Places knewc Wants to Go

The 15-foot-wide, 2-ton pan fries hundreds of chickens once a year.

A wedding chapel, vintage clothing shop, and bar all under one roof.

Ruins of an American Civil War iron forge still survive today.

Perhaps the oldest vine in North America, this sprawling plant helps make a sweet wine.

The highest point in North Carolina and the United States east of the Mississippi River, Mount Mitchell is named after argumentative explorer Elisha Mitchell.

This vast kitty-themed collection illustrates the history of human-cat interaction.

This North Carolina museum is keeping the pinball craze alive, with a little Space Invaders on the side.

North Carolina's finest examples of Native American pictographs have survived for 5,000 years.

Jule Körner's house full of bizarre architectural details.

Garden dedicated to native carnivorous plants and site of huge flytrap heist.

A curious collection of oddities including a lock of Alexander Hamilton's hair and Harry Houdini's ouija board.

A cabin completely covered in coffee mugs, where visitors are welcome to leave one of their own—if they can find an empty nail.

The enormous 250-room Vanderbilt mansion conceals hidden doors and secret passageways.

Gnarled canopies of pink and purple wildflowers arch over the trail to the summit.

Bigfoot prints, Feejee mermaids, and haunted dolls on display in a tiny North Carolina town.

These eerie outliers of the lightning bug family glow a mysterious blue color.

This road in the Great Smoky Mountains was supposed to assuage a displaced community, but ended up a $52 million dead end.

A psychological self-portrait in the form of a giant, segmented head.

This nine-story building can be played like an instrument.

This scented city oasis was a labor of love.

Wander through more than 20,000 square feet filled with an amazing collection of orchids.

Art Deco urban decay at this historical building.

In a pedestrian tunnel on North Carolina State’s campus resides an expressive and artistic free-for-all.

A museum dedicated exclusively to aircraft used in the military.