North Carolina gained an estimable new resident when my friend Madeline moved here last year. When she mentioned she was hoping to explore more of her adopted state in the coming months, I immediately volunteered my services as informal tour guide. We have gained much from her presence, and now it’s time for NC to give a little something back to her through new experiences, memories, stories, and delicious tastes!

John and I put our heads together and came up with this list of our absolute favorite North Carolina places, foods, sights, and experiences. It goes without saying, but even this lengthy list hardly scratches the surface of all the wonderful things the Old North State has to offer — but it’s a place to start! (And, it must be said, it’s Triangle-heavy, since that’s where we both reside.)

Though many of you live places other than North Carolina, I hope this serves as a helpful guide if you take a trip to our state! From the mountains to the sea, from barbecue to Laotian dim sum, it’s truly a wonderful place.

In no particular order and without further ado…

1. Attend a service at Duke Chapel.
2. While you’re there, stroll through Duke Gardens (we love to bring a picnic from nearby Foster’s Market).
3. And, if you can finagle it, watch a men’s basketball game in Cameron.
4. See an outdoor summer movie at the North Carolina Art Museum Art Park (go early to wander the grounds and see the outdoor art installations).
5. See an outdoor movie or concert at Koka Booth Ampitheatre.
6. Take the ferry to Bald Head Island for the day (or a week). Rent a bike and ride all over.
7. Stay at the European-feeling Old Edwards Inn in Highlands.
8. Swim in the Eno River (we prefer the Few’s Ford access, and like to pack a picnic from nearby Picnic!).
9. Eat a BLT at Merritt’s.
10. Plunge into the icy waters of Sliding Rock, a natural water slide on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
11. Catch the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra at an outdoor concert (often in September).
12. Order a chocolate souffle to-go from the Fearrington House Inn and eat it in the Adirondack chairs facing the cow pasture.
13. Visit the quaint coastal town of Beaufort — eat at Beaufort Grocery, see the wild ponies on Shackleford Banks, and stroll the charming streets.
14. Walk the beautiful neighborhoods of Raleigh: Oakwood, Mordecai, and – my personal favorite – Hayes Barton.
15. Cheer at a Durham Bulls game (best ballpark snacks you’ll ever have!). Park in the parking deck and walk through the beautiful American Tobacco Campus to get to the game.
16. Sip a farm-inspired beverage on the edge of the growing field at the Honeysuckle Tea House.
17. Hike a Southern bald. We’ve done Black Balsam Knob, and have our sights on Grassy Ridge.
18. Experience the magic that is Brewery Bhavana: flower shop, brewery, bookstore, and dim sum restaurant in one.
19. Experience the magic that is the NC State Fair: goats, biscuits, giant watermelons, and more.
20. Check off at least one of James Beard Outstanding Chef award winner Ashley Christensen’s restaurants. (You can’t go wrong with any of them, but we especially love Chuck’s and Death and Taxes. Okay, and Poole’s.)
21. Walk the paths of the WRAL Azalea Garden. It usually blooms right around Palm Sunday and Easter!
22. Climb the fire tower at Hanging Rock State Park.
23. Pick apples in the mountains (try Altapass or Justus Orchards).
24. See a show at DPAC, the Durham Performing Arts Center (it’s where we saw Hamilton!).
25. Get an ice cream sandwich at Parlour.
26. And a cone at Maple View, complete with view of the generous cows who provided the milk.
27. Visit the Saxapahaw General Store (get a BLT there, too!).
28. Eat at Vin Rouge, a French restaurant transplanted into Durham and a vanguard of the Triangle’s impressive restaurant scene.
29. Drive the NC peach trail, including a stop at Kalawi Farm Market for a basketful.
30. Feed the giraffes lettuce at the NC Zoo.
31. Grab a bagel sandwich at Benchwarmers in Transfer Co Food Hall.
32. Last but certainly not least, spend at least a weekend in Asheville. Drive the Blue Ridge Parkway, tour the Biltmore (it’s so worth it!), hike at Crabtree Falls, white water raft, and for the love of everything good, eat at White Duck Taco.

And now, a few things still on our bucket list: Jolie and Poole’side Pies, the Front Porch Artwalk in Mordecai, a Snap Pea adventure dinner, the Lost Colony performance in Manteo, Chef and the Farmer, Joyce Kilmer forest, the Oakwood Lantern Light tour, and the Fried Turkey Sandwich Shop :)

Now, friends, I know you’ve got them, so let’s hear your additions in the comments! What would be on your North Carolina bucket list?

Friends, a big thank you to all who have taken my 2020 survey so far – more than 100 of you! If you haven’t yet, you can do so right here.

Thank you, also, for the birthday wishes! It was a sweet and low-key weekend with my people. John and I had a two-dessert dinner at Mothers and Sons on Friday, and yesterday we took a sunny stroller/scooter/walk through one of our favorite Raleigh neighborhoods, something that has become an early-spring tradition. I’m not the biggest “birthday person,” but boy am I glad to have been given another year to live, learn, and love with my sweet family. That is worthy of celebration!

Something to note: I recently organized all of the “things I’m loving” items more neatly on one page, so you can easily find that article/book/recipe I mentioned a few months back. You can always find a button leading you there in the sidebar, too. I hope it’s helpful!

On my calendar this month:
— A local high school’s performance of Cinderella – June and I are going to go together :)
— My favorite kids consignment sale
— The Bachelor finale. This has not been a very good season, but I’m looking forward to watching the final installment with good friends (and chocolate chip cookies).

What I’m loving right now:
— Do you have a CAVA near you? It’s a Mediterranean fast-casual chain that’s spreading rapidly in the South, and it’s very delicious. (Mezeh is a very similar concept – we went to the one in Reston, VA, while visiting family!)
— Of course, I can’t mention quick Mediterranean without mentioning local hero Neomonde – we love taking a picnic from the Raleigh location to the next-door JC Raulston Arboretum!
— Continuing with the food theme: this one-pot sun-dried tomato orzo recipe is SO good and really easy to make on a weeknight.

What I read in February:
— Late Migrations: This was a Christmas gift from my Mom, which was so very thoughtful! It has all the hallmarks of a book I would love and some really beautiful writing, but the through-line of death turned me away a bit.
— The Sound of Gravel: A fascinating memoir in the vein of Educated. Raw and heartbreaking and uplifting.

My reading list for 2020, if you’d like to follow along! I’m still number 94 on the library hold list for Just Mercy, one of my February picks, but I’ll happily read it when it comes in!

Revisiting my February goals:
Clean out favorite recipes Pinterest board and print all winners
Outfit sand/gravel table and get it ready for play
Assemble friend dossiers and brainstorm ideas for get-togethers
Organize the craft table in the loft (Progress made!)
Brainstorm a family mission statement on our date night
Decide on 2020 camping dates/locations (Progress made!)
Go on our monthly forest school/family hike
Decide on MS race and register
Paint downstairs desk (Done! I chose navy!)
Plan major details (date, location, guest list) for meal planning potluck (Progress made!)
Decide on my quarterly date with June (Can’t wait!)

March goals:
— Send invites for meal planning potluck
— Assemble friend dossiers and brainstorm ideas for get-togethers
— Book May camping trip
— Finish craft table organization in the loft
— Finish reading Matthew with John
— Finish planning our trip to Florida

As a reminder, many of the goals above are drawn from my 2020 goals!

Keeping things fairly simple this month since it’s a busy one at work! I would love to hear: are you working on any goals in March? What’s something you’re working toward that has you really excited? Share below, if you’d like!

Affiliate links are used in this post!

It’s my birthday! And what a gift you all are to me. As an introvert who prefers a small, close-knit group of friends to a large party any day, it might seem strange that I enjoy sharing with the wide world of the internet. A small, close-knit group is exactly what Em for Marvelous feels like, though, and I’m so grateful!

Let’s be honest: I would write here even if no one was listening (I can’t help myself!!), but you gals make it MUCH more fun :) You chime in all the time in a way that is rare in the age of crickets in the comment section, and that does not go unnoticed or unappreciated. I’m not sure what I did to deserve that, but I sincerely treasure each one of you who stops by, reads, and joins the conversation.

So if you have a moment, please consider taking the short survey below… I’m so curious, and would love to hear from you! Then, leave a comment below to be entered to win a $50 Airbnb gift card OR a $50 Amazon gift card – your choice. I’ll draw and email a winner next Friday, March 6!

Finally, to make the commenting more interesting (and so I can get to know YOU a little better!), here are four questions I’d love for you to answer after you’ve taken the survey, if you’re so inclined:

A favorite birthday memory:
The best book you’ve read recently or the last movie you saw in theaters:
Something you love about where you live:
The nicest thing someone has done for you or that you’ve done for someone recently:

I will answer in the comments, too. Thank you in advance, friends! xo!

And now, for something a little bit lighter :) Let’s do some dreaming about spring break and warmer weather! We’ve never taken an official spring break trip since having kiddos, but when the opportunity arose to head to Florida with the whole Thomas crew, we jumped on it. We’ll be staying in a big house in Watercolor (with the cutest bunk room!), and I can’t wait!

I’ve been to the 30A area once before – almost a decade ago, for a very early Southern Weddings photo shoot – and remember just being absolutely delighted by it. The communities (Seaside, Rosemary Beach, Alys Beach) are picture-perfect in every way, and I think June and her cousins will have the best time (as will their parents and grandparents!).

A drawback to the Seaside area is that there’s no direct airport to fly into – Destin and Pensacola are both small and still an hour or more away from our final destination. So, we’re adding to the adventure and road tripping! Our Florida rental is from Monday through Saturday. On the front end, we’ll spend Saturday and Sunday night in Atlanta. On the way home, we’ll stop overnight in Greenville, SC.

Even for people who love travel planning, this is a lot to plan! So, we’d love your help. Have you been to any of our destinations? Have any recommendations for us? We’d love to hear from you in the comments! :)

Photo by Jami Ray

For my part, I’m focusing on something hard to define but important. It was born out of our trip to Nashville last spring, which was delightful because we got to visit my sister but also unsettling in some ways. We did our research on restaurants and activities as usual, but fell into two traps that I’m hoping to avoid for this trip.

First, I’d like to go deep instead of wide. In Nashville, it felt like we spent a lot of time driving from location to location to hit all of the spots we wanted to. In Atlanta, it would be easy to do the same, and find ourselves criss-crossing the city checking off “must visits.” Instead, I’d love to just pick a neighborhood, park ourselves there for the day, and leisurely walk from a breakfast spot to a park to an activity to lunch and back to our Airbnb. I’d like to feel more like a local, I guess! This is how our time in Paris felt, and we loved it.

Second, I would like to steer clear of “influencer hot spots,” if you will. I’m not opposed to popular spots, or ones with nice aesthetics, but what I want to avoid is places that look great but don’t actually serve good food (or do whatever it is they’re supposed to do well). We had this unfortunate experience with Five Daughters Bakery in Nashville, which appears to have been designed for Instagram (and is super cute!) but didn’t actually serve good donuts, in my opinion. Has this ever happened to you?

From our Outer Banks trip last year

In exchange for your recommendations, I thought I’d pass along a few spring break picks I’ve been eyeing. I might pick up one or two of them, but more likely I’ll use them as inspiration as I’m cruising the aisles of my favorite consignment sale in a few weeks :)

For Shep:
— Chambray stripe slip-on sneaks
— Classic yellow rain slicker
— Classic striped tee
— Vintage sailboat tee
— Sky blue slim-fit pants
— Striped henley
— Seersucker sun hat
— Navy striped rash guard suit
— Color-blocked sunglasses
— Salt Waters, always and forever

For June:
— Bright pink pointelle cardigan
— Sweetest fruit-print crop leggings
— Eyelet ruffle dress in pink or yellow
— Stripes and chambray dress
— Blue checked top with flutter sleeves
— Happy striped rash guard top (we have this!)
— Pink pom pom dress (matches mama’s!)
— Leopard print swing dress
— Button-front chambray dress
— Salt Waters, always and forever

For Em:
— Pretty coral and white floral dress
— Pleated satin skirt (I have this in the pink and love, love, love it!)
— Seriously debating this swim suit for me and this matching number for June… much more than I’d usually spend for her but how many years do I have when she’ll want to match with me? :)
— This is also such a fun pattern for a swim suit
— Love the style of this suit but not sure which colorway I’d go for – I guess navy and white?)
— Tennis dress
— Pink pom pom tunic (Boden’s tunics are the absolute best!) – or in a tee if that’s more your style
— Contrast piping t-shirt dress (I like the red/blue colorway)
— Chambray midi skirt

Thanks in advance for your insight, friends! Come back tomorrow for something fun :)