North Carolina Coast Ranks High With Scuba Divers

Diving along the coast of North Carolina has been recognized by readers of Scuba Diving in its 2011 Top Readers’ Choice Results. “North Carolina has long been known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic for its more than 2,000 recorded wrecks.  So it's no surprise that NC was voted best for Wreck Diving. And shipwrecks are known for attracting spectacular marine life. At several sites, you'’ll see snaggle-tooth sand tiger sharks, big nurse sharks and giant mantas.”  Accordingly, North Carolina was also voted best in North America for diving with Big Animals.

Break Dancin' Santa Hits Asheville

A dancing Santa is on the loose in Asheville and he's looking to start a hip hop, break dance holiday  mob. Watch him sneak up and surprise visitors with head spins, flares and seriously fresh break dancing moves at the some of Asheville's prominent locations including Pritchard Park Drum Circle, Pack Square, Asheville Visitors Center, Lexington Avenue Brewery, The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa, the National Gingerbread House Competition, The Orange Peel and America’s Largest Home, Biltmore.

Improvements Coming to Chimney Rock

Christmas came early to Chimney Rock at Chimney Rock State Park.....and to the millions of kids and kids at heart who enjoy making memories at this amazing natural wonder. Beginning December 1, some areas of the Chimney Rock will be undergoing construction improvements, which will allow easier access to the Chimney and other areas throughout the park including the Opera Box, Devil's Head, and Exclamation Point.

After construction is completed in early spring 2011, the new trail leading from the parking lot to the Chimney area will accommodate more guests and offer better access, the 26-story elevator will be modernized (increasing reliability, speed and capacity), and the Sky Lounge facility will be renovated.

Tar Heel Traveler Makes a Great Holiday Gift

Just in time for the holidays, Tar Heel Traveler: Journeys Across North Carolina has hit the bookshelves and bookstores. Written by Scott Mason, the Tar Heel Traveler of WRAL-TV in Raleigh, the book is a blend of oral history and memoir....with a good dose of quirky humor mixed in.

Featuring some of North Carolina's colorful characters and out-of-the-way places, read about a man without arms from Chapel Hill who chainsaws trees with his feet; or a 101-year old woman from Southern Pines whose homemade snake oil cures every ailment; or a Johnston County tinkerer whose floor-to-ceiling paper chain swallows half his living room; or a Sunset Beach mailbox perched in a sand dune.

Celebrity Chef Paula Deen to Open Restaurant at Harrah's Cherokee Casino & Hotel

Exciting times are coming to the mountains of North Carolina. Final preparations are underway for the opening of  Paula Deen's Kitchen at Harrah's Cherokee Casino & Hotel in late-January. The new restaurant will be part of the $633 million, three-year expansion program. Created as a full-service, 404-seat restaurant, Paula Deen's Kitchen at Harrah's Cherokee will serve a la carte breakfast, lunch and dinner, and will be reminiscent of the decor and ambiance of her legendary home and kitchen in Savannah.

Merry Brewmas in Sylva

Everything is more festive around the holidays. And that goes for specialty beers as well. Brewmeister Dieter Kuhn of Heinzelmannchen Brewery in Sylva, NC has dug into his stocking and created Merry Gnome Christmas Ale just in time for the holiday season.

Debuting December 17 and available in the brewery through the end of the year, Merry Gnome Ale is a cocoa-flavored porter infused with dark cherries marinated in brandy during fermentation, giving the
specialty beer a chocolate-cherry flavor with a warming fishing.