• Great Smoky Mountains and Blue Ridge Parkway are getaway destinations in North CarolinaOn Top of old Smoky image by Ian Shorr from Fotolia.com
  
  North Carolina sights run the gamut from mountains in the northwest to ocean beaches in the east. Travelers can find good urban dining, museums and shopping in towns such as Charlotte and Raleigh. The state's broad range of options means that when looking for a place to get away for an inexpensive weekend, the decision comes down to what you like to do.
  
  

Greaty Smoky Mountains National Park-Asheville

• The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, tucked into the northeastern corner of the state and spilling over into Tennessee has enough trails to hike and historic cabins and barns to check out to fill a weekend. Walk through the woods to a waterfall or do the eight-mile round-trip to Charlies Bunion on the Appalachian Trail.
  
  A visit here is wallet friendly. It is among the few highly visited national parks without an entrance fee. Even better when looking for an inexpensive getaway, visitors can camp overnight. The April 2010 fee ranged from $14 to $23. Reservations are required.
  
  Bryson City lodging near the park entrance at Deep Creek typically requires a three night minimum stay ranging from $65 to $125 a night as of April 2010. If looking for single night and two night options, the chain hotels along Tunnel Road in Asheville range from $60 to $114. Asheville is also a good jumping off point to drive the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway.
  
  

Charlotte

• Charlotte, south of the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina's Piedmont, is an urban town of fine restaurants, museums and shopping, and home to the NASCAR Hall of Fame on the north side, known as Uptown. Carowinds, an amusement park, is just south of town near the Interstate 485 Bypass and I-77.
  
  What to do here depends on your schedule. Carowinds is open from the last weekend in March through the last weekend of October. If you enjoy up-close baseball without major league ticket prices, catch a Charlotte Knights game April through September. The Knights are the Chicago White Sox's triple A team. The stadium is south of Carowinds just over the state border in South Carolina.
  
  For a weekend anytime of the year, Charlotte's draw as of May 11, 2010, is the NASCAR Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame is in Charlotte's CenterCity area, which is the place to go for entertainment day or night. See a movie at an EpiCenter Theater, bowl at Strike City and check out Whiskey River, Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s nightclub.
  
  Charlotte's hotels always have special offers to make a weekend here affordable. For example, as of April 2010, seniors get 20 percent off the AARP rate at a Holiday Inn Express near Carowinds and the Knight's Stadium, and Wingate by Wyndham Airport has a $69 rate as of April 2010 that includes breakfast. Some bed and breakfasts outside Charlotte also offer affordable accommodations and they always include breakfast. For example rooms at East Main Guest House Bed & Breakfast Inn in Rock Hill south of Charlotte were $89 to $109 as of April 2010.
  
  If going to Carowinds, try The Intimidator, a roller coaster opened in 2010 inspired by Dale Earnhardt that reaches a speed of more than 80 mph. The ride also has a 211-foot drop. As of April 2010, Carowinds has discount tickets of $22.99 for people shorter than 48 inches and for people 62 and older. Tickets purchased online are $39.99.
  
  East Main Guest House Bed & Breakfast Inn
  600 E. Main St.
  Rock Hill, S.C. 29730
  803-366-1161
  eastmainsc.com/
  
  Carowinds
  14523 Carowinds Blvd.
  Charlotte, NC 28273
  704-588-2600 or 800-888-4386
  carowinds.com
  
  

Wilmington and Cape Fear Coast

• Going to Wilmington, North Carolina, and exploring its Cape Fear Coast is to go back in time or take refuge at seaside towns. Wander Wilmington's 67 acre Airlie Gardens for just $5 admission or tour the antebellum Bellamy Mansion for $10. Learn about Cape Fear's history and ecology at the Cape Fear Museum for $6. Or sight-see the town's historic district and cobblestone streets. Gallery hop with more than art in mind at Fidler's Gallery to see art and clocks, at Bottega for ar work and a sip of wine, and at the WHQR Gallery because it has art shows and is a local radio station.
  
  Drive the Cape Fear Coast onto Pleasure Island and Carolina Beach and Kure Beach to walk and snap seascapes. If early, pick up warm doughnuts at Britt's Donuts on the Carolina Beach boardwalk. Drive further south to the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher and explore the Fort's Civil War relics. A few bed and breakfasts and some chain hotels in Wilmington and on the coast listed rooms for less than $100 as of April 2010.
  
  

Raleigh

• Consider spending a weekend in North Carolina's capital city of Raleigh. The city is known for its free attractions. You can visit the North Carolina State Capitol, a Greek Revival building completed in 1840, to hear about its ghost and secret rooms. Stop at the Visitor Center for information on self-guided and other tours of the Capitol Building and the Executive Mansion, an 1891 Queen Anne Victorian. Also free are the J.C. Raulston Arboretum at North Carolina State University and the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Gardens. Wander the 164 acres of Museum Park at the North Carolina Museum of Art to see its sculptures. Then go into the art museum, which reopened April 2010 after a major expansion. Both the park and the museum have free entry.
  
  To keep the lodging rate affordable range consider staying outside of Raleigh in Apex southwest of town between US Highways 1 and 64 or in Cary, west of the city near New Chapel Road. Many of the chain hotels and bed and breakfasts in these towns ranged in April 2010 from $69 to $99 a night before figuring in AAA membership or senior rates.