/t Savannah, so lots of art students about, but they may have finished in May. The Quayside in Savannah is OK to walk around, but be warned, lots of cobble street bits in places. Its a bit touristy down there though, ie restaurants etc.

Charleston is an easy 2 hour drive from HH/Sav. Things to note. USS Yorktown (aircraft carrier, complete with various planes on deck and below) is a good trip and the surrounding Patriots Point area. Great views across the harbour. There is Childrens Museum in downtown Chas, a very very small railway related museum, the aquarium is OK for a couple of hours. North Charleston Fire Museum, a couple of waterparks in the area, a carriage tour downtown is actually rather good. There is a fort with loads of old cannons at the end of Sullivans Island, close to the Yorktown (recommend Poe's for a burger on Sullivan's). The Isle of Palms beaches are good and have public toilets. There are none on Sullivans. They filmed some scenes from The Notebook at Boone Hall in Mt Pleasant.

Feel free to PM me for anything else, esp around Charleston.

[Tallow]

I'd second the comments about Charleston and Savannah. Asheville is nice, too.

I wouldn't bother coming all the way to Atlanta if it's just for the aquarium. I mean, it's impressive and all, but it's still an aquarium.

[Nickyboy]

bridgdav said:

Asheville, Blue ridge parkway, Biltmore, tail of the dragon, Boone..
All Within spitting distance of Charlotte.
Charlotte motor speedway.. NASCAR hall of game.

Do you want the views, countryside and mountains, history, sightseeing, driving, kids activities, relaxing...? brewery tours hic..?

If you don't know a lot about Nascar i'd give the hall of fame a miss, i went 3 years ago, it was a day wasted, didn't know a lot about Nascar and it's a lot about the drivers and teams and not so much about the cars themselves. If you want to learn a bit about them then fair enough but i'd only heard of the few big names, the rest of it was a bit alien.

Gatlinburg is a good call, it's a mini version of Pigeon Forge a big further into Tennessee, plenty for the kids to do, mini golf, arcades, loads of attractions. Check season times though.

It's a beautiful but slow drive along 441 over the Smokey Mountains to Cherokee and on to Asheville & Hendersonville (where my pop lives) plenty of viewpoints. The drive up the Blue Ridge Parkway from Asheville to Mount Mitchell is quite special (Highest point East of the Mississippi)

[russy01]

Evening...

I have found a cabin I like the look of in Almond. About 20mins from Bryson City and Cherokee...

What are these places like? Good enough to grab dinner and some stuff stuff to go on the grill on other nights?

Cheers

[Nickyboy]

Not a bad area, Cherokee i would say is the better choice for dining, there is a Harrahs casino with 11 eateries from Dunkin Donuts to a Steak House. Bryson City has an Ingles for food shopping and there is a Walmart Super Center in Sylva about half hour from Almond. Bryson City is a nice little town, there is a few local eateries, you'll not go hungry.

[imck]

The Mrs and I stayed in Bryson City for a couple of Nights in Sep 2015.
Nice little Town with plenty of places to eat. Didn't do any shopping.

Also stayed 3 Nights in the Mountains in a Lodge about 15 Mins outside of Gatlinburg.
Ate in the on-site Restaurant and cooked ourselves so can't comment on Food in Gatlinburg. I think we went to an IHOP for Breakfast.
Saw some Bears

I would recommend a trip to or just through Pigeon Forge.
Some interesting/unusual attractions.
Hundreds if not thousands of Classic Cars in the Motel Car Parks when we were there.