Since 1954, John F. Blair, Publisher, has been specializing in nonfiction books about the Southeast, and specifically North Carolina. Over the years, Blair has published numerous travel guides, so to say that the Blair staff knows something about travel in their own home state is no small assertion. Travel North Carolina is a comprehensive guide to the Tar Heel State. In this volume, you will find information about historic places, gardens, tours, museums, science centers, cultural offerings, special shopping, recreation, seasonal events, accommodations, and restaurants. If you buy only one travel guide to the Old North State, here are some reasons why it should be Travel North Carolina: * This guide was written by longtime residents of North Carolina * This guide was published by a North Carolina publisher known for its travel guides * This guide offers more annotated entries about unique places to eat and stay than any of the other guides on the market * You will need to purchase only one guide to cover the entire state * The authors accepted no advertising fees when selecting what to include in the book Who better to publish a travel guide to North Carolina than the staff of a North Carolina publisher? As the staff of John F. Blair, Publisher, planned its future publication projects, we asked ourselves that very question. We looked around and realized that, collectively, we were in a better position to write about our home state than some guy from New York City who popped in for one weekend and recorded some snap judgments. When we decided to undertake this project, we also decided that we wanted the guide to reflect each of the five authors' personalities. That's why you may notice distinct styles in each section. When discussing a format for the book, we decided that we didn't want an inclusive listing of every accommodation in each city. If you want that kind of list, we've provided contact information for local convention and visitor bureaus. What we tried to do was avoid the chains, unless there was something unique about a particular chain hotel or motel. We looked for locally owned, one-of-a-kind places that visitors might be unaware of. We did the same thing when choosing restaurants. We tried to find the places the locals would put on their list if you asked them for the best places in town to eat. We couldn't include them all, but we tried to offer a variety of cuisines and price ranges. We didn't charge any establishment a fee to be included in this book. Although our choices were subjective, we wanted to approach these places just like regular visitors would. We worked on our individual sections for over a year. All things considered, it's been a good project for us. Although each of us came to our section with some previous knowledge of the area we were writing about, we all learned even more about our home state. Each of us is proud to be from North Carolina, and we're glad that we can share our enthusiasm with you. Carolyn Sakowski wrote the sections for Greensboro, High Point, and the High Country. She was born in North Carolina and has lived in the state for 42 years. She grew up in Morganton, graduated from Queens College in Charlotte with a B.A. in history, and got an M.A. in history from Appalachian State University in Boone. She and her husband have an Avery County farm, which he inherited from his grandfather. That's where they escape to mow the fields most weekends in the summer and fall. She is also the author of Touring the Western North Carolina Backroads and Touring the East Tennessee Backroads . Deb Baldwin was born, raised, and educated in North Carolina. Several lifetimes later, following a life in the theater, a role as editor of a Caribbean newspaper, and work in book publishing, she is the graphic designer at the North Carolina School of the Arts, located in Winston-Salem. After climbing the Andes, cruising the Baltic Sea, cavorting in the Caribbean, and careening across the United States in a convertible, she still considers Chapel Hill to be the ultimate destination. Sue Clark is a native of Detroit. In March of her senior year at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, her father sent her pictures of dogwood trees in bloom. That was enough to entice her to move south. She's been here almost 20 years and considers herself one of North Carolina's biggest fans. Sue has a B.A. in American history with a minor in English from Oakland University. She has worked for John F. Blair, Publisher for over 10 years; she is director of customer service. Sue is married and has two sons. The Clark family loves to travel and especially enjoys camping in the mountains. Yankee by birth, Southern by choice, Sue plans to call North Carolina home for the rest of her life. Sunny Smith Nelson is the author of the sections on the Outer Banks and the Albemarle region. She was born and raised in Winston-Salem, where her family has resided for over 200 years as members o