[piano intro] -[Deborah] Next on "North Carolina Weekend," join us from the Paul J. Ciener Botanical Garden in Kernersville, as we welcome spring.

We'll go rafting on the Cape Fear River.

Explore Raleigh by tricycle and sample wines in the mountains.

Coming up next.

- [Announcer] Funding for "North Carolina Weekend" is provided in part by Visit NC, dedicated to highlighting our state's natural scenic beauty, unique history and diverse cultural attractions.

From the Blue Ridge and the Great Smoky Mountains across the Piedmont to 300 miles of Barrier Island beaches.

You're invited to experience all the adventure and charm our state has to offer.

- Welcome to "North Carolina Weekend," everyone.

I'm Deborah Holt Noel.

And this week we are welcoming spring from the Paul J. Ciener Botanical Garden in Kernersville.

A year round seven acre garden that offers themed gardens, a visitor center, tours and a gift shop.

It may be early spring, but flowers are starting to bloom and we'll explore more of the gardens throughout the show.

But first let's head east to the Cape Fear River where rafting season is about to get started.

[rain teaming] [man speaking a foreign language] - [Rick] If you've seen the classic movies titled "Cape Fear" you might have a creepy misperception about this scenic 200 mile long Blackwater River, winding through farmland in Fayetteville, before flowing into the Atlantic Ocean near Wilmington.

By the way, those movies were not even filmed here in Carolina.

This is what rafting and paddling on the authentic Cape Fear River looks like when you put in on the Cape Fear River Adventures lot in Lillington.

For the owner, Ilia Smirnov, it all began on... - Craigslist.

- [Rick] Seriously?

- I was working in an office and wanted to do other things besides sitting in an office and was surfing Craigslist for months and months.

And then one day this popped up and I told wife, said, "Hey, let's go check out this place."

And it was kinda joke.

And so we did and fell in love with it.

And then I think two days later made an offer on it.

- [Rick] That was five years ago and the business was tiny, just a few boats and tubes and about 40 life jackets.

On the Saturday before this was filmed, more than 400 life jackets were out on the river at one time.

Not bad for a computer guy who had no boat experience until after he and his wife bought the business.

- And I distinctly remember asking her, "So which one is a kayak and which one a canoe is again?"

Yes, I've never done anything on the water.

But when I first got out there, just a few days after we bought the business, and start paddling, I was like, "Wow, this is amazing.

"You know, this is really awesome times."

And then from there just fell in love with it.

- [Rick] The good times begin at the office under the bridge on Main Street, from here, customers choose their flotation device and head down to the river.

They put in and head down stream.

That's all it takes.

- [Ilia] So right now we have canoes, kayaks and paddle boards.

River tubing is a separate category.

And we do white water rafting that we started to tryout just recently.

- [Rick] The most popular activity in summer is tubing, when the river is slow, nothing but some lazy fun here.

The ride time can range from one and a half hours to more than five, if you wanna hop out to enjoy some swimming holes along the way.

- You don't really need to any skills you hop on the tube have your cooler float next to you with your refreshments and you enjoy the day.

- [Rick] Bring sunscreen, drinks and water shoes.

- [Ilia] The bottom is rocky and you do go through one, class one rapid and towards the end of the two mile trip you go through a small rock garden where there is lots of rocks that you have to navigate around.

- [Rick] During spring and fall with water levels higher.

So too is the skill level required for the paddling options like canoe and kayak.

Summertime is turtle time, a slower pace and lots of opportunity to experience the real Cape Fear River, found only in Eastern North Carolina.

I'm Rick Sullivan for "North Carolina Weekend."

- [Deborah] Cape Fear River Adventures is at 100 South Main Street in Lillington and they're open for lazy river tubing and canoe and kayak rentals every day from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. For more information, give them a call at [919] 495-5555 or check them out online at capefearadventures.com.

There are lots of ways to explore a town.

On foot, by car, bus, trolley.

How about a really cool electric tricycle?

Let's join Julia Carpenter with Carolina Touring Company in Raleigh.

[upbeat music] - [Julia] Carolina Touring Company offers a variety of tours on two feet or three wheels across downtown Raleigh.

It's a great way for locals or visitors to discover Raleigh's fascinating history.

- We offer guided themed walking tours from everything from Raleigh's Untold Tales to the history of our city.

And then we also offer a selection of guided trike tours which are three wheeled electric vehicles that are very easy to ride.

If you've ever ridden the bicycle, it's gonna feel very comfortable, but they're more active than a segue.

And people tend to get more engaged in them as opposed to other forms of touring - [Julia] More on trike tours in a minute.

The walking tour is popular and takes about an hour.

- The tour that we're gonna do today is our most popular.

It's our Untold Tales tour.

I'm gonna tell you some things about downtown Raleigh that I can guarantee, even if you grew up here, you probably didn't know about.

We have a fascinating history for this city and hope I can share that with you today.

We'll start our journey this morning with talking about the gentleman behind me here.

This is Sir Walter Raleigh.

- [Julia] Unfortunately, our city's namesake lost his head but Raleigh has another nickname.

- We are known officially as the City of Oaks.

The city of Raleigh was cut out of an Oak Grove to your left, suspended from a crane and at 12 o'clock midnight, just like the ball of light in Times Square, we lower majestically our giant nut.

- [Julia] Todd's sense of humor keeps the tour lively.

[upbeat music] Todd shows us picture of the original governor's mansion that stood on this site before Memorial Auditorium was built.

Can you guess who stayed in this house and why it was abandoned and torn down afterwards?

- So we're gonna make our way up Fayetteville Street.

Come on and follow me folks.

- [Julia] Tailoring talks to the group, we are learning many fascinating, fun facts along the way.

The Sir Walter Raleigh Hotel is long gone, but the stories remain.

- Will Rogers, famous American writer, humorous, cowboy.

He loved staying here.

There was lots of room on the roof.

He could do rope trick demonstrations for hotel guests.

He would actually lasso people up there on the roof.

♪ And when I ride into our valley ♪ - Stone from this building was brought from the quarry over at Rock Quarry Road.

If anyone knows Rock Quarry Road off of I40.

- [Julia] Another way to tour and learn about the city is to ride a trike.

- And you just gently go ahead and squeeze those breaks and gently shift your weight forward just a little bit over that front wheel.

It's truly between this and this.

- [Julia] With detailed instructions and a little practice, if you've ridden a bike before, this is a breeze - [Todd] We take safety very seriously at Carolina Touring.

Everyone has a wireless headset that we issue everyone, so that they can hear all of our, not only narration, but safety comments along the way.

So if there's a pothole or a stop sign you're gonna know along before you get to it.

Come up here to a gentle stop.

We'll be making a right hand, turn on Hillsborough.

And we have a nice bike lane just to ourselves on Hillsborough here.

- We're the first in the world to offer two wheel drive electric trikes.

And what that provides is more torque and stability to get you up hills - [Julia] My friends and I had a blast and learned something along the way.

- That was so much fun.

I think we should encourage everyone to come, because they're gonna learn things about Raleigh they never knew.

- I just feel I experienced Raleigh in a way I've never done before.

I just connected with the city.

Todd's narration was wonderful.

He brought everything to life and what a great family experience.

This is great for the whole family, teens and up and I can't wait to do it again.

- I thought that was amazing.

That was really exciting.

And if I get visitors I'm definitely going to recommend them to come on this tour.

- We've been providing tours since 2008 in Raleigh.

So if you're looking for something fun to do give us a call or look us up online and book your tour.

[upbeat music] - [Deborah] The Carolina Touring Company is at 510 West Martin street in Raleigh.

And to book your trike tour, go to carolinatouring.com or you can call them at [919] 828-1988.

[upbeat music] We first found the Paul J. Ciener Botanical Garden when we visited Corner's Folly last year.

The little treasure is blooming with spring delights.

We made a promise to come back and here we are.

Adrian, who was Paul J. Ciener and why are these gardens named after him?

- Paul Ciener was actually born and raised in Ohio but then ended up coming to Colfax, North Carolina which is the neighboring town and started a wholesale plant nursery and would sell plants to the landscape trade.

He's most known for having the car dealership which is right over here on 66.

It used to be Ciener Ford.

It's now been bought out by Crossroads Ford.

- Do you know what is the hardest part of buying a car or truck at Ciener Woods Ford?

Deciding which one you like the best.

That's right- - Paul loved gardening.

He loved visiting botanical gardens and he especially loved engaging the younger generation in the world of plants.

He was diagnosed with cancer and died within three months.

During that three month period, he told his two sons, I would love to leave an endowment to start a botanical garden for the community as a gift back to everyone that's been so nice to me over the years.

- Ah, that's so wonderful.

And what would you say is the mission here?

- The mission of Paul J. Ciener Botanical Garden is to inspire, enlighten and connect visitors to the world of plants, gardening and horticulture and visitors by all, means all ages.

We want everyone to be inspired.

You know, they say that April showers bring May flowers, but actually it's the opposite here.

It's March showers bring April flowers.

[upbeat music] We have seven acres here and about five of that is complete.

So there's a lot to see in our little abode that we have in downtown Kernersville.

And even with the warm temperatures we've had, we've seen a lot flush.

So right now we're seeing the beginning of the spring bulb display, the tulips and daffodils.

So there's a lot of daffodils in bloom.

And then there's some flowering shrubs like forsythias and a few other things in bloom.

Garden phloxes are coming into bloom.

A few other spring blooming ephemerals are blooming too.

With the formal pattern garden we'll have 18,000 tulips and daffodils in full bloom.

So we're really looking forward to that.

Then also we're gonna have the peonies will be blooming, other spring things: viburnums, magnolias.

It's just gonna wake everything up and everyone up in the next couple weeks.

- [Deborah] And the fragrance out here.

- Mm-hm.

It's gonna be phenomenal.

You know, there are flowers that bloom now that smell like gardenias, so a lot of people are like, "There's a gardenia in this flower."

It's like, "Nope, it's edgeworthia chrysantha."

[laughing] - [Deborah] So people can just drink it in, smell it in and take it in with their eyes.

- Absolutely.

- [Debora] It's really amazing that Kernersville has garden that draws so many visitors.

What else is there for them to enjoy while they're here?

- We encourage them to stay, because a lot of these visitors are coming from a distance.

So like Raleigh, Charlotte, even Virginia.

And then when they come, they want a place to eat.

They might need a place to stop and get some groceries or whatever, but then also we want them to see some of the other sites in Kernersville.

So we work with Corner's Folly.

So we want people to go see the museum there.

And then we have a Kernersville Museum where people can see the history of Kernersville.

So we encourage them to go see that too.

- Well.

I appreciate you spending time with us.

I'm excited to see the flowers.

- Well thank you for coming.

And the gardens are open daily, Dawn until dusk there is currently no admission.

We want people to come enjoy, walk the space and enjoy themselves while they're here.

- [Deborah] The Paul J. Ciener Botanical Garden is at 215 South Main Street in Kernersville and it's open daily from dawn to dusk.

Visit them online at cienerbotanicalgarden.com or give them a call at [336] 996-7888.

Check out these cute butterfly houses here at the Paul J. Ciener Botanical Garden.

You know, now that it's getting warmer, people are heading out into nature to play and get moving.

And a great place to start is the brand new east coast Greenway Connector in Cary.

Let's join Rick Sullivan on the trail - [Rick] For nearly three decades there's been an initiative to build and connect Greenways from Maine to Miami into one passable off-road route.

It's called the East Coast Greenway.

In the summer of 2020, this tunnel and boardwalk in Cary completed a critical 70 miles stretch of it.

- All right, so you have the American Tobacco Trail which is 26 miles.

Then you have have the Noose River Greenway which is all the way on the other side of the triangle.

And then you had to connect it through Raleigh up to Umstead all the way through Cary to make these connections.

This I'm calling the golden spike project.

- [Rick] Building the nearly half mile corridor from MacArthur Drive to Davis Drive in Cary was complicated and expensive.

- [Sig] This project right here was close to a $9 million project, - [Rick] But essential.

- So I've been an advocate for connecting Black Creek and White Oak Creek all the way to the American Tobacco Trail for a while.

And this was the last section that was not on road.

- We know we have over a million Greenway users annually and that number may be higher, now.

- [Rick] Now that folks can connect freely from Cary, Morrisville and Durham to the west and north or from Cary to Raleigh and Clayton to the east and south, the focus of this story is the Cary section.

This new boardwalk through neighborhoods and under a train line is a fitting show piece to connect it all.

- A lot of it has to do with practicality really more than aesthetics.

The railings are wood.

So that fits in with the neighborhood.

The concrete we've started using quite a lot for boardwalks because it's attractive, it's a little quieter to ride on and for the people nearby.

It looks good but it was also done for very practical reasons.

- [Rick] The new boardwalk makes it easier to navigate the Cary section of the east coast Greenway, even without a map.

My own riding group has begun to seek out Greenway adventures that begin here and go far beyond what used to be too complicated for us to bother with.

- People would say, "Well I'm not gonna go there "'cause I'm getting to this place that's gonna stop me.

"And I'll just turn around."

People were literally turning around because they didn't feel safe.

Now they have a safe, secure, fun, beautiful connection that also connects them with nature.

- You're like, wow, you're out here in the middle of the of the forest and you don't see any cars or roads in certain sections of it.

- And in the summertime with the tree canopy, you get a lot of shade and you don't hear the noise from I40.

- Sounds pretty, usually it's nice and cool.

- It's a great asset to have here in Cary.

- [Rick] But the good news for "North Carolina Weekend" viewers is that folks from all of the connected communities and beyond, can now get a backstage pass to neighborhoods and other nooks of North Carolina that were once hidden.

Now they can be enjoyed without disruption and users get fresh air, improved health and less congested transportation.

- So if you want to, you can get up and you can ride, you know, 20, 30, 40 miles.

- You can jump on the American Tobacco Trail and 20 miles you're at South Point in Durham or go 20 miles the other way and in you're in Raleigh.

It's really the connector of the entire region.

- In fact, I would really strongly suggest for those citizens who really love to ride forever and ever as far as you wanna ride never getting on a road.

The triangle is an absolutely wonderful place to be able to access the Greenway.

- [Rick] If you are so inclined, there is an app with a map that can be used for deeper adventures into the more than 300 miles of triangle Greenways.

- Go to your app store either Android or iPhone and download at no cost at your app store, Greenspace app.

And it has the entire Greenway system.

Folks have to come out and see this.

If you live in the triangle, you've got to get out and enjoy the Greenway.

And if you live outside the triangle, come to Raleigh come to Cary and enjoy this amazing Greenway system.

[upbeat music] - [Deborah] To enjoy your ride or walk on the American Tobacco Trail or the Wake County Greenway go online to triangletrails.org and raleighnc.gov/findatrail.

In Polk County the new owners of a small winery are not only serving up premium wines, they've transformed the place into a destination.

Let's join Clay Johnson at Mountain Brook Vineyards in Tryon.

- [Clay] Mountain Brook Vineyards is on a quiet rural road.

When you drive in, cross the brook and climb through the woods.

You're not quite sure what to expect, but at the top is a surprise for your eyes.

Sprawling vineyards, a winery, outdoor tasting bars, sitting areas, stages and more - Our view from a business standpoint was to create a place that people would really want to come.

Come with their families, come with their dogs and just gonna have a great experience.

- Johnathan and Vicky Redgrave are lawyers who moved to nearby Lake Lure from Northern Virginia in 2016.

They decided to buy this winery, two years later.

Owning a winery had never been a lifelong dream.

- It was more of one of those things that we thought would be something to be interesting.

Something we thought would be different from our other careers that we had pursued.

And it just was something that we decided let's try it.

- [Clay] This area used to have a thriving wine industry before prohibition.

There's good soil and it's in a thermal belt.

A temperate area between mountains that escapes harsh cold.

- And it makes for a perfect kind of setting for us to give it our go for having great grapes.

- [Clay] Mountain Brook's winemaker agrees but he prefers another title.

- My title here is Chief Wine Making Overlord - [Clay] Crow says other factors help grow wine grapes here too.

- We got great wind flow, airflow, and we have incredible drainage.

And those two things combined together made a pretty ideal property for trying to grow vinifera.

- [Clay] From those grape vines come a variety of dry whites and reds.

Samples are served in flights.

Stephen Brewer and Jeremy Knotts are trying the Mountain Brook flight, it's being served up by the Redgrave's son, Drew.

- It's gonna go left to right, lightest to darkest.

- [Clay] Starting with Cooper's table, a blend of three Chardonnays.

- You're gonna get a lot of ripe banana, vanilla, caramel really coming through.

- [Clay] Then onto the rosé.

- Very juicy on the finish with strawberry, watermelon and bing cherry flavors really coming through on that one.

- [Clay] Next is the "All In" a red blend.

- Very close to a classic Chianti style of wine for that one.

- [Clay] And finally, the cabernet sauvignon.

- That one's got some boysenberry, rhubarb even some sautéed bell pepper, has a nice little spice to it.

- The wine is amazing.

Their 2018 rosé is phenomenal.

Got some hints of strawberry in there.

- [Clay] There are flights of dog treats, too.

Brewer ordered one for his dog, Max.

Proceeds from those and some of the wines go to local animal shelters.

- [Guide] So we have seven different varietals that we plant in the last couple months.

- [Clay] You can go on a guided tour of the vineyard, winery and other facilities.

There's live music and as the sun sets you can sit by a fire pit.

There are outdoor movies on Saturday nights, local food trucks offer lunch and dinner.

- The food trucks have been amazing so far.

It's got a real family atmosphere.

It's laid back.

You can bring your dog here.

- [Clay] Mountain Brook Vineyards also has a center for special events like weddings and reunions, but the Redgraves want any visit here to be a special event.

- [Johnathan] People who are going to a winery are generally coming out to have a good time.

For every single one of those people, we want 'em to come out here, learn something new, experience something that kind of gives them a higher level of appreciation for the wine, but most importantly, we want them to feel welcome.

[upbeat music] - [Deborah] Mountain Brook Vineyards is at 731 Phillips Dairy Toad in Tryon and they're open Thursday through Sunday, beginning at noon.

For more information, give them a call at [828] 722-1037 or visit them online at mountainbrookvineyards.com.

[upbeat music] Well, that's it for tonight's show.

We have enjoyed our time out here at the Paul J. Ciener Botanical Garden.

It's a beautiful place to explore.

And if you've missed anything in today's show just remember, you can always watch us again online at pbsnc.org have a great North Carolina weekend, everyone.

[upbeat music] ♪ - [Announcer] Funding for "North Carolina Weekend" is provided in part by Visit NC, dedicated to highlighting our state's natural scenic beauty, unique history and diverse cultural attractions.

From the Blue Ridge and the Great Smoky Mountains across the Piedmont to 300 miles of Barrier Island beaches.

You're invited to experience all the adventure and charm our state has to offer.

[piano outro]