Opening up my suitcase and sharing my real-life packing list for a chilly weekend in Pinehurst and Southern Pines, North Carolina What is the closest you’ve cut it while packing for a trip? For a recent trip to the Sandhills, I think I set a new personal record: only an hour before I needed to be behind the wheel did I have time to haul my suitcase out of the closet and start packing. This post contains gifted products and commissionable links Thankfully, I have not only years of experience packing for weekend getaways, but a host of past packing lists to refer back to when needed here on ..read more

Slowly, but very, very surely, I’m making my way around my current home state of North Carolina. Yet, at some point during the drive to Southern Pines, I experienced a moment of disorientation – it was as if I had inadvertently steered off course and found myself rerouted to northern Florida. Flat terrain with sandy soil and towering pine trees isn’t what typically comes to mind when picturing North Carolina’s landscape. Mountains with deciduous forests or sandy beaches with coastal shrubs, sure – but in my four years of living in the Tar Heel state, I’d never encountered this combination b ..read more

“Oh, do you golf?” If I had a dollar for every time I heard that in the weeks leading up to a recent trip to Pinehurst, well, I could probably afford to buy a set of clubs and hire an instructor. No, sorry, to answer your question, I don’t golf (but I am flattered you think I’m athletic and coordinated enough to do so!). So why on earth would I visit a destination that is quite literally known as the Home of American Golf? This post is created in partnership with the Convention & Visitors Bureau Pinehurst, Southern Pines, Aberdeen Area of North Carolina, but as always, all opinions ar ..read more

As anyone who’s ever tried to bake a cake or a loaf of bread from scratch knows, baking is a labor of love. And as much as I do enjoy baking at home, sometimes it’s nice to outsource the task to a professional. But not just any bakery – my love for small businesses extends all the way to my stomach. There’s a delightful inconsistency that appears in products from small bakeries, versus their cookie-cutter (literally) supermarket counterparts. I think there is just as much beauty in the rustic charm of a blob of a cookie with gobs of chocolate chips as there is in the labor of a laminated do ..read more

Can you feel the thrill in the air? It can only mean one thing – Carowinds is open for 2024! Carowinds officially opened its gates to the public for the season on March 9 (with a special passholder event on March 8, where yours truly had the chance to get an insider’s scoop on all of the park happenings in 2024), giving travelers yet another great reason to visit Charlotte this year. As a member of the media, my experiences at Carowinds were generously hosted, but this post is not sponsored and all opinions are my own. In today’s post, I’m sharing all the new things parkgoers can expect ..read more

Sharing your ultimate day-trip travel guide to Waxhaw, North Carolina, a charming town just 45 minutes from Charlotte How on earth did it take me four years to get to Waxhaw? It’s only forty-five minutes from Charlotte… Well, considering I moved here at the end of 2019 and then you-know-what happened in 2020, I suppose I know the reason why. But now that I’ve made the trip, I can honestly say shame on my past self – now I know better. Looking for more great day trips from Charlotte? Find them all in one place in my guide: Essential Day Trips from Charlotte Because this sweet town of j ..read more

Sharing a day trip guide to the Town of Matthews, just 25 minutes from Charlotte You’d be forgiven for thinking that the Town of Matthews is part of Charlotte. Driving down Independence and taking in all of the area’s growth, it’s nearly impossible to tell where Charlotte ends and where Matthews begins – but walking down Trade Street, the town’s picture-perfect main street, makes the city feel so very far away. I’ve spent a little time in Matthews since moving here in 2019, but that was mostly while running quick errands, so Michael and I finally made the harrowing journey down my least fav ..read more

I frequently highlight small businesses in my travel guides, so I figured it’s finally time to share some of my home city’s best local shops and boutiques! Charlotte is home to nearly every major retailer (although, famously, not Zara) – but those shops receive enough attention as it is, so this post isn’t going to be about that. Today I want to highlight some of the city’s best locally-owned businesses – the shops that focus on sourcing locally-made products to line their shelves or prioritize curating a unique selection of items beyond the typical wholesale boutique offerings. Disclaimer: T ..read more

Sharing a day trip guide to downtown Salisbury, North Carolina - just forty minutes from Charlotte. As I mentioned in my Piedmont train guide, Michael and I recently climbed aboard the train and headed out of Charlotte for a fun day away. Our destination? Salisbury, a city I frankly knew very little about before our visit – although Michael continues to insist that it is the birthplace of the dish Salisbury steak. (It is not the birthplace of Salisbury steak, a dish I highly suspect he’s never even tried). Some destinations take time to get to know, and others reveal themselves to visi ..read more

Considering a ride on the Piedmont train, which connects Charlotte to Raleigh? Here's what you need to know before you book. One of my favorite methods of travel is one I very rarely get to utilize: taking the train. It’s far more comfortable than flying and offers a street-level view of passing towns and cities without the stress of traffic (and there’s no need to stop for gas or to take a bathroom break). You can even walk around and stretch your legs! Access to frequent train routes with timetables that make sense is pretty limited in the US, especially if you live outside of the Northe ..read more