5 North Carolina Towns with Magical Main Streets

NC’s mountains, Piedmont and coast harbor one-of-a-kind experiences in colorful towns and cities. Zip around a cable wakeboarding park. While away the afternoon playing vintage pinball machines. Or, for something a bit more refined, sip in a boutique tearoom or slumber in a renovated 1924 bank building.

Mountain Gems in Hendersonville 

In this charming Blue Ridge Mountain community, the sidewalks on Main Street are wide, and so is the variety of fun and flavors you’ll find in the area.

There’s always bumper-to-bumper traffic inside the Appalachian Pinball Museum on Main Street, where you’ll flip for more than 80 vintage pinball and arcade games from the past seven decades. It’s free to come in and look at the machines’ artwork and innards, or you can play them all day for a flat fee. Down the street, the People’s Museum and Walk of Fame, part of Hands On! Children’s Museum, celebrates BIPOC history and culture in Henderson County and honors the legacies of local trailblazers.

Just a couple of miles away, experience the joy of tea at A Southern Cup, a boutique tearoom serving some of the finest loose-leaf varieties and infusions. Afternoon tea includes sandwiches and assorted desserts. If you seek resort-caliber lodging, farm-to-table dining and luxury spa services, you’re in luck: The Horse Shoe Farm on the outskirts of Hendersonville nails it. Stay in a home, cottage or loft that’s your size and style, sample local flavors at The Silo Cookhouse, and get a massage in a converted stable.

Paddle a less-traveled stretch of the French Broad River with help from Lazy Otter Outfitters in Mills River. Set off in a kayak or canoe on a calm, uncrowded trip, including the Sierra Nevada Express to the namesake brewery. If you want to stay high and dry, take the short drive from downtown to Jump Off Rock for tree-framed mountain vistas.

Fresh Takes in Hickory

Historically a stronghold of furniture design and manufacturing, this city in the foothills also showcases the culinary arts, the fine arts and the art of relaxation.  

Get the lay of the land on the new Hickory Trail, a nearly 10-mile-long bike and pedestrian route that connects popular destinations throughout town and includes the serene Riverwalk over Lake Hickory along the Catawba River. Burgers, bento boxes, sushi and spirits tempt taste buds at Cowa Saké, a Japanese-style restaurant with sleek touches.

Do amazing grazing with help from Simply Jam’n Boards, creators of custom charcuterie boards, boxes and tablescapes for all kinds of snacking scenarios. Get a grab-and-go box or book a group charcuterie workshop. For more than 20 years, community coffeehouse Taste Full Beans has been bringing folks together to express themselves over espresso and smooth things over via smoothies. They’re also known for their scratch-made vegan and vegetarian munchies. Take your best shots – and maybe do a few – at Dive Bar, an adult-oriented arcade and billiards spot.

The Hickory Museum of Art was founded in 1944 with eight works. Today the collection encompasses more than 1,500 art objects, including Hudson River School paintings, Southern contemporary folk art, pottery, studio art glass and photography. Venture to nearby Newton to sample craft spirits and take a behind-the-scenes tour at family-owned-and-operated Warehouse Distillery.

Modernized Classics in Lexington

Lexington warrants more than a pit stop for its famous barbecue. Linger in longtime favorites, meet artisans with compelling backstories and take in nature’s bounty.

Although Speedy’s Barbecue has a new home less than a mile from its decades-old location, that’s the only thing that has changed. The place is still all about ’cue and the three Q's: quality, quantity and quick service. Prepare for extra-large portions of meat and crispy hush puppies. An apt candy-striped awning makes it easy to spy The Candy Factory, a nostalgic nexus of classic sweets, antiques and collectibles.

Yummy frosting and filling choices lure carb cravers to Red Donut Shop for long johns, fruit fritters and more. It’s run by brothers whose family escaped war-torn Cambodia in the 1970s, moved to America and learned to make doughnuts.

Wake your senses at Elevated Wake Park, the area’s first full-size cable wakeboarding park. The design makes it fun for beginners and expert riders. A small water park lets kids climb, jump and slide on a playground of floating inflatables. Whether your adventures lead you on the water or over dry land, Rock Outdoors has the gear you need: boats, kayaks and other watercraft (including rentals); fishing tackle and bait; equipment for hiking and camping; and apparel for active pursuits.

Hops and History in Kinston

Grin from beer to ear as you indulge in the sensory pleasures of this town on the Inner Coastal Plain. Taste rich flavors and hear echoes of earlier eras.

Crafting beers close to nature is the philosophy at Mother Earth Brewing, which uses locally grown hops and occupies an eco-friendly facility. Enjoy their Reef Keeper IPA and other happily hoppy offerings in a 100 percent solar-powered tap room and beer garden. The CSS Neuse Civil War Museum is an interpretive center housing the remains of a Confederate steam-powered gunboat built near Kinston. Thousands of artifacts were recovered from the scuttled vessel in the 1960s. 

Professional baseball in Kinston dates to 1908 and includes decades of Minor League teams playing for Major League affiliates. Today, you can watch the Down East Wood Ducks, a single-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers, play at historic Grainger Stadium. Celebrate the town’s African American musical heritage at Kinston Music Park in the Sugar Hill district where Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and James Brown’s band once played. See a large sculptural medley of famous performers from the region and stroll a walkway of song titles and lyrics.

Having taken over a 1924 bank building, The O’Neil’s hotel lobby retains the original vault (16-ton door and all), and one room features bunk beds built into a bank vault. You'll also dig Mother Earth Motor Lodge, a retro retreat named for its sister brewery. Built in 1963, it boasts Route 66-style neon signage, mid-mod furnishings and a pool set amid palm trees. 

Lore on the Shore in Beaufort

Three centuries’ worth of stories await in the state’s third-oldest town, once a fishing village and now a multifaceted jewel on the Crystal Coast.

Notorious pirate Blackbeard’s ship, Queen Anne’s Revenge, sank near Beaufort. View recovered artifacts – cannons, grenades, belt buckles and beads – at the North Carolina Maritime Museum. Unearth more of Beaufort’s 300-year history at Old Burying Grounds, established in the early 1700s. Along with weathered tombstones, see graves marked by shells, bricks and wooden slabs.

Go on a reconnaissance mission to Fort Macon State Park, a restored pre-Civil War fort in nearby Atlantic Beach. Tour the fort and watch a cannon or musket demo. There’s a beach for swimming and strolling, plus trails that traverse a salt marsh and dunes. A window to 18th- and 19th-century North Carolina opens up on guided tours through the homes and buildings of the Beaufort Historic Site. See where patriots, privateers, merchants and skilled tradespeople lived, plus a courthouse, jail and apothecary-doctor’s office.

If you’re fishing for a place to spend the night, Beaufort Hotel offers boutique accommodations in a waterfront setting where a factory once processed menhaden – “the fish that built Beaufort.” 

Continue to satisfy your sense of wanderlust with The Official 2024 North Carolina Travel Guide.