North Carolina is famous for mountains, rivers, the Wright brothers, and beaches! The best beaches are on the Outer Banks, sandy islands with the Atlantic on one side and a river on the other. Cape Fear is renowned for the movie of the same name, and is an extremely popular destination, but if you'd rather relax it may be too popular. Drive across Snow's Cut Bridge to Pleasure Island, and down to its southern tip. There you'll find Kure (pronounced CUR-ee) Beach, this week's best beach.

Kure Beach is both a town and a beach, and if you decide you want to stay longer than a day (and you probably will) you'll have no problem finding a beach cottage or ocean-front condo to rent, or a motel for a shorter stay. There are plenty of shops and great restaurants that range from 5 star to inexpensive, but always tasty, in this town of about 1,800. If they're not enough for you, it's a short trip back to Wilmington. But if you're a beach-lover, you'll just want to spread out your towel and stay.

The sands of Kure Beach are open and unspoiled, and you can sunbathe, amble along looking for shells, or just admire the ocean without constantly tripping over people. There are hiking trails and some fascinating vegetation, including the Venus flytrap. Kure Beach is also a great place for surfing or sailboarding, and it's one of the best spots along the Outer Banks for fishing. The town has a 700+ foot pier, one of the best on the east coast, and you're guaranteed to catch something. If you'd rather look at fish than catch them, visit the North Carolina Aquarium, also on Kure.

Carry all your beach needs in this spacious and stylish tote from JanSport. Keep your feet happy on sand, trail or water in these Sun Chill Thongs from Columbia. Catch everybody's eyes while you're catching rays in the shirred tubini with matching twist front hipster in Holly Berry from Tommy Bahama's Sunkissed collection. Pack water, sunscreen, and shades and you're ready to hit Kure Beach.

We spent a month hiking in the Blue Ridge Mountains traveling the Blue Ridge Parkway which connects Shenandoah National Park in Virginia with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina. We had amazing hikes but one that was very special was actually different from any I've hiked. I had never heard of a privately owned mountain but Grandfather Mountain in Linville, North Carolina is privately owned.

It is also the highest peak in the Blue Ridge Mountain area at almost 6,000 feet. Grandfather Mountain with 12 miles of trails isn't just for hiking; however, it is a tourist attraction and a nature preserve.

As a privately owned mountain you will have to pay to hike! One ticket includes the Mile High Swinging Bridge which I'll talk about in a moment. There are other exhibits that are great for children. You'll find picnic tables and guided tours as well as a restaurant and gift shop.

The hours for various activities are different so I'll point you to the website for hours and phone number. The fees are $14.00 for adults; $12.00 if you are over 60; $6.00 for children 4 to 12 and under 4 go in free. We thought $14.00 was a lot to hike but it's really a very special place and I recommend Grandfather Mountain. If you have AAA you'll save a couple of dollars.

We got to Grandfather Mountain at 9:00a.m. It was really cool and windy. We went into the very nice Visitor Center where I was told that it is always windy at Grandfather Mountain and it gets windier and cooler as you get higher so I really recommend layers of clothes. In fact the average summer temperature is only 68 degrees.

We parked in the lot and headed to what looked like the main trail. There were many caution signs saying that Grandfather Mountain is dangerous (There are short easy hikes from here though)) and to wear hiking boots. They urge children not to climb (Although we saw at least two but they were experienced.) Our hiking book told us that there were 7 ladder. (Ladders used in hiking are there because the mountain is too steep to climb- unless you're a goat- so ladders are built into the mountain!) There were cables to help climb up the ladder. It can be scary and nerve racking though truth be told my husband was more nervous than I was. The book went on to tell us we'd be on one precipice and one unnerving ladder but as it turned out we loved this hike and rate it in the top 5 hikes we have done. It took us 3 ½ hours round trip to hike 2 miles!

We hiked McCrea Peak (There are many peaks but the sky was getting cloudy and we didn't want to have to climb down wet ladders, which at the time we thought we would have to do.) You may want to go all the way to Calloway if the weather is nice. We encountered a snake and had been warned there were poisonous snakes on the mountain but when we got down we found out this guy was a good guy.

We did a really dumb thing which you can avoid if you're reading this. We like loops i.e. not in and out hikes but different scenery and terrain going up and down. Rather than going back the way we came we avoided the ladders and took Underwood Trail which as it turned out was not only a bit longer than the ladders but made up of boulders. The going was tedious, tough and not very pretty. . We had one long ladder with no rails that was steep but once we connected with Grandfather Trail we had bypassed the ladders. I'd go down the way I went up next time!

We headed over to the swinging bridge. The Mile High Swinging Bridge was built to give visitors a view of Grandfather Mountain's Linville Peak. It was a great view especially knowing we had been on the mountain even if we hadn't been on Linville Peak. The bridge is a 228- suspension bridge so yes it does move and goes over an 80-foot chasm over a mile up. You'll be climbing 50 steps to get to the Bridge; walk on rocks and really just enjoy the views. Enjoy this beautiful and challenging hike.

Please leave only footprints, take only pictures and kill only time.