Constructed of local bluestone with wood accents, the restored Skyline Lodge was designed by a protégé of architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Other high-altitude retreats include the Mount Mitchell Eco Resort, with comfy suites and rocking chair-filled porches next to the Pisgah National Forest.

“Plus the Sunset Terrace has stupendous views.” “The 1913 hotel mixes hospitality, history, and Arts and Crafts architecture,” she says.

Carey Baldwin, owner of lodgings consulting business InnTurners, recommends the Omni Grove Park Inn in her Asheville hometown. Historic lodges are a great way to immerse yourself in North Carolina’s mountains. “It ends on the sound side beach of Teach’s Hole, where the infamous pirate Blackbeard was killed in 1718.” Stay in a rustic mountain lodge “The peaceful, flat trail winds through 130 acres of preserved maritime forest,” says Harrison Marks, executive director of the Coastal Land Trust, which oversees the park.

To visualize North Carolina’s Outer Banks before seafood shacks and beach megamansions took over, take a one-mile hike through Springer’s Point Nature Preserve on Ocracoke Island, a wild sanctuary adjacent to the famed 75-foot-tall Ocracoke Light Station. Find lighthouses and pirate history on a beach hike Here are what celebrated chefs, adventure outfitters, and other in-the-know locals recommend. To help you explore North Carolina ’s beaches, mountains, and barbecue- and bluegrass-filled cities, we consulted a cast of experts.

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