In this Issue: Featured Towns: Aiken, SC Boone, NC Chapel Hill, NC Charleston, SC Currituck/Outer Banks, NC Georgetown, SC Hilton Head, SC Myrtle Beach, SC Articles: Best Beaches Day Trippin’ Family Circle Cup Four Moons Restaurant Living Green Modern Art Museum NASCAR NC Rockslide Off Our Bookshelf Ridge at Chukker Creek Southeastern Wildlife Exposition Subscription Offer Winery Winter Citrus Salad Recipe

Hello!   Warm 2010 greetings and best wishes for health and prosperity and new beginnings to you and your family. May we titillate your gray matter for a minute? Do you know the … ? #1 smartest college town where almost half of the 25-and-older residents have graduate degrees? Newest museum for mid-21st C. modern art? Location of the first organic winery in the Carolinas? Hometown of NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt? Super new Four Diamond rated AAA restaurant in SC? Destination of Serena Williams in April?  You'll know that and more after browsing this issue of Compass eNews, where your CarolinaLiving team has assembled a fresh set of adventure opportunities to inform and entertain. Ideas to churn your 2010 Carolina juices. Now's a perfect time to take advantage of the off-season value and serenity. When beaches are yours, the golf is great and weather accommodating. And yes, Blue Ridge skiing is off to a big start, starting with Boone, the focus of this issue's "Great Destinations." Of course, more tax incentives as well as real estate bonanzas sweeten the idea that maybe, just maybe, it's your time to relocate, retire or acquire that Carolina vacation investment deal. Use the 310+ pages at CarolinaLiving.com as your resource. Celebrating 24 years as an enterprise, our goal is to inform and boost your Carolina IQ! Click here for links to Retirement Living & Real Estate Tips, but don't leave without checking out Insider Tips on spending 36 hours in Georgetown - any season! Leyla and Patrick Mason Co-Founders, Center For Carolina Living PMason@CarolinaLiving.com P.S. Share vacation questions, favorite restaurants and super venues with our editor, Kathy Pettit.  Our team has a collective (gulp) 200+ years of experience with Carolina living.  We tell it like we know it!

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AIKEN, SC  •  RIDGE AT CHUKKER CREEK You are cordially invited to visit The Ridge at Chukker Creek in Aiken, SC. Choose from three visitation packages.

BEST BEACHES FROM TRIP ADVISOR   #6  Myrtle Beach, SC. has some of the best beaches on America's East Coast, which are distinguished by panoramic views of the Atlantic, calm waters and soft white sand. Ideal for swimming and sunbathing, Myrtle Beach also offers plenty of family attractions, making it perfect for beach-lovers with kids. # 21 Hilton Head, SC. With more than 12 miles of white sand and sparkling waters you can explore by boat, canoe or kayak, Hilton Head Island offers a plethora of options for beach lovers. Pitch your umbrella, go bird watching or fishing or play any kind of water sport along the shores.

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DAY TRIPPIN'   Georgetown, SC   If you only have 36 hours to spend in Georgetown, you’ll have choices on and off the water. First, you’ll want to find accommodations that reflect this historic water community.  Read more …

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CAROLINAS WHO’S WHO NASCAR Country Or, rather, “Earnhardt Country,” is located just outside of Charlotte, NC.  Legendary NASCAR driver, the late Dale Earnhardt, and his son, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., hail from Kannapolis, NC, and planted their stock car racing roots in the dirt of their home state.  The 2010 season kicks off next month – are you ready?  Check out the NASCAR scene and other entertaining options in and around Charlotte.

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FIRST-CLASS DESTINATION   Boone, NC Boone has been called the Boulder, Colorado, of the Southeast.  It's a dynamic mountain town which is home to a state university, artist colonies and nearby snow skiing resorts. From season to season, there’s always great fun to be had here.  And, if you enjoy snow, but don’t want to live in it for months, check this out. Read more … And more about Boone in … The 50 Best Small Southern Towns by Gerald Sweitzer and Kathy Field

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LIVING GREEN!

Fresh Pick!    The new year calls for a fresh start, including resolutions to be healthier and more environmentally conscious.    Start by shopping for locally grown produce and the like at a Farmers Market.   Even in the winter months, you can find one near you, filled with wonderful finds. And not only is food found at a local market fresher, but it’s greener, too – it hasn’t been shipped cross-country.  Make plans to peruse your local market soon.  You’ll be hooked, for sure.        NC Farmers Markets Directory   SC Farmers Markets Directory

Pop Quiz! Test your GREEN living knowledge… True or False:  A Green Mortgage is a special mortgage offered by some lenders to homeowners of a new or renovated green home. It often features a reduced down payment or other helpful terms.  Find the answer here. Aging in Place What to do now, to make your home as comfortable for you in 20 years as it is today. Read more ...

SEEN & HEARD

Educator Alert: Want to get the Scoop on Poop?   Are you looking for fun, hands-on nature activities to use with students Pre K-8? Consider a visit to the NC Arboretum and the traveling exhibit called "The Scoop on Poop: The Science of What Animals Leave Behind." Learn more …     Are You Smart Enough? Smartest College Town from The Daily Beast: #1 – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC   Total Population: 54,972 Home to the oldest state college in the US, "Chapel Thrill" combines an antique Southern charm with nationally recognized research facilities as one part of Research Triangle Park (with Durham and Raleigh, homes of Duke and North Carolina State, respectively). The city has the highest percentage of adults over age 25 with graduate degrees, at 44 percent. The academic capital in a state historically dominated by agricultural and textiles, it attracts top talent for the business and medical schools. Read more about Chapel Hill.   Moon Over the Midlands Four Moons, an award winning fine dining restaurant in Orangeburg, South Carolina, proudly announces it is the recipient of the coveted Mobile AAA Four Diamond Award. Four Moons is the only restaurant in the South Carolina Midlands to receive this prestigious award and is one of 16 restaurants in the state to receive the honor. The restaurant also holds a 2009 Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence, 2008 Wine Spectator Award of Excellence and 2008 Award of Unique Distinction by Wine Enthusiast magazine.  In April 2009, the restaurant was named the Best Overall Restaurant in SC by OpenTable Diners’ Choice list.  Driving tip:  Orangeburg is an easy, 40-minute drive from Columbia, SC, south, down I-26.   We Love it! Family Circle Cup             Family Circle Cup individual session tickets are on sale to the public through Ticketmaster (starting at 10 am on Friday, January 15th) and will be available 24 hours a day at Ticketmaster.com.  Tickets can also be ordered through Ticketmaster charge-by-phone at 800.745.3000, or at any local Publix location offering Ticketmaster services.   A stellar player field is headed to Charleston including WTA #1, Serena Williams, former World No. 1 Maria Sharapova, current World No. 4 Caroline Wozniacki, World No. 7 Victoria Azarenka and 18-year-old American standout Melanie Oudin.   The Family Circle Cup, a Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Premier Event, is scheduled April 10-18th, 2010, at the Family Circle Tennis Center in historic Charleston, SC.   This is Big! Southeastern Wildlife Exposition February 12-14, 2010   The Southeastern Wildlife Exposition (SEWE) is the largest wildlife art and nature event in the nation. Taking place the weekend before President’s Day, SEWE will offer original art by 120 artists; educational live animal shows; outdoor outfitters; sporting arms; antique decoys; and children’s activities. In 2010, SEWE will welcome special guest Jack Hanna. Tickets start at $10 per person and VIP packages are available. For more information, please call 843.723.1748 or visit www.sewe.com. Also, learn more about Charleston, SC.   New Museum Showcases Rarely Seen Art The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, the only museum dedicated to the exhibition of mid-20th Century modern art in the southeastern United States, celebrated its grand opening Jan. 2, 2010 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The museum is named after the family of Andreas Bechtler, a Charlotte resident and native of Switzerland who inherited and assembled a collection of more than 1,400 artworks created by major figures of 20th Century modernism. He donated the collection to the public trust. The Bechtler collection reflects most of the important art movements and schools from the 20th Century with a deep holding of the School of Paris. Learn what’s there …   Bottle of Wine, Organic Fruit of the Vine: NC’s First Organic Winery Carolina Heritage Vineyard & Winery, the first USDA-certified organic vineyard and winery in North Carolina, is now open for tours and tastings. Learn more …  Rocks – Still Rolling. Don’t cancel travel plans to the NC mountains. A recent rockslide closed a part of I-40, but there are plenty of ways to get to your favorite destinations, hassle-free. Check out current information.

CAROLINA CUISINE Add a little sunshine to the cold, gray winter months with a Winter Citrus Salad with Toasted Almond Goat Cheese Rounds.   It’s the perfect fresh and flavorful kick to jumpstart your new year following the sugar high that was the holidays.  This colorful recipe comes to us straight from the kitchen of Kim Byer, local foodie blogger of The Paper Apron.   OFF OUR BOOKSHELF The Charleston Chef’s Table: Extraordinary Recipes from the Heart of the Old South   By Holly Herrick If the flavor and charm of Charleston could be bound and wrapped up with a bow, this would be it.  Food writer and chef Holly Herrick shares profiles and recipes from more than 60 of the city’s best restaurants, from roadside to five-star, all peppered with historical anecdotes and delectable photos.  Happy cooking, ya’ll!