Places mgraynernz Wants to Go

Mile-long cave system near Great Smoky Mountains.

This 19th-century building inadvertently preserved the handprints of its builders within its walls.

A recreation of the doomed ocean liner in the middle of the Smoky Mountains.

This high point in the Great Smoky Mountains is said to be home to the chief of all bears.

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

Step back in time on this preserved 1800s farm.

Some North Carolina Cherokee have been keeping their history alive for decades with a single play.

One of the last remaining pedestrian suspension bridges in North Carolina.

Mysterious ancient boulder carved with petroglyphs in the mountains of Western North Carolina.

On a clear afternoon, you can see mountain peaks more than 40 miles away from this clearing in the Pisgah National Forest.

This granite rock face is named for the magnificent reflection that occurs when the sun hits it just right.

Who needs fancy modern water slides when this giant North Carolina rock works just as well?

A 17th-century bezoar, dirt from an infamous site, and other curios decorate this unusual bar.

A nourishing complex of found object art, paintings, and sculptures that celebrate key figures in Black history.

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

Every week, a festive public jam session breaks out in downtown Asheville.

Chef Ashleigh Shanti serves up a classic Appalachian fish fry.

A railroad tunnel that, upon its completion, was considered one of the engineering marvels of the modern world.

An organ located deep within a cave, whose "pipes" are the geological features of the cave itself.

The National Park Service’s best-kept secret with views that rival any in D.C.

A glimpse of the Pacific Northwest‘s indigenous culture in Washington, D.C.

D.C. once had its own tiny rival to the New York Stock Exchange.

The bank that helped fund the Mexican-American War and the purchase of Alaska met its downfall after helping Augusto Pinochet launder money.

A monument in Washington D.C. marks the spot from which all other roads were supposed to stem.