2 Best Sights in Central North Carolina, North Carolina

Set in a wooded 183-acre wildlife preserve, this was the site of the first Moravian settlement in North Carolina. The reconstructed village showcasing the mid-18th-century community includes the original 1788 Gemeinhaus congregation house, a colonial homestead, and well-maintained medicinal gardens. God's Acre, the first colony cemetery, is a short walk away. Children love the reconstructed fort from the French and Indian War, and hiking trails head off into the hills around the settlement. Brochures for self-guided walking tours are available year-round at the visitor center, where interpreters in period attire help bring this bygone era to life.

Set in a Romanesque church dating from 1892, the museum has displays about the city's own O. Henry and Dolley Madison, plus a detailed timeline about the city's textile boom as the country's largest producer of denim. There's also an exploration of the Woolworth sit-in, which launched the civil rights movement's struggle to desegregate eating establishments. Permanent exhibits include a horse-drawn 1886 steam fire engine, an original Cadillac, and collections of Confederate weapons and Jugtown pottery. Behind the museum are an 18th-century homestead and the graves of several Revolutionary War soldiers.