Every year, I always look forward to summers in North Carolina because they’re so fun. I get so excited to soak up the sun and enjoy life the way that it’s meant to be.. Outside. Here recently the weather has been harshing my summer mellow with clouds and storms and threats of tornados.. Even though they’re always followed by a beautiful rainbow, doesn’t make it any less scary. But when it’s not raining and storming then that when the really fun begins.

Floating the River

Where I’m from we have two rivers that run through our town with multiple boat access points and swimming spots. So in a small town with not much to do in the summer it just makes sense to buy a float from the local store and get a group of friends to float along the river from access point to access point. You always have to make sure you have a car parked at the beginning of the ride and at the end (this has been forgotten before) and make sure that the river isn’t too high from the storm or you’ll go way too fast that you couldn’t enjoy it.

Park Days

I don’t know about you but I enjoy park days now just as much as I did when I was a kid. I love getting a group of friends together to start a kickball tourney or water-ballon fight and just packing up picnic foods and having a great time. We may be in our twenties but we still have playful hearts.

Mountainside Picnics

Mountainside picnics used to be one of my favorite things to do with my family when we were kids. We would drive about 30 minutes to the nearest parkway and find a field on the side of the mountain and just set up there. We would have bubbles or Frisbees or even just roll up in blankets roll down the hill. It was a great, calming way to get in the sun and enjoy the beauty of nature overlooking the cities below.

Hiking

Hiking has always been one of my favorite things to do and I honestly wish I did more of it. We have a place nearby called Hanging Rock and to the top it’s 2.4 miles but the scenery is gorgeous. My friends and I loved going there and exercising. They even have smaller trails that you can take down to different waterfalls and a lovely little picnic area. They even have a small lake out there for fishing, swimming and boating.

Swimming

I saved the best for last.. Swimming! Swimming has always been one of my favorite things to do. It doesn’t matter if it’s in a pool, pond, lake, river, ocean.. I’m swimming in that water. There was one time we were white water rafting in the Nantahala river in Bryson City, NC and the water was dangerously cold but I wanted so bad to get in so out tour guide let me just in when we were at a calm spot but he almost immediately grabbed the back of my lifejacket and pulled me back in (no fun) but it was extremely cold. We have a membership at a local golf course/pool that we use for swimming but like I’ve said before we o swimming in the rivers and not to mention all of the beautiful lakes we have in NC that we can visit.