10 top holiday destinations? You decide

Retailers' early holiday merchandise has been on shelves for weeks, and travel promoters are now following suit. The Travel Channel has released its list of top 10 holiday attractions of 2014.

Most are too obscure or distant or expensive for the average family, but Manhattan/Brooklyn is a viable option -- and by December, San Diego may be looking more desirable than ever.

Here's their list, in alphabetic order:

Dyker Heights Lights, Brooklyn, N.Y.

The Brooklyn neighborhood that appeared in "Saturday Night Fever" sports elaborate light displays, including life-size ice skating figurines and 70-foot toy soldiers that move. Suggested times: 5 to 9 p.m. in mid-December.

12 Pubs of Christmas, Dublin, Ireland

Revelers make their rounds to 12 pubs in the Irish capital and guzzle a pint of a little more than just eggnog at each.

Sponza Palace, Dubrovnik, Croatia

The 1,000-year-old city on the Adriatic Sea  becomes a scene right out of a storybook starting on St. Lucy’s Day (Dec. 13). The Sponza Palace at the edge of Old Town’s walls hosts local artisans, musical performances, a cappella singers and traditional dance.

"George Balanchine’s 'The Nutcracker,' " Manhattan

A holiday traditions in the Big Apple is seeing the New York City perform the ate choreographer George Balanchine's version of "The Nutcracker," at Lincoln Center, from the day after Thanksgiving to Jan. 2.

North Pole, Alaska

This biggest attraction in this  actual hamlet in Alaska  is  Santa Claus House, a Christmas-themed gift shop with tons of ornaments, a 42-foot-tall Santa Claus statue and real reindeer you can visit.

Christkindlesmarkt, Nuremberg, Germany

At the world-famous Christmas market, more than 180 decorated wooden stalls sell decorations and such treats Nuremberg bratwurst, gingerbread and mulled wine. The trademark souvenir: Nuremberg "plum people" ‑- miniature figures made from prunes.

Reykjavik, Iceland (shown at the top of this post... but in a warmer season)

Visit the Christmas Village in Hafnarfjordur or Reykjavik's main Christmas market in Ingólfstorg Square for traditional Nordic holiday gifts, mulled wine and yuletide music. Don’t miss the northern lights that illuminate the sky this time of year.

Santa Claus Village, Rovaniemi, Finland

Rovaniemi, is a popular place in December where you can meet Santa Claus in his office, visit his post office and take a sleigh ride with traditional Sami reindeer.

Skating by the Sea, San Diego

Ice-skate by the Pacific Ocean at  on the lawn rink of San Diego’s landmark Hotel del Coronado. Skating sessions are offered daily from Thanksgiving through Jan. 4.  San Diego’s mild weather makes it easy for families to pair holiday festivities with the area’s kid-friendly attractions and activities.

Santa Claus, Ind.

The town's family-owned  amusement park, Holiday World, gets more than one million patrons annually and boasts three impressive wooden roller coasters.

MerleFest 2015 tickets go on sale Nov. 11

MerleFest -- one of the top annual  music festivals in the country -- has announced its 2015 dates, dozens of confirmed appearances, and that tickets will go on sale Nov. 11.

The event, held at Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, will be April 23-26. The four-day showcase of Americana music was started by legendary area native Doc Watson, to honor the memory and musical prowess of his son, Merle.

Sale of tickets begins Nov. 11 at 2 p.m.; they can be purchased online (www.MerleFest.org) or by phone (800-343-7857).

Initial early-bird tickets will be available through Feb. 15. Four-day reserved seating is $220 and $245; four-day general admission is $150. Per-day general admission for Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday: $40, $55, $60 and $45, respectively.

A second early-bird round -- with higher prices -- will be Feb. 16 through April 22. After that, the still-higher gate price will be in effect.

In all cases, four-day ticket passes are required to qualify for add-on parking and RV options.

Roughly 90 performers were  announced Monday.

The 13 stages at the festival feature a wide variety of "roots music," from traditional bluegrass and folk to styles tinged with Celtic (Scythian) and  rockabilly (Big Sandy and His Fly-Rite Boys). Top North Carolina-based acts announced Monday include Chatham County Line and the Kruger Brothers.

Among the headliners:

The Marshall Tucker Band, the pioneering Southern-rock stars known for such hit singles as “Can’t You See,” “Heard It in a Love Song” and “Fire on the Mountain.” 2015 will be their first MerleFest performance.

Bela Fleck and  his wife Abigail Washburn, shown above,  are internationally acclaimed banjo players. The genre-stretching Fleck is the winner of numerous Grammy awards.

Hot Rize, a bluegrass outfit of considerable note, recently released its first new album in 24 hears. Their lineup includes original members Tim O’Brien, Pete Wernick and Nick Forster, as well as Grammy-winning guitarist Bryan Sutton. They will be joined by Red Knuckles and the Trailblazers.

Del McCoury, a bluegrass legend, Grammy winner and  recent Bluegrass Hall of Fame.

The Gibson Brothers, two-time International Bluegrass Music Association Entertainer of the Year winners.

More performers will be announced.

Names, bios and MerleFest performance days of acts already scheduled can be found at http://merlefest.org/lineup

List of 10 "spookiest cemeteries in the U.S." includes three from Carolinas

A list of  10 "Spookiest cemeteries in the U.S." published at foxnews.com may have three from Louisiana at the top -- that's to be expected -- but also includes three from the Carolinas:

 1. St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, New Orleans. This famous graveyard was established in 1789 and is on the northern end of the city's ever-popular French Quarter. Visit on your own or on a guided tour. Because the land is so close to sea level, people are buried in above-ground tombs.

2. Lafayette Cemetery No. 1, also in New Orleans. It's small but also packed with above-ground graves.

3. American Cemetery, Natchitoches, La. This is another oldie and it shows up in scenes from "Steel Magnolias."

4. Woodpecker Hill, Colorado Springs, Co. Citizens were buried in the town's Greenwood Cemetery, Woodpecker Hill, on a bluff above it, is where convicts were laid to rest.

The next four are notable for holding the remains of many Civil  War soldiers.

5. Elmwood Cemetery and Gardens, Columbia (shown in the photo at the top of this post).

6. Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond Va.

7. Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia.

8. Woodland Cemetery, Bethel, Maine.

9. Bellevue Cemetery, Wilmington. It's spooky enough to be a site location for the  modern-gothic TV series "Sleepy Hollow," which is filmed in the area.

10. St. James Parish Cemetery, Wilmington. Founded in 1729, with many old headstones sheathed in moss, it looks the part.

Top scenic roadways include N.C. 12 on Outer Banks

Country magazine, a leisure travel publication that  specializes in drive vacations in America, released its 2014 list of "The Nation's Best Scenic Roads."

First on the annual top 10 is Outer Banks National Scenic Byway. Besides being pure eye candy, it's also the only highway on the list that's on a seacoast and the only one that's not overly far from civilization.

Here's the road roundup:

1. U.S. 12, Outer Banks National Scenic Byway. It begins in Nags Head and heads south along the Outer Banks to Ocracoke Island (shown above) and continues via ferry to Cedar Island. ( It also includes a ferry ride between Hatteras and Ocracoke islands).

2. Eastern Sierra Scenic Byway. It's U.S. 395 and follows the mountain range and deserts in eastern California from Topaz Lake, near the Nevada border, south to the China Lake area east of Bakersfield, Calif.

3. Monument Valley Scenic Drive. The Monument Valley area, in northeast Arizona and southeast Utah, is where westerns have been filmed for many decades.

4. Mount Hood Scenic Byway. It's the rugged northern edge of Oregon.

5. Kancamagus Scenic Byway. It's cut through the White Mountain National Forest, in New Hampshire.

6. Mich. 41, Keweenaw Peninsula. It's the rugged northern spur of Upper Michigan and extends into Lake Superior.

7. U.S. 195: "Heart of the Palouse." You'll find U.S. 195 on the eastern edge of Washington State, from Spokane south to the Snake River area.

8. Mount Evans ScenicByway. The "Road into the Sky" is the Colorado mountains.

 9. Grand Teton Loop. Another high-ground drive. This one's in Grand Teton National Park, south of Yellowstone National Park, in Wyoming.

10. Badlands Loop Road. It goes through part of Badlands National Park, in South Dakota.

Looking for more ideas? Check the website for My Scenic Drives.

Major craft event this weekend in Dillsboro

Seagrove isn't the only town in North Carolina that touts and salutes artisan pottery, and Asheville's Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands isn't the only notable clay-focused fall event.

The Western North Carolina Pottery Festival celebrates its 10th year on Nov. 1 with more than 40 master potters from across the eastern United States.

The event, staged in Dillsboro, has grown in attendance  as well as recognition: It's on the November list of attractions compiled by the Southeast Tourism Society.

The festival usually spotlights one featured potter, but this year they're pointing up two: Richard Aerni of Rochester, N.Y. and Nick Joerling of Penland. Both will join other exhibiting potters at the Saturday event in demonstrating their techniques throughout the day.

Joerling has maintained his studio in Penland, since the mid-1980s. He holds a master of fine arts in ceramics from Louisiana State University and has taught in craft programs in the United States and abroad. His work can be found in numerous public and private collections.

Festival hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., rain or shine. Admission: $5; 11 and younger, free. Attendees will each get a ticket for a day-long raffle; there will also be a silent auction that  benefits a local charity that provides meals to families.

Dillsboro is a picturesque town near the Tuckaseegee River, south of Cherokee, just under three hours west of Charlotte and off U.S. 23/74.

Be aware that a  preliminary event takes place Friday. The sixth annual WNC Clay Olympics competition is 1 to 5 p.m. Friday: It pits 20 potters against one another to see who can make the largest cylinder, widest bowl, etc.

Friday, of course, is also Halloween, and there's downtown Dillsboro trick-or-treating from 5 to 7 p.m. You'll also find hayrides and more. 

National kudos for Wilmington's waterfront

Readers of USA Today had the chance to do a "10 Best Readers' Choice" vote for the city with the best American riverfront, and when the results were released Wednesday, Wilmington won.

As USA Today correctly noted, "Because Wilmington is associated with the many barrier island destinations for which it serves as a gateway -- Wrightsville Beach chief among them -- the public often forgets it's actually a river city."

Along the Cape Fear River at Wilmington, you'll find the Henrietta III excursion boat (shown above), Battleship North Carolina and a 1.75-mile wood-plank Riverwalk, where a weekly farmers market and other outdoor events are staged throughout the year.

Which of the winners are within easy striking distance?

Wilmington is a  3 1/2-hour straight-shot drive from Charlotte via U.S. 74.

Savannah is four hours south of Charlotte, Interstate all the way.

Richmond, Va., is 4 1/2 hours northeast, Interstate all the way.

Also on the list is Chattanooga, Tenn., a 5 1/2-hour drive to the west, via any of several routes.

Here's the full list:

1. Wilmington

2. Spokane, Wash.

3. Davenport, Iowa

4. Dubuque, Iowa

5. Pittsburgh

6. Louisville, Ky.

7. Chattanooga, Tenn.

8. Savannah, Ga.

9. Detroit

10. Richmond, Va.

Beaufort, N.C.: A well-deserved "Favorite Place"

Another day, another best-places list.

Travel + Leisure magazine just released the results of its 2014 "America's Favorite Places" survey. As usual with best-of lists, the methodology of this virtual beauty contest is up for grabs.

But the list does make sense: They're all wonderful places -- starting with Beaufort, N.C., a charming and good-eating town that offers visitors a mix of nature and history. (Its waterfront is shown in the AP file photo above.)

Here's the full top-25 list:

1. Beaufort, N.C.

2. Ogunquit, Maine

3. Lewisburg, W.Va.

4. Aspen, Colo.

5. Santa Rosa Beach, Fla.

6. Charlottesville, Va.

7. Breckenridge, Colo.

8. Myrtle Beach

9. Paso Robles, Calif.

10. Tybee Island, Ga.

11. Bayfield, Wis.

12. Traverse City, Mich.

13. Portsmouth, N.H.

14. Pawleys Island, S.C.

15. Glenwood Springs, Colo.

16. Lake Placid, N.Y.

17. San Luis Obispo, Calif.

18. Bar Harbor, Maine

19. Gulf Shores, Ala.

20. Sonoma, Calif.

21. Hood River, Ore.

22. Estes Park, Colo.

23. Park City, Utah

24. La Jolla, Calif.

25. St. Augustine, Fla.

See any patterns?

Of these, 14 are on an ocean or one of the Great Lakes; six others are in mountain areas famed as skiing destinations.

And the five exceptions?

Lewisburg, W.Va. is an hour or more from the state's ski slopes, but is in a high-profile resort area (the famous Greenbrier resort is nearby) that has a lot of history  and culture. Lewisburg was featured this spring in a travel article in The Charlotte Observer.

Charlottesville, Va., is home to the University of Virginia and Thomas Jefferson's Monticello estate, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

San Luis Obispo is about halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco; it is one of California's oldest towns. Paso Robles is just to the north, is in an area with more than 30 wineries and tasting rooms.

Hood River, Ore., is a tourist magnet on the Columbia River Gorge area.

There's an after-result link where you can select your own favorite -- up to a point: Click the "Select a state" option and you'll see what towns you can vote on.

There are 32 in North Carolina; 17 in South Carolina.