Places spocksackmary Wants to Go

A curious blend of taxidermy, antique tools, creationism, and a purported antediluvian rock.

Don't be surprised if you see a long-necked dinosaur peeking out from among the trees in Northgate Park.

A museum dedicated to the legacy of Bob Moog and his pioneering synthesizers.

Step back in time on this preserved 1800s farm.

Burial site more than 300 years old.

An annual celebration of the region's successful elk reintroduction program.

This ceremonial mound is one of the first officially recognized Native American historical sites in North Carolina.

The final resting place of the hundreds of bodies originally buried where Badin Lake sits now.

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

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

This roadside attraction has been serving out its fair share of hearty folklore and chaos since 1858.

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

A mountaintop space observatory that is certified dark.

This Transylvania County city is home to a rare white squirrel population that is descended from an escaped carnival animal.

The scant remains of this flooded historic village can be explored in one of the most remote areas of the Great Smokies.

This rare basilica nestled right in downtown Asheville is an architectural marvel, inside and out.

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

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

One of the best places to see wild Colonial Spanish Mustangs in the United States.

This bright yellow relic is the final survivor of a short burst of seashell-shaped petrol pumps.

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

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

A sculptor's dream castle turned fantastical ruin.

This woodland architectural installation acts as a camera obscura for the heavens.