Biltmore Estate and Biltmore House
It took six years to build America’s Largest Home, Biltmore House. Built for George Vanderbilt, heir to his grandfather’s steamship and railroad fortune, and completed in 1895, the 250-room mansion is four stories tall and the size of four acres. Biltmore House is filled with priceless treasures and antiques from around the world, including original artwork from masters such as Renoir, tapestries, and sculptures. The library is filled with upwards of 10,000 volumes. The basement holds a bowling alley and swimming pool. The enormous Biltmore House Banquet Hall’s ceiling is 70-feet high. There are 32 rooms that were designated as guest rooms alone.
With the Blue Ridge Mountains nestled in the backdrop, the 8,000-acre (originally 125,000 acres) Biltmore Estate and Biltmore House are remarkable and popular North Carolina attractions. Magnificent gardens and vineyards capture the spirit of the 19th-Century aristocratic luxuries and wealth. In the late 1800’s the estate required more than 400 workers (40-50 in Biltmore House) to keep the estate in working order, a number that built and sustained the community. Thirty-five years after its completion, Biltmore House was opened to the public to boost the Asheville economy during the Depression.
Tours of the Biltmore House, including the newly refurbished fourth floor and the Biltmore Estate are available daily. Some of the outdoor events are seasonal and some may require reservations in advance. The Biltmore Estate and Biltmore House attract nearly a million visitors a year to Asheville, North Carolina.
Paramount’s Carowinds
Visitors to the North Carolina Paramount’s Carowinds can hop over to the next state, South Carolina via rollercoaster, a feat that no other amusement park in America boasts. Open since 1973, Carowinds has been entertaining families living in or visiting the Carolina states. Located just south of Charlotte, North Carolina, Paramount’s Carowinds straddles the border between the two states.
Paramount’s Carowinds association with Paramount brings Hollywood-themed entertainment to the North Carolina. Movie-themed attractions such as Drop Zone Stunt Tower, and rollercoasters Top Gun: The Jet Coaster and the Borg Assimilator headline the thrill rides. The Nickelodeon Central zone at Paramount’s Carowinds has family rides and characters from favorite Nickelodeon television shows, such as Dora the Explorer's Azul Adventure, Hey Arnold's Taxi Chase, Rugrats Runaway Reptar, and the Wild Thornberrys River Adventure
Seasonally, Paramount’s Carowinds offers the Scarowinds Halloween attraction. Presented on Friday and Saturday evenings in October, over 50 acres transform into a haunted park. WinterFest (day after Thanksgiving through New Year’s Eve) celebrates the winter holiday season by turning 35 acres into a winter wonderland.
Live shows with top musical artists and a 16-acre water park, Boomerang Bay (open in the summer only) round out the experience at Paramount’s Carowinds. The park is seasonal - open daily during the summer, and on weekends only in the spring and fall.
North Carolina’s Outer Banks
When visitors want to bask in the sun of North Carolina beaches, explore historical sites such as the Wright Brother Memorial, or look for the Lost Colony of Roanoke, they head to North Carolina’s Outer Banks, the place to find the state’s top natural attractions.
The Outer Banks of North Carolina is a line of barrier islands separating mainland North Carolina from the Atlantic Ocean. It was on the Outer Banks where the colonists led by Sir Walter Raleigh established a settlement in the New World – a settlement whose disappearance is still a mystery over 400 years later. It is also the place where the Wright Brothers successfully took flight back in 1903.
Covering over 70 miles of the Outer Banks is the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Known for the treacherous currents, which caused innumerable shipwrecks, the Cape Hatteras National Seashore offers a wealth of American history and some of the best surfing and fishing on the eastern coast. The 208-ft high Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, one of five significant lighthouses on the Outer Banks, is one our country’s most recognized landmarks and is open for climbing.
Visitors can explore the national seashores, the inlets, the sounds, and the history of North Carolina’s Outer Banks. From Corolla to Portsmouth with Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills, Nags Head, Roanoke Island, and Hatteras in between (just to name a few) outdoor enthusiast will enjoy the lighthouses, sand dunes, wildlife refuges, and the national seashores. Fly-fish or windsurf, on Pamlico Sound, observe waterfowl at one of the many Wildlife Refuges, take an auto tour, bike ride, go camping or hiking, snorkel or stargaze on North Carolina’s Outer Banks.