I'm heading to off to see my family in Aiken SC for a week, but after 24 hours I'm bored out of my skull. Anyone have any helpful hints on what to do in this area? I have a car so traveling a few hours is not a problem. Any toy shops, nightlife, or fleamarkets worth hitting up?
I will be going to Ashville NC later in the trip to see friends, anything in that area that I might be missing?

We were in NC recently and enjoyed spending a day in Kitty Hawk/Kill Devil Hills. Can't say I enjoyed other parts of the state so much. If you have time, my advice would be to drive north to Virginia.

yeah, we went to Raleigh Durham a few years ago for a conference at Duke, and it was pretty boring. Chapel Hill seemed like a nice college town, they had a strange space museum that was slightly interesting if you're interested in that type of history, but aside from that kind of boring.

i'd go with virginia too...lots more options!

I'll second Kitty Hawk.

i can vouche for the Outer Banks, NC. Its a bit far from asheville though.

Kill Devil Hills, Corolla, Duck, NagsHead, all have nice rental properties and its a nice town. We go there a few times a year to get away. I know someone with a nice beach house, outdoor shower, etc.. If anyone wants to rent it, i can put you in touch with the owner. He's a good friend. Its not all MTV'd out with "SENIOR WEEK BLAAAHHHHHHH!!!" idiots. There is a chill vibe. you can drink beers on the beach, have dogs on certain parts of the beach. the locals are all nice and the food is top notch. i rec. Outer Banks Brewing Station and Mama Kwan's. there are alot of other eclectic eateries all around as well.

ill shout at some friends i have in NC and see wha gwan in asheville.

brb

shit, aiken is way down there.

if you want city stuff to do, at least in NC, charlotte may be your best bet. raleigh/durham is gonna be another 3 to 3.5 hours from charlotte even

kill devil hills you might as well fly to from where you will be. that will be a 7 hour drive easily... maybe even 8

i went to a neat cigar bar in downtown charlotte for my bachelor party. there are a lot of bars downtown, but charlotte suffers from having WAY too many chain places. you really have to dig but you can find some fabulous southern food restaurants and that sort of thing all over

asheville is cool to check out the downtown area. there are good restaurants and local shops there

there are antique stores and little flea markets everywhere here. just gotta keep your eyes open. no toy stores that i know of that are good except maybe wootini near here in chapel hill. if you do make it all the way to raleigh, there is a flea market there every weekend that is pretty big. nothing worth driving 5 hours for though

maybe you should go to charleston

damn i need to move

what my friend had to say...(sorry its not much info)


It's a small town and fairly pedestrian friendly, so I would recommend just hoofing it around and checking stuff out. It's very hilly, so fair warning. : )

When in Ashville, don't forget to check out the Biltmore House..Those Vanderbilt's were livin large back then!

Thanks for all the help everyone. I have been to this area a few times, was just seeing if I was missing out on anything... Guess not.
I love ashville have been a few times, being vegan that place is heaven for me at meal time.
I will keep you posted if I find anything cool.

I recommend going to Mt. Pilot and looking up Skippy and Daphne, aka "The Fun Girls".
Well worth the drive!

The Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem is usually great.
Saw a pop art exhibit there a few years ago with a room filled with large scale Chiho Aoshima works. They had some cool Fred Tomaselli and Lari Pittman pieces at the time too.

Ashville has the Moog Factory and someday soon the Moogseum!