BeardedWriter

The inaugural @feastwilmington food festival is in the books and it was fantastic. Great job to @jdmaurer and the team from @wilmington.mm who piulled this together, putting on a fantastic weekend on a tight timeline. Every every event and tasting was packed with people and fantastic bites. Excited to see how Feast evolves and serves up the flavors of Wilmington and the Cape Fear region next year. #feast #foodfest #ilm #wilmington #northcarolina

A few@things I'm working on: the story of a North Carolina fisherman and his efforts to spread the gospel of seafood, Wilmington's historic Thalian Hall, and a restaurant in Boone serving Appalachian cuisine. #travelwriter #tvstorytelling #ouratate #ncweekend #pbs #travelwithmoon #tarheeltourist #onlyinnc #visitnc

I will forever be in awe of the ice in Antarctica. Miles thick. Millions of years old. Improbably blue or clear or crystalline white. #iceberg #itsice #berg #antarctica #adventure #travel

On Detaille Island, an Antarctic Research Station stands alone. Preservationists and historians, on site to repair and catalogue the structure, found a place abandoned on a moment's notice: magazines unread, food spoiling on the shelves, bottles of spirits left to evaporate in the cold, games only just begun. Why would they leave so fast? Ice growing in the bay and the dark growing longer each night drove them to pack the dogsleds and make a long trek over the ice to a waiting ship. #detailleisland #antarctica #lovecraft #mountains of madness #travel #games #ghoststory #scrabble

Iceberg, sunset: Antarctica, 2024. #sunset #iceberg #antarctica #travel #togetherwewillliveforever

At Antarctica Research Station Y on Horseshoe Island, many of the rocks are laced with malachite. The green veins add an otherworldly element to this already otherworldly place. #antarctica #horseshoeisland #malachite #geologyrocks #whitecontinent #travel #adventuretravel #tarheeltourist

Made it to Antarctica and I'm not sure how to describe the beauty of this landscape, and I'm not sure my pictures will do it justice, so here's a shot of me with some icebergs and mountains in the background. (Without the amazing eye - and thumb - of @estherjulee - you'd never get to see this face) #antarctica #travel #phish #sevenbelow #antarcticcircle #expeditioncruise #travel #endsoftheearth

We made it to Ushuaia! So did this dude on his motorcycle. Way to go, motorcycle dude! Antarctica, here we come. (Note: not clear if motorcycle dude will be driving to Antarctica). #ushuaia #argentina #patagonia #antarctica #travel #tarheeltourist

There are a lot of exciting projects coming along in 2024 - new books about our national parks, hikes and towns to highlight, video stories to tell about North Carolina's amazing food and people - but I'm most excited about this book from @taylorbrown82. "Rednecks" tells the true history of a word used as a pejorative, one that demeans people and moves so far from the spirit and stories of its roots that you'll be surprised. It's a story of war in the mountains, the greed of evil men, and of woods and waters of West Virginia. I'm proud to have contributed in small ways to this novel, set in my home county of Logan, WV, and I can't wait for the novel to hit shelves. Fabulous work as always, Taylor. #newbooks #rednecks #westvirginia #bloodyblair #umwa #union #thismachinekillsfascists #motherjones #loganwv #novel

While traipsing around the Caribbean on the Royal Clipper, did I scurry up to the crow's nest like a spider monkey when offered the chance? You bet. On days when the wind and weather allows, guests can slip into a climbing harness and climb the rope ladders to the crow's nest, and from that perch about 100 feet off the water, enjoy some amazing views. And they get to say the climbed to the crow's nest of a huge sailing ship. How cool is that? #starclippers #royalclipper #starclipperssailings #caribbean #clippership #crowsnest #travel #tarheeltourist

Sailing on the Royal Clipper and today we did something special: met up with and raced sister ship, Star Flyer. That beautiful four-masted clipper didn't stand a chance against us. With five masts under full sail, we put Star Flyer and her passengers and crew in our wake in no time. #starclippers #sailing #caribbean #comesailaway #royalclipper #starflyer #travel #explore #sailboat #tarheeltourist #travelwithmoon

Do you need to go to @eoddistillery today for some fantastic barbecue from @lawrencebarbecue? Yes indeed. End of Days' @conceptkitchenco is open and Durham's own Lawrence Barbecue is slinging brisket sammies, pulled pork, roast turkey, some killer apps to share (like pork belly burnt ends and @n.sea.oysterco oysters), and to-die-for sides (I can't decide between the broccoli Caesar or the fancy boy Brussels sprouts so I get them both). #barbecue #lawrencebbq #eod #endofdays #cargodistrict #ilm #910 #wilmington #visitnc #travelwithmoon #travelwriter #foodwriter #tarheeltourist

I think the @artomat is about the coolest upcycled object I've ever seen. These former cigarette vending machines are refurbished and loaded up with cigarette pack-sized art and objects from local creatives. Put your money in, select your mystery art from the samples provided, pull the knob and you get some art. Simple. Born in Winston-Salem, NC, they're all across the US and a handful of other countries. #artomat #winstonsalem #art #vendingmachine #travel

Happy Halloween from my neighborhood's always fun @littlefreelibrary. Thanks @moodwells_little_free_library for being awesome. (I have to admit it, sometimes I do slip one of my books in there. Signed, of course) #littlefreelibrary #halloween #wilmington

Went to the top of Old Rag Mountain in @shenandoahnps the other day. Beautiful - and windy - up top and totally worth the effort. Full report later on this at time grueling hike. #nationalparks #findyourpark #shenandoah #shenandoahnationalpark #getoutside #hiking #oldrag #virginiaisforlovers #virginia #travelwithmoon #newbookcoming #tarheeltourist