
Beneath the courthouse clock, downtown's historic storefronts house family-run shops where locals greet visitors by name. At Jones Lake State Park, canoes glide through cypress-dotted waters where Venus flytraps – those bizarre botanical oddities – snap shut along boggy shores. Alligators occasionally sun themselves on logs with impressive nonchalance. White Lake Water Park offers old-fashioned summer fun without pretension, while Lu Mil Vineyard pours generous samples in a setting that feels more like a friend's porch than a tasting room. Cape Fear River beckons paddlers with its tea-colored waters and abundant wildlife. Singletary Lake State Park rewards hikers with pristine Carolina bay lakes – mysterious geological features found nowhere else quite like here.


