- This program is made possible in part by generous support from the American Battlefield Trust, connecting you to the places where our nation was forged.

Visit battlefields.org today.

[upbeat music] - Next on North Carolina Weekend, we're exploring ways to rest and recharge across the state.

We'll take in peaceful mountain views at the Firelight at Shope Creek, unwind at Heights House Hotel in Raleigh, and walk in the footsteps of history along the Overmountain Victory Trail at Lake James.

Coming up next.

- Funding for North Carolina Weekend is provided in part by Visit NC, dedicated to highlighting our state's natural scenic beauty, unique history, and diverse cultural attractions.

From the Blue Ridge and the Great Smoky Mountains across the Piedmont to 300 miles of Barrier Island beaches, you're invited to experience all the adventure and charm our state has to offer.

[upbeat music] ♪ - Welcome to North Carolina Weekend, everyone.

I'm Deborah Holt-Noel, and this week, we are taking you to places around the state where you can slow down, unwind, and recharge.

Today, we're at Heights House Hotel in Raleigh.

A nine-room boutique hotel and event space set inside a beautifully restored 1858 mansion with thoughtful design and a strong sense of place, it offers a quiet retreat right in the heart of our capital city.

This year marks their five-year anniversary, a milestone that reflects how the space has grown and evolved since its opening.

We'll learn more about it throughout the show, but first, if you're craving a true escape into nature, our next stop may be just what you're looking for.

Tucked in the mountains of Asheville, the Firelight at Shope Creek offers a wonderful escape surrounded by the sounds of nature.

Producer Linda Nguyen takes us there.

Just 20 minutes from downtown Asheville and only minutes from the Blue Ridge Parkway in Pisgah National Forest, you'll find Firelight at Shope Creek, a collection of peaceful, designed Ford cabins tucked into the trees, the kind of place you visit to truly slow down.

♪ Mornings here start quietly.

Maybe with a warm cup of tea before stepping into the outdoor sauna.

♪ Enjoy the heated floors on the way to a soak in your private hot tub.

♪ For breakfast, enjoy eggs from the chickens on site with fresh herbs from the farm.

♪ There are hiking trails for you to enjoy along the property.

♪ And in the evenings, cozy up in your living room with the fire in the wood stove.

- I think we both want people to feel really welcome and at ease and just feeling taken care of, which adults don't always have that feeling of being, like, taken care of and just relaxing.

♪ - I think one of the most memorable guests, it's actually an architect and his wife, and they started coming here, I think, right after we built the first two cabins.

And after they would leave, they would leave, like, these amazing, like, ink sketches of the cabins and the gardens like on a little, like, napkin or notepad.

And through the years, we just got to know them really well.

When we finished this final phase, we actually invited them to come back, and Brian sat at the pavilion and did a watercolor map of the entire property.

And that's on our website and in our book, and they're some of our favorite people.

♪ - So, Brownie was born in 2020.

He's always been really sweet and very special.

- When we were building the first two cabins, he would actually sit with the construction workers during lunch.

- And would often, like, sit on the stoop and look in the windows and doors and kind of-- he was sort of a project manager, I guess.

We're not exactly sure what happened, but at some point, you know, had some sort of injury, neurological, neurological issues.

- Yeah, yeah.

- He was getting picked on a lot because he wasn't able to move around much, and so we ended up moving him out of the coop, and now he lives in West Asheville.

[laughter] But I think through the years, we just always tried to figure out ways to help him move around a little bit more and had seen some online instructions on how to do a little chicken wheelchair.

He seems to-- he seems to enjoy it.

♪ - And when you're ready to venture out, downtown Asheville is just 20 minutes away.

We started the day with breakfast tacos at Taco Billy, a laid-back local spot that's perfect for an easy start to the morning.

♪ After that, we spent some time exploring shops like Spicewalla, picking up a few things to bring a little bit of Asheville back home with us.

♪ And of course, no trip here is complete without a stop at Chai Pani for James Beard Award-winning Indian street food.

♪ Both the space and menu are colorful and vibrant.

♪ So if you're looking to relax this summer, consider Asheville for the perfect balance of a lively downtown and a quiet, restorative stay.

♪ - Firelight at Shope Creek is located in Asheville at 39 Firelight Road.

For information about reservations, visit them online at Firelightcabins.com.

I'm here with Sarah Shepherd, co -owner of the Heights House Hotel in Raleigh, and it's so lovely to be here again.

People know that this is a very beautiful, elegant, charming space, but what's the guest experience?

- You can stay in lots of different places in Raleigh, but we really like to personalize our guest experiences when they're coming here.

It's small and unique, and it's a historic building, which I think is really special.

And there's so many included amenities.

We serve a lot of local restaurants things like bolted bread, pastries.

You can use our bikes to explore the city.

Dix Park is just at the end of the road as well.

Lots of greenways here.

We will even make you a picnic to go that you can put in your little basket on the bike.

- Oh, I love that.

- And set it up in Dix Park.

We just want it to be a really special experience, and people leave wanting to come back.

- Tell me more about the parlor and the bar and how you engage with the community.

- Yeah, so the parlor is open to the public every day but Monday, and it is Italian influence.

The architecture of the building is actually Italianate, so we really leaned into that when we were designing the house and the bar and the menu.

We just came out with spring and summer.

It's a really refreshing, really high-quality ingredient.

And then we have a lot of small bites, really, really good charcuterie boards, Italian cheeses and meats.

- Well, Sarah, now that you've been open for five years, what are some of the things that are new?

- One of the things that we, almost every weekend, is our afternoon tea offering.

So we make our in-house tea sandwiches, and then we get pastries and scones from Lucette Grace, which is an amazing bakery downtown.

- You have something called Sunday Sauce.

What's that?

- Yeah, so not every Sunday, but a lot of Sundays we will host a local chef, and they will make fresh pasta.

It's usually two dishes of meat and a vegetarian, and you can come in.

It's a normal parlor night, but we're just gonna have these amazing pastas, and we'll pair it with wine.

It's just a relaxed, perfect evening, fresh pasta and wine.

- What are you hearing back from visitors?

- You know, it's so nice, because since we are small, we get to connect so closely with the people that stay here, and I love having people return.

We really feel like a doorway to Raleigh, right?

We're gonna tell you where to go and where to experience, and, you know, we make friends with everybody and wanna make sure that they enjoy their time with us, but also in the city that we love so much.

- Well, Sarah, I'm delighted to be here again, and can't wait to look around some more.

- Thank you so much for coming.

(gentle music) - You'll find Heights House Hotel, Downtown Raleigh, a short drive or walk from popular attractions.

The parlor is open to the public every evening except Mondays.

For more details about reservations and special events, visit them online at heightshousenc.com.

Boone, North Carolina, has its share of visitors, courtesy of a very popular college and tourism that benefits from the beauty and wonder of the mountains.

Today, the Horton Hotel is part of that collective, offering a respite to weary travelers, thanks in part to its namesake and lover of all things Boone, Mr.

Henry W. Horton.

(gentle music) - He was the gentleman who built this building back in the 1920s.

He was very big into the tourism industry in Boone and kind of helped promote it a whole bunch.

- As tribute to the legacy of Mr.

Horton, he remains an important part of this building, a boutique hotel since 2019.

- He had a love and passion for horses, so we took this picture of him and did it in the style of John Lennon's doodles.

And that's how we came up with our little insignia guy.

- The hotel is located on popular King Street in downtown Boone, with 15 guest rooms and a unique interior fitting for a mountain retreat.

- Walking in the lobby, I was like, "Oh, this is nice."

- Yeah, I don't think there are any spots that have the same vibe as the Horton at all.

- Colorful, a different atmosphere than your cookie cutter chain hotels.

- This artistic boutique, lovely, comfortable, this beautiful hotel.

- Every room is unique to the Horton.

They're not all decorated exactly the same.

They do have a lot of the same features and furnishings to them.

In our caverns level, which is the lower level, we have five guest rooms down there.

These are pet-friendly rooms.

They all have slate tile floors to them.

A lot of them are windowless, so we do call them our serenity rooms because you can get the best night's sleep because there's no light intruding.

We do have one guest room here on the lobby level that is our ADA accessible room for as well.

Again, that one is carpeted.

It has a window to it.

You can see a view of Howard Street.

And then we have what we call the overlook, which is our second floor.

All of those rooms have hardwood floors to them.

They have subway tile bathrooms in them with glass shower doors on them as well.

And then we have the third floor, which we call the peaks.

And we have two suites up there that have floor-to-ceiling windows of King Street.

- The Horton also has two watering holes, the main level lounge bar, and another with quite a view.

- We're really just looking online for stuff to do around here.

We're looking for a rooftop bar.

And I figured we'd come check it out and see what it was about.

- Great little place.

Beautiful weather, mountains.

- You can basically see all of downtown Boone plus Howard's Knob.

- Those views often entice guests to venture out a bit, something the hotel is more than happy to help plan.

- We have a lot of partnerships with some of the community members as well.

And we offer experiences where they can go to Grandfather Mountain and we'll make sure that they have tickets and that they have snacks to bring with them.

We have one with River Girl Fishing where they can do a kayak trip.

And again, we make sure that they have beers to take with them down the road as well as snacks and things like that.

We do offer a lot of different kind of experiences that guests can add onto their reservation.

We're doing one with App Theater where they can do a movie night where we'll include popcorn and snacks and drinks for them and then tickets to a show as well.

- Mr.

Horton knew putting his building in the middle of town would be good for tourism.

And guests of the Horton today couldn't agree more.

- Yes, it's right on the main street.

It's close to everything.

- The sports stadiums are close.

The shopping is close.

The breweries are close.

Ice cream stores are close.

- You can come into town, get checked in, park your car in our parking lot and never have to get back into it again unless you want to.

Everything is within reach.

(upbeat music) - The Horton Hotel is located at 611 West King Street in Boone.

They're open year round.

For more information, give them a call or visit them online at thehorton.com.

In the mountain town of Hendersonville, we discovered a luxurious retreat called the Horseshoe Farm.

This family owned property features open views, a stable turned spa and communal farm to table dining that brings guests together in a truly unique setting.

(soft music) - What's important for me on the farm is that when guests come here, whether they're staying overnight or just visiting the spa or the restaurant for the day, that they feel like this is a place they can be themselves and take a deep breath, unwind, relax.

(soft music) It's kind of like the biggest gift of this place is being able to offer that for others and watch them experience it.

(soft music) - We are at the Horseshoe Farm located in Hendersonville, North Carolina.

We're an 85 acre farm resort.

(soft music) - We have lodging for up to 61 people in eight different homes.

(soft music) We have the stable spa, which is our full service luxury spa on a renovated stable.

(soft music) We have the silo cook house, which is our dining room here.

We do a modern farm to table dinner party every night for 40 people.

- We have taken our silo and cut out the bottom and we turned it into a bar so you can hang out there and just come relax and enjoy some time on the farm.

(soft music) - We were living in Los Angeles prior to this, had just started our family.

We have two small boys and my father asked me to come out and see the farm and I drove through the gates and I was just blown away by it.

(soft music) That was December, 2017.

July, 2018, we opened to a family of 50 that took the property for two weeks and it's kind of been like wildfire since then.

I thought I was just doing lodging and here we are close to five years later with the spa, with the restaurant, the pool and it's really morphed into this really beautiful farm experience.

(soft music) We're in the silo cook house here.

Which I call the heart of the farm.

It's our lobby, our lounge and our dining room.

We do dinner service here four nights a week.

It is a modern farm to table dinner party.

- In connection with all of the things we try and do to create the ultimate guest experience, my opportunity is to provide you with one of the best dining experiences that you can have.

At seven o'clock we have pasto hors d'oeuvres and cocktails and at 7.30, just like when this was a working farm, I ring the cook house bell and chef will talk about our first course.

And then the food all comes out at once.

So we all dine together.

It's so convivial and optimistic.

- You see every night, people are leaving with friends, with connections, with this like great experience.

The food is fabulous.

If it's not grown here from local vendors and farmers in the area.

- Jordan and I for years had been wanting to start some kind of a supper club.

The concept was just, okay, let's partner with a farm, a vendor, a purveyor for each month and we'll feature their product across a three course family style meal.

We'll have our chefs play with it and showcase it.

And it's been really incredible to see people take to that idea and really just learn more about what's in this community.

- We've done it with Lee's One Fortune, a Laotian farm that produces, who knew, the best rice I've ever had.

And we're doing another supper club with Carolina Ground.

Folks that right here in Hendersonville mill some of the best flour in the country.

When the sun's setting at nine o'clock at night in the summertime and you're sitting there and you're having your entree, it's just kind of like where else on earth would I rather be?

- One of the things that when I was drawn to this property, just like the magic of driving in here, was this idea of giving people a place to have space, to relax, to heal.

I knew I needed to find a place to make that happen.

And so the old stables were on the farm here and they're absolutely gorgeous.

And the first time I ever walked into them, I was like, why don't we convert the stable into a space?

- The Stable Spa is a unique and gorgeous space here on the Horseshoe Farm.

We offer a variety of massages.

We also specialize in a lot of esoteric services too, like cranial sacral, sound therapy.

We utilize the herbs and flowers that we grow here in our garden, in our services.

So we'll be making herbal and flower infused oils that we use in our treatments.

The whole energy of this property and this spa is so unique and so different from any other place.

I hope they'll take away the sense of calm and serenity combined with the massage or facial treatment that they got.

And when they leave, they're just gonna feel totally amazing and absolutely different from how they walked in.

- This is our home and we're raising our family here on this farm.

Every time a guest comes here, we feel like we're welcoming them into our home.

I mean, we started where we were the ones cooking dinner for our guests and we still are involved in all the little details, but it's grown and grown in this beautiful way.

And I hope that everyone who passes through here finds some connection, whether it's with the folks they came with, whether it's to themselves or the land, the animals, just taking that pause, making that memory and taking that with them as they go on their way and hopefully come back.

- The Horseshoe Farm in Hendersonville is at 155 Horseshoe Farm Drive.

For information about reservations, dining, spa services and more, call 828-393-3034 or visit them online at thehorseshoefarm.com.

Along Lake James, history and nature come together on Overmountain Victory Trail, where visitors can follow the path of American Revolutionary War soldiers.

And after a day on the trail, nearby Fonta Flora Brewery is the perfect place to enjoy a locally crafted beer.

Lucas Pruitt takes us there.

- This is the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail near Lake James in Nebo, North Carolina.

It takes its name from the militia that marched through the wilderness to confront more than 1,000 loyalists at the Battle of Kings Mountain.

But before that battle, something remarkable happened just a few miles from here.

In the fall of 1780, militia from Virginia, North Carolina, and what is now Tennessee marched for two weeks to converge on a single meadow under a tree that came to be known as the Council Oak.

But the men who gathered here would go on to do more than win one of the most consequential battles of the American Revolution.

Two would become founding governors of brand new states, Tennessee and Kentucky.

At least two would serve in the United States Congress, and some would help ratify the Constitution of the United States.

A week later, they won one of the most decisive patriot victories of the war at Kings Mountain.

Today, the Overmountain Victory Trail offers visitors two ways to experience the route, by car along public highways, or on foot along sections of the original path.

- So the Overmountain Victory is one of only 21 National Historic Trails in the United States.

What that means is that the story of what happened on this journey was deemed to be a history-shaping event.

Primarily, we are a motor route, a 330-mile driving journey, where you can drive the entire route or just a piece of it at a time.

We have a Western Trailhead in Abingdon, Virginia, an Eastern Trailhead in Elkin, North Carolina, these two branches meeting in Morganton, North Carolina.

Currently, we have about 60 miles of hiking trail spread across the four states that we travel through.

- At Lake James State Park, interpretive signs along the route mark key moments from the March in 1780, and sections are accessible to hikers of all levels, year-round.

- Of course, we have all these amazing small towns that we pass through with great shops, restaurants, great ways to not only experience the history of the trail, but the culture of the Appalachians.

- And just down the road, Fanta Flora Brewery in Nebo offers a place to rest and unwind after a hike.

- Our mission is to brew beer with a sense of place and agricultural purpose.

It was always my dream to have a brewery on a farm.

Falling in love with agriculture, falling in love with beer, really just wanting to marry the two together.

When you come here, our guests can have a beer that you can't really find anywhere else.

- It just has huge land, beautiful old buildings.

It has history here.

It's just lovely, and it's quiet, and beer is amazing.

- It's got a nice vibe.

It's very family-friendly, and there's lots of room to mess around and play frisbee and soccer, and lots of fun things.

- The atmosphere is really extraordinary, and it's kind of the perfect place to just be like, unplug, chill out, grab a beer.

[glasses clink] On one corner of our property, you can access the Overmountain Victory Trail.

- This is a piece of history that people can find in their backyards.

These men were building a new nation.

So as you're traveling along this route, it's this great reminder that wherever you see our logo, the brown and white triangle of the Overmountain Victory Trail, you are on a piece of this story.

- Some roads lead to history.

This one is history.

[upbeat music] ♪ - The Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail is part of the U.S.

National Trail System and North Carolina State Trail System.

Learn more about the trails at trails.nc.gov.

Fonta Flora Brewery has several locations, but the one nearest the trail is Whipper Wheel Farm in Nebo.

For more information about their brews and events, go to fontaflora.com.

Well, that's it for tonight's show.

We have had such a relaxing visit here at Heist House and have truly enjoyed showing you places to unwind and slow down across our state.

And if you've missed anything in tonight's show, remember you can always watch us again online at pbsnc.org, and you can find all of our stories on our YouTube channel.

Have a great North Carolina weekend, everyone.

[upbeat music] ♪ - Funding for "North Carolina Weekend" is provided in part by VisitNC, dedicated to highlighting our state's natural scenic beauty, unique history, and diverse cultural attractions.

From the Blue Ridge and the Great Smoky Mountains across the Piedmont to 300 miles of Barrier Island beaches, you're invited to experience all the adventure and charm our state has to offer.

- This program is made possible in part by generous support from the American Battlefield Trust, connecting you to the places where our nation was forged.

Visit battlefields.org today.

(upbeat music)