[00:00:16.640] 
[music]

[00:00:14.600] 
- [Narrator] The Englishman
who established the first

[00:00:17.000] 
tenuous foothold on the vast continent
of America, not far from this beach,

[00:00:23.560] 
called the region the goodliest land
under the cope of heaven.

[00:00:27.520] 
That poetic exclamation was evoked
by what they saw about them—

[00:00:32.400] 
broad, gentle rivers,

[00:00:34.120] 
the rich promise of a virgin land.

[00:00:36.957] 
[music]

[00:00:39.200] 
What they could not then see—

[00:00:41.320] 
the great sweep of inland coastal plains
with its verdant forests of oak and pine,

[00:00:48.560] 
the undulating rise of the midlands,

[00:00:52.440] 
the awesome grandeur
of mountains in the west—

[00:00:55.520] 
confirm a certainty that profound [?].

[00:00:59.280] 
All that those earliest settlers saw,

[00:01:01.720] 
and all that they did not see, remain now
much as it was then. 

[00:01:05.971] 
And there's more.

[00:01:08.440] 
So after four centuries,

[00:01:10.280] 
that first description is more
definitive than ever before.

[00:01:14.200] 
[music]

[00:01:31.100] 
[actors singing]

[00:01:35.760] 
Twice Sir Walter Raleigh tried

[00:01:37.920] 
to establish colonies in this
coastal region of North Carolina.

[00:01:42.440] 
Twice those star crossed endeavors failed.
[loud crashing noise]

[00:01:46.028] 
[crowd screaming]

[00:01:52.920] 
But they left a history and heritage
that cannot be supplanted.

[00:01:57.480] 
The story of those settlers who vanished
into the wilderness without a trace

[00:02:01.520] 
is told in the outdoor
drama The Lost Colony

[00:02:04.560] 
each summer on Roanoke Island.

[00:02:09.400] 
[actors singing]

[00:02:14.680] 
 - [Actor] Let the wilderness drive us forth as
wanderers across the earth,

[00:02:14.680] 
scatter our broken bones upon these sands.

[00:02:14.680] 
They shall not kill the
purpose that brought us here. 

[00:02:14.680] 
And down the centuries that wait ahead, 

[00:02:14.680] 
there'll be some whisper of our name.

[00:02:14.680] 
Some mention and devotion
to the dream that brought us here. 

[00:02:30.360] 
And now,

[00:02:32.240] 
into the hand of God we commend us.

[00:02:35.829] 
[music]

[00:02:39.386] 
[music]

[00:02:44.200] 
- [Narrator] Although North Carolina's
past is steeped in history,

[00:02:47.360] 
it's the present that makes
the Goodliest Land so meaningful to so many.

[00:02:51.480] 
And the phrase "variety vacation land" is
the current catch line that expresses

[00:02:56.240] 
the full range of exciting
things to do and see.

[00:03:00.040] 
Each year, thousands find refreshing
solace and solitude on the fragile

[00:03:04.240] 
perimeter of islands, or banks, extending
from the northeastern corner of the state

[00:03:09.000] 
to its southern peninsula
nearly three hundred miles away.

[00:03:12.757] 
[music]

[00:03:18.960] 
The largest island in this chain
of Outer Banks is Hatteras.

[00:03:20.680] 
Extending some
seventy miles along this island

[00:03:23.800] 
and embracing more than
twenty-eight thousand acres

[00:03:26.200] 
of beach and dunes is
the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

[00:03:30.640] 
Commercial enterprise is prohibited,
leaving a vast, tranquil area of clean,

[00:03:35.680] 
uncluttered beaches and dunes
for camping, fishing, and hiking.

[00:03:40.671] 
[music]

[00:03:43.760] 
South of Hatteras is
the island of Ocracoke,

[00:03:46.520] 
most remote populated
link in this chain of islands.

[00:03:50.240] 
Ocracoke Village

[00:03:51.360] 
snuggles around Silver Lake,
once a frequent rendezvous point for such

[00:03:55.760] 
infamous eighteenth century pirates as
Blackbeard, Stede Bonnet, and Calico Jack.

[00:04:02.800] 
On these banks are many fishing villages

[00:04:05.200] 
that have yielded slowly
to change over the years.

[00:04:08.640] 
The fascinating history of this region

[00:04:11.143] 
 is stored in the
memories of sturdy outlanders

[00:04:13.880] 
who trace their lineage
to the earliest days of our nation.

[00:04:18.080] 
- [Avon Local] I was born
here in Avon, North Carolina,

[00:04:20.057] 
in the year 1892
and I've spent practically my entire

[00:04:24.120] 
life out here on the island. 

[00:04:27.440] 
I remember most all the
storms in my lifetime here.

[00:04:33.440] 
Probably the great August
storm was the most fierce

[00:04:36.480] 
hurricane in the memory of any
of the people living along the banks.

[00:04:41.440] 
Ships by the scores beached.

[00:04:47.800] 
Their cargos was littered
up and down the beaches. 

[00:04:49.680] 
Now during my lifetime
that I have lived out here, 

[00:04:53.800] 
there's been a great community.
They all love each other.

[00:04:58.680] 
They're always ready to take their heart

[00:05:03.080] 
towards the willow trees and
play the great music of Avon [?].

[00:05:09.240] 
And the people are coming down here
by the millions to see we people

[00:05:12.440] 
and they're finding that we're just
like all other people in the world.

[00:05:15.360] 
And this is really the Garden of Eden.

[00:05:19.400] 
It is really the Hawaii of the Atlantic.

[00:05:21.857] 
[music]

[00:05:26.040] 
- [Narrator] The most developed part of
the Outer Banks is Nags Head.

[00:05:30.080] 
Overlooking the village is the windswept

[00:05:32.000] 
barren of Jocky Ridge, highest sand
dune on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.

[00:05:37.043] 
[music]

[00:05:39.480] 
A few miles north of Nags Head is
Kill Devil Hills,

[00:05:42.880] 
where the Wright brothers flew
the first powered aircraft in 1903.

[00:05:47.686] 
[music]

[00:05:50.240] 
In a region of so much water and solitude
it's natural to find fish and fishermen.

[00:05:56.800] 
The rivers and creeks yield a wide
variety of freshwater game fish.

[00:06:00.886] 
[music]

[00:06:03.600] 
From the surf, anglers catch channel bass,

[00:06:06.360] 
flounder, trout, croakers,
blue fish, and other fighting game fish.

[00:06:11.286] 
[music]

[00:06:14.640] 
Beyond the surf and the rusted stacks
of the shipwrecks that lie

[00:06:18.120] 
in the graveyard of the Atlantic,
is the warm Gulf Stream.

[00:06:24.000] 
Charter boats based at coastal harbors
take the sports fishermen after such

[00:06:27.760] 
worthy opponents as white
and blue marlin and king mackerel.

[00:06:32.314] 
[music]

[00:06:38.400] 
Deep sea fishing is a different
experience to each person.

[00:06:42.560] 
It can be idyllic and calm as a sleek
cruiser sparkling in the sun

[00:06:48.240] 
or it can be as full
of action as a bar room brawl.

[00:06:51.720] 
- [Fisherman One] He's a big one.

[00:06:53.400] 
- [Fisherman Two] [?]

[00:06:56.800] 
- [Fisherman One] I got him now.
I got him.

[00:07:01.080] 
Boy, he's a big one. Look at him!
Look at him! Can you gap him?

[00:07:01.760] 
- [Fisherman Two] Oh yeah, I'll get him.

[00:07:10.800] 
- [Narrarator] Often, visitors
to eastern North Carolina

[00:07:13.320] 
bring hunting equipment when they come
to fish for the two seasons overlap.

[00:07:18.720] 
Those vast productive fishing waters
and the fields around them are

[00:07:22.080] 
the wintering places for huge
flocks of waterfowl.

[00:07:25.571] 
[birds cawing]

[00:07:31.320] 
In the reach of woods and farmland

[00:07:33.200] 
throughout the eastern and sandhills
regions, white tailed deer and myriad

[00:07:37.520] 
small game have increased, not diminished
in number, since the turn of the century.

[00:07:44.520] 
- [Hunter] Watch it.

[00:07:46.880] 
All right, careful.

[00:07:48.200] 
[gun shots]

[00:07:55.000] 
Fetch Buck. Bring it in.

[00:07:57.760] 
Good boy, good boy. All right.

[00:08:02.720] 
- [Narrator] The cities and towns of the
coastal region of North Carolina

[00:08:06.680] 

are treasure troves of history.

[00:08:09.520] 
On the banks of the Pamlico River,

[00:08:11.640] 
Bath, North Carolina's oldest town,

[00:08:14.457] 
preserves much from the past

[00:08:16.320] 
that is precious.

[00:08:17.700] 
[music]

[00:08:21.400] 
Not far away, the Town of Edenton on
the Chowan River became a permanent

[00:08:25.240] 
footnote to history 

[00:08:26.743] 
when colonial ladies gathered at the
home of Mrs. Penelope Barker in 1774

[00:08:31.920] 
to protest British taxes in what
became known as the Edenton Tea Party.

[00:08:36.400] 
[music]

[00:08:39.360] 
Other picturesque and historic towns
dot the coast of the Goodliest Land.

[00:08:44.114] 
[music]

[00:08:47.280] 
At Morehead City,

[00:08:48.320] 
fleets of charter boats seek big
game fish in the Gulf Stream.

[00:08:52.557] 
[music]

[00:08:59.000] 
Near this coastal city
is historic Fort Macon.

[00:09:02.357] 
[snare drum beat]

[00:09:06.320] 
When the wind whines and saws
through these old chambers,

[00:09:10.240] 
the echoes of old wars can be heard again.

[00:09:13.500] 
[cannons firing]

[00:09:19.280] 
Not far from this old fort is
the timeless Town of Beaufort.

[00:09:25.000] 
Here, homes and churches fashioned by
ships carpenters more than a century ago

[00:09:29.720] 

graced tree-lined streets.

[00:09:31.871] 
[music]

[00:09:37.080] 
At the confluence of the Trent and Neuse 
Rivers is the Town of New Bern,

[00:09:41.640] 
where historic Tryon Palace,
once called the most beautiful building

[00:09:45.600] 
in Colonial America, stands as
a reminder of yesterday's grand dreams.

[00:09:50.486] 
[music]

[00:10:05.960] 
Wilmington is the gateway
to the southern resort area.

[00:10:09.840] 

Once the grand dame of
all the state's urban areas,

[00:10:13.080] 
Wilmington is
North Carolina's largest port city.

[00:10:16.760] 
Here, many old homes stand
among splendid gardens of azaleas, 

[00:10:20.557] 
camellias, dark green holly trees,

[00:10:23.200] 
yaupon, wild orchids, and
giant cypress, and live oak trees

[00:10:27.760] 
that wear long grey
beards of Spanish moss.

[00:10:30.614] 
[music]

[00:10:36.400] 
Permanently moored near the city is
the Battleship USS North Carolina,

[00:10:40.840] 
now a war memorial and a favorite
attraction for young and old.

[00:10:45.520] 
A sound and light drama
during summer months

[00:10:47.880] 
reenacts World War II conflicts
in which the grand old ship engaged.

[00:10:52.057] 
[warning sirens]

[00:10:54.343] 
[shots being fired]

[00:11:01.560] 
Virtually within firing range of these guns

[00:11:04.320] 
are two more symbols of the
nation's struggle for freedom.

[00:11:07.880] 
Fort Fisher, where the heaviest land naval
battle of the Civil War was fought

[00:11:12.480] 
and the ruins of Fort Caswell near
the southernmost tip of the state.

[00:11:18.640] 
The traveler to eastern North Carolina

[00:11:20.640] 
will miss much if he doesn't partake
of the region's famed culinary delights.

[00:11:24.840] 
Topping the list is eastern North Carolina
barbecue made from Tar Heel pork,

[00:11:29.280] 
which explorer John Lawson called some
of the sweetest meat the world affords.

[00:11:33.480] 
North Carolina barbecue is cooked
slow and easy over open coals.

[00:11:37.929] 
In similar rustic
surroundings on the coast,

[00:11:40.640] 
a variety of seafood is prepared

[00:11:42.600] 
including fish, shrimp, oysters,
crabs, lobster, and fish muddles.

[00:11:48.314] 
[music]

[00:11:54.040] 
The demarcation line
that separates the rolling 

[00:11:57.529] 
midlands from the flatlands of the east

[00:11:59.520] 
is irrevocably etched
into the face of the Goodliest Land.

[00:12:03.043] 
[music]

[00:12:06.520] 
Virtually astride that line is the capital
city of Raleigh.

[00:12:10.560] 
Here, historic government buildings
such as the State Capital 

[00:12:13.629] 
link the city to a proud past

[00:12:16.000] 
and contrasts sharply
with the newer structures 

[00:12:18.943] 
such as the state legislative building

[00:12:21.040] 
 called by many the most beautiful
government building in the nation.

[00:12:25.229] 
[announcer speaking and crowd cheering]

[00:12:29.280] 
In many areas of the nation,

[00:12:31.000] 
North Carolina is known as
the sports capital of the South.

[00:12:34.440] 
It was in the midlands on the campuses

[00:12:36.360] 
of such schools as NC State University,
the University of North Carolina,

[00:12:40.600] 
Duke, Davidson, and Wake Forest that
a reputation for great basketball

[00:12:44.840] 
and gridiron action was
born and is kept alive.

[00:12:48.186] 
[crowd cheering]

[00:12:55.640] 
The place is the Charlotte Motor Speedway,

[00:12:58.280] 
near North Carolina's largest city
and the time is now.

[00:13:02.880] 
These hard charging heroes of the concrete
oval display an audacity for danger

[00:13:07.200] 
that gives them kinship with chariot
racers of times long gone.

[00:13:20.560] 
The thunder of the superchargers is also
heard at Rockingham, Asheville,

[00:13:25.080] 
Wilkesboro, and in scores
of smaller cities of the midlands.

[00:13:32.640] 
All are not spectator sports
in the midlands of North Carolina.

[00:13:37.200] 
There is much for the traveler
who wishes to participate.

[00:13:51.440] 
If such is possible,

[00:13:53.120] 
the game of golf may ultimately become
an art form on the Dogwood Bank Links

[00:13:57.280] 
in the Sand Hills Resort Center
of Southern Pines and Pinehurst.

[00:14:01.071] 
[music]

[00:14:03.800] 
This is the golfing capital
of the Mid-South region,

[00:14:06.840] 
but more than three hundred
other courses throughout the state

[00:14:11.571] 
also challenge the golfer.

[00:14:11.129] 
[music]

[00:14:20.680] 
The sandhills area has been growing

[00:14:22.520] 
in fame as a family recreation
oasis since the turn of the century.

[00:14:27.480] 
The region also is noted for the many fine

[00:14:29.480] 
animals that are bred and trained on the
lush estates for showing and racing.

[00:14:35.920] 
Riding to the hounds is also a popular

[00:14:38.120] 
pastime in the Piney Woods hunt country
surrounding the two villages.

[00:14:42.686] 
[dogs barking]

[00:14:44.800] 
Change and action and excitement have

[00:14:46.720] 
indeed swept the mid
section of North Carolina,

[00:14:49.800] 
but it has not swept aside the commitment

[00:14:51.840] 
to the preservation of those
good things from our past.

[00:14:55.440] 
For example,

[00:14:56.440] 
in the modern city of Winston-Salem,


[00:14:58.543] 
growth has not preempted
the village of Old Salem.

[00:15:02.040] 

Founded by Moravians in 1766, 

[00:15:06.080] 
Old Salem today reflects the character
and color of yesteryear.

[00:15:09.814] 
[music]

[00:15:21.480] 
Not far from the City of Winston-Salem,
another precious heritage is preserved.

[00:15:26.586] 
[music]

[00:15:34.520] 
This music predates the oldest settlement

[00:15:36.720] 
in the mountains beyond the foothills
of this little community of Union Grove.

[00:15:41.160] 
Each year at Easter time,
folk music purists

[00:15:44.160] 
from the Appalachian Highlands come here
to the Old-Time Fiddlers Convention

[00:15:48.320] 
to show off their skills before
an audience of thousands.

[00:15:54.840] 
They get together at Asheville in late
summer for more old-time

[00:15:58.040] 
picking and singing and clog dancing 

[00:16:00.429] 
and at the State Fair
Folk Festival in Raleigh.

[00:16:03.760] 
[music]

[00:16:10.000] 
Mournful and sad or lilting and
lyrical, this old-time music

[00:16:14.800] 
and these old-time mountain minstrels 

[00:16:16.686] 
touch nerve endings and
bridge not only the generation gap,

[00:16:19.960] 
but keep alive the link
between all generations.

[00:16:23.440] 
The permanent home
of this soul stirring music

[00:16:25.971] 
is in the North Carolina high country.

[00:16:28.786] 
[music]

[00:16:43.320] 
The Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains,

[00:16:47.600] 
awesome in their grandeur,

[00:16:49.640] 
inspiring in their beauty,
they evoke powerful emotions among those

[00:16:54.360] 
who are sensitive to the
interrelationships between man and nature.

[00:16:59.186] 
[music]

[00:17:01.240] 
- [Thomas Wolfe Narrator]
The real history of this land

[00:17:03.480] 
is a history of solitude,
of the wilderness, and the eternal earth.

[00:17:09.880] 
It is the history of millions of men
living and dying alone in the wilderness

[00:17:16.400] 
who have listened to the Earth
and know her million tongues.

[00:17:22.480] 
- [Narrator] The words are
those of Thomas Wolfe,


[00:17:25.000] 
a native son of these Blue Ridge
and Great Smoky Mountains.

[00:17:28.960] 
A troubled poet,

[00:17:30.600] 
a mountain man inspired by a peculiar
nostalgia that invades the souls of those

[00:17:35.520] 
who fall under the spell
of these majestic peaks.

[00:17:40.280] 
Despite the eloquence of native sons,

[00:17:42.760] 
it was an outsider who gave this part
of the Goodliest Land a lasting nomenclature.

[00:17:47.760] 
In 1871, author
Christian Reid visited here

[00:17:51.640] 
and named this verdant virgin
"The Land of the Sky."

[00:17:55.929] 
[music]

[00:17:59.640] 
To enjoy an uninterrupted view
of the vastness of the Blue Ridge

[00:18:03.280] 
and Great Smoky Mountains, take a motor
trip along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

[00:18:08.360] 
This backbone of the
great Southern Appalachian region

[00:18:11.120] 

enters North Carolina at
its northwestern boundary 

[00:18:14.280] 
and soars over the peaks to
the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

[00:18:19.840] 
The parkway is designed especially

[00:18:21.720] 
for leisurely enjoyment
of the scenic wonders along the way.

[00:18:25.600] 
Commercial vehicles are not permitted

[00:18:27.680] 
and commercial enterprise is prohibited
from the roads right of way.

[00:18:32.360] 
The western terminal
of the Blue Ridge Parkway

[00:18:35.280] 
is the Great Smoky Mountain National Park,

[00:18:37.643] 
 an area of almost
eight hundred square miles

[00:18:40.320] 
containing some of the wildest
highlands in eastern American 

[00:18:44.000] 
and a camper's paradise.

[00:18:46.171] 
[music]

[00:18:49.520] 
Along the parkway and along
other mountain highways and byways,

[00:18:53.640] 
there is a dazzling
array of visual experiences.

[00:18:57.200] 
Mount Mitchell, the highest
peak in eastern America.

[00:19:01.271] 
[music]

[00:19:04.080] 
Grandfather Mountain,

[00:19:05.840] 
for a million years it has raised
its craggy face toward infinity.

[00:19:10.900] 
[music]

[00:19:20.680] 
Chimney Rock,
a unique appendage of granite.

[00:19:25.680] 
Lake Lure and Hickory Nut Gorge,
the passageway through which DeSoto

[00:19:29.040] 
is believed to have marched.

[00:19:33.040] 
And across the hills,
beautiful Fontana Lake.

[00:19:34.000] 
[music]

[00:19:37.960] 
Blowing Rock, where strange wind currents

[00:19:40.640] 
make this the only place on earth
where the snow falls upside down.

[00:19:46.440] 
Awesome Linville Gorge,
where a covenant between government

[00:19:49.960] 
and nature assures that our wilderness
heritage shall remain virgin.

[00:19:54.560] 
[music]

[00:19:57.680] 
Little Switzerland, a picturesque village

[00:20:00.480] 
that bears startling resemblances
to alpine villages of Europe.

[00:20:04.923] 
[music]

[00:20:10.000] 
The cultural metropolis of the Land
of the Sky is Asheville.

[00:20:14.480] 
Asheville is the home of Biltmore House,

[00:20:17.040] 
the unbelievable structure built
by George Vanderbilt,

[00:20:20.480] 
whose goal was to raise a mansion
on the most beautiful spot in the world.

[00:20:27.040] 
It's also the home
of Stuart Nye's Silversmiths,

[00:20:30.360] 
where fine artisans fashion things
of beauty out of silver and tin plate.

[00:20:40.329] 
[music]

[00:20:42.600] 
Throughout the Goodliest Land

[00:20:43.400] 
the different seasons of the year
are distinct and definite,

[00:20:47.080] 

but nowhere do they exert a more profound

[00:20:49.280] 
influence than here
in the Land of the Sky.

[00:20:52.480] 
On the high peaks, spring
softens the grip of winter

[00:20:56.040] 
and the clear cold streams
become happy, chuckling freshets

[00:20:59.680] 
plunging and tumbling
on their way to the sea.

[00:21:03.286] 
[music]

[00:21:33.240] 
In late spring and early summer,

[00:21:35.600] 
hundreds of different wildflowers
and blooming plants burst forth

[00:21:39.160] 
with colors like Roman candles.

[00:21:41.500] 
And in many areas, flowering rhododendrons

[00:21:44.440] 
spread an avalanche
of color over the slopes.

[00:21:47.757] 
[music]

[00:21:59.920] 
But it's in autumn that these
slopes blaze the brightest.

[00:22:03.843] 
[music]

[00:22:21.600] 
The Land of the Sky is more than
a sightseer's paradise, though,

[00:22:25.400] 
it's a place where a wide variety
of activities awaken every sense.

[00:22:30.014] 
[music]

[00:22:41.120] 
At the Cherokee Indian Reservation,
the traveler can trade with direct

[00:22:45.000] 
descendants of one of the largest tribes
of Indians in southeastern America.

[00:22:49.757] 
[music]

[00:22:56.920] 
An outdoor drama,
Onto These Hills, relates

[00:23:00.160] 
the stirring saga of the Cherokee
struggle to retain his homeland.

[00:23:05.480] 
- [Drama Narrator] West, out of the
Great Smokies, from village after village 

[00:23:12.760] 
marched seventeen thousand men, women,
and children along the Trail of Tears

[00:23:17.343] 
from North Carolina to Oklahoma.

[00:23:21.357] 
[music]

[00:23:23.943] 
[drums beating]

[00:23:26.360] 
Across the hills at Boone,
another outdoor drama,

[00:23:31.280] 
Horn in the West, tells of the settlement
of this vast mountainous region.

[00:23:34.386] 
[drums beating]
[actors chanting and yelling]

[00:23:46.671] 
[music]

[00:23:50.760] 
Many of the three hundred golf courses

[00:23:54.760] 
in North Carolina are
located in the Land of the Sky.

[00:23:56.120] 
Golf on these cool highland courses rimmed

[00:23:58.880] 
by scenic mountains is without
peer during spring and summer.

[00:24:03.500] 
[music]

[00:24:10.080] 
In the thousands of miles of streams
in these highlands,

[00:24:13.240] 
trout, ranging from small brookies to
lunker size browns, battle with anglers.

[00:24:18.500] 
[music]

[00:24:29.640] 
The lower mountain streams and lakes
abound in largemouth and smallmouth bass,

[00:24:34.520] 
[?], [?], walleye, and white bass.

[00:24:38.920] 
There's good hunting here
in the rugged highlands too.

[00:24:41.486] 
Upland birds and other small game,

[00:24:44.080] 
black bear, deer—and in the more
remote areas—Russian boar.

[00:24:49.357] 
[music]

[00:24:57.160] 
At Boone, youngsters will thrill to a ride
on a narrow gauged

[00:25:00.520] 
steam powered train that winds
and twines along a scenic route.

[00:25:05.314] 
[music]

[00:25:25.360] 
Once, winter intensified
the isolation of the mountains

[00:25:29.320] 
but today at fashionable resorts

[00:25:31.320] 
throughout the high country
winter is a time to ski.

[00:25:50.643] 
[overlapping voices]

[00:25:52.840] 
Often, natural snowfall on these slopes

[00:25:54.971] 
equals or exceeds the
snowfall of New England.

[00:25:58.320] 

And modern snow making machines help

[00:26:00.360] 
to keep the slopes in fine
shape from December to March.

[00:26:03.843] 
[music]

[00:26:14.680] 
Beautiful scenery, exciting things to do—

[00:26:17.960] 
these are the hallmarks
of the high country.

[00:26:20.880] 
But the traveler who would gain 

[00:26:24.656] 
an intimate acquaintance
with this unique land

[00:26:24.720] 
must meet the people of the mountains.

[00:26:28.560] 
The sturdy, self-sufficient folk who live

[00:26:30.720] 
by the code that you do for
yourself or do without.

[00:26:35.440] 
People who have created an art form
with homemade clay bowls, gourd dippers,

[00:26:39.440] 
and patchwork quilts.

[00:26:41.280] 
People like Jack Guy and his friends

[00:26:43.880] 
who create fascinating little toys
that intrigue young and old alike.

[00:26:48.229] 
[music]

[00:26:59.000] 
People like Ed Presnell,

[00:27:01.120] 
who with a pocket knife
and simple hand tools,

[00:27:03.757] 
can make a dulcimer, the ancient stringed

[00:27:06.320] 
musical instrument that expresses
the sadness of death or the joy of life.

[00:27:11.871] 
[music]

[00:27:22.480] 
Awesome mountains shrouded in mist.

[00:27:27.480] 
Gentle rolling midlands
that link east and west.

[00:27:33.960] 
A historic coastal region of sea and
sounds, a unique land to see and to enjoy.

[00:27:42.800] 
A retreat from the commonplace,

[00:27:45.120] 
a permanent frame of reference
for our nation and ourselves.

[00:27:50.320] 
This is North Carolina,

[00:27:55.640] 
the goodliest land
under the cope of heaven.

[00:27:56.143] 
[music]