Travel & Vacation Guide, North Carolina

By James Wills

Recognized as the ‘Sailing Capital of North Carolina’, the serene, maritime village of Oriental offers several tournaments and regattas throughout the Spring, Summer and Autumn months.

Regattas, Tournaments and So Much More in Oriental, North Carolina

Every year in late-April/early-May, The Oriental Dinghy Club of North Carolina holds their Annual Spring Regatta on the waters of the Neuse River. Large and small boat owners alike are invited to race and everyone can take part in the variety of social gathering events held throughout the weekend. The Oriental Dinghy Club also sponsors several more races throughout the seasons including the SOLO Race in October which welcomes boaters from near and far.

Early June is typically the time for the Oriental Cup Regatta, also referred to as the ‘Premier Sailing Event of the Year’. The weekend includes not only sailboat racing, but a full calendar of events that includes a Welcome Picnic, live music, fabulous food, dancing and more. The registration fee also provides you with one Regatta souvenir T-shirt and two ‘land passes’ allowing complimentary entry to all meals and events! All proceeds benefit the Bill Harris Memorial Scholarship Fund.

Taking place every year during the last weekend in July, The Rotary Club of Oriental sponsors their Annual Tarpon Tournament. It is the sport-fishing event of the year here, with cash and prizes totaling over $20,000! And the proceeds benefit a great cause – The Oriental Rotary Scholarship Fund.

Whether you enjoy entering in or just watching boat races and regattas, Oriental NC may be the place for you – visit it and see for yourself!

Visit our Sailing and Regattas Oriental NC website at http://www.orientalnc.com/

By Doug Gelbert

With the Revolutionary War stalemated in the North in 1778, the British strategy to win the war shifted to the South. Georgia and South Carolina were completely under British control by 1780. Nathanael Greene, an ironmaster by trade, self-taught in the art of war and George Washington’s hand-picked commander of the Southern Department, was determined to keep North Carolina out of British hands.

From his base in Virginia Greene harassed the British as their attack spread northward. Pursued by a frenetic Lord Cornwallis, Greene selected sloping ground near Guilford Courthouse to make his stand. He aligned his superior force of 4,000 men – of which scarcely one in five had ever seen battle action – in three lines to receive the British assault on March 15, 1781.

The first line, manned by inexperienced North Carolina militia, was quickly brushed aside and fled. Breaking through the second Patriot line, however, required savage fighting and by the time the redcoats reached Greene’s last line, Cornwallis was becoming desperate. As the fighting raged Cornwallis directed his artillery to fire grapeshot over his own lines into the melee of friend and foe alike. The harsh directive to fire into his own troops dispersed the Americans and saved his army.

Greene retired from the field. Technically the loser, his losses had been light. Cornwallis kept the field but lost the war at Guilford Courthouse. His army limped on to Wilmington, convinced that conquering Virginia would collapse the Revolution. Greene let him go and moved southward to reconquer South Carolina and Georgia, confident that American troops assembling in Virginia would destroy Cornwallis – which they did seven months later in Yorktown.

Begun in 1887, the 220-acre park was later established in 1917 as the first battleground of the American Revolution to be preserved as a national military park.

The military park is a local popular dog-walking destination with level, leafy paths to hike with your dog in a suburban environment. Nothing remains of either the small wooden courthouse or the community of March 15, 1781 but the dog- friendly grounds are among the most decorated of Revolutionary battlefields, graced by twenty-eight monuments.

The most impressive monument you see as you hike wit your dog is the large equestrian statue of General Greene, sculpted by Francis H. Packer. Unveiled on July 3, 1915, it bears Greene’s words: “We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again.”

You can find Guilford Courthouse National Military Park on New Garden Street in Greensboro, North Carolina. Directional signs lead you in from I-85 and I-40.

I am the author of over 20 books, including 8 on hiking with your dog and the widely praised The Canine Hiker’s Bible. As publisher of Cruden Bay Books, we produce the innovative A Bark In The Park series of canine hiking books found at http://www.hikewithyourdog.com Articles in the Doggin’ America series of dog-friendly parks can be found at http://www.DogginAmerica.com During the warm months I lead canine hikes for hikewithyourdog.com tours, guiding packs of dogs and humans on hiking adventures. Tours, ranging from one-day trips to multi-day explorations, visit parks, historical sites and beaches. My lead dog is Katie, a German Shepherd- Border Collie mix, who has hiked in all of the Lower 48 states and is on a quest to swim in all the great waters of North America – http://web.mac.com/crudbay/iWeb/Katies%20Blog/Katies%20Quest.html