Paperback highlights state's seashore, parks

Paperback highlights state's seashore, parks
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- What's the best little-known destination on the North Carolina coast? What's the best beach to visit when it's not beach season? What's the best beach for first-time visitors?
For the answers to these and other questions about vacationing at the North Carolina shore, check out Glenn Morris' "North Carolina Beaches." The $19.95 paperback, published by the University of North Carolina Press, has just been reissued in an updated third edition.
The book does not list hotels and restaurants, but it does offer detailed information about national seashores, state parks, ferries, public beaches, wildlife refuges, historic sites, lighthouses, boat ramps, museums and other attractions.
The guide is organized by county, with locales ranging from well-known places like Ocracoke, Cape Hatteras and Kitty Hawk to more obscure spots like Hammocks Beach State Park, Morris' choice for the area's best little-known destination.
Morris also recommends Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills or Nags Head for first-time visitors; Duck or Corolla for off-season visits; and Dare County for visitors interested in active vacations involving sports such as kayaking and surf-fishing.
Water release revives Idaho's Shoshone Falls
TWIN FALLS, Idaho -- Reduced to a trickle the past six years because of drought, Shoshone Falls in southern Idaho -- dubbed the "Niagara of the West" -- has roared back to life with the release of water from upstream dams to aid salmon migration.
An unseasonably cool, rainy spring in southern Idaho has left reservoirs in the Upper Snake River Basin at more than 80 percent of capacity, allowing the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to release additional water through dams, augmenting downstream flows to help young salmon reach the sea.
It's the first time since 2001 that the federal dam management agency has been able to provide the full amount of additional water set forth in a federal-tribal agreement for salmon recovery.
Week of festivities to celebrate new bridge
MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. -- The longest cable-stayed bridge on the continent opens to automobile traffic Saturday, linking the downtown Charleston peninsula and the harbor town of Mount Pleasant.
A week of grand opening festivities are planned for the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, including a fireworks display, local cruises and harbor tours Thursday.
The Ravenel Bridge is the most expensive bridge ever built in South Carolina at $632 million. It has a 1,546-foot-long main span, 20 feet longer than Canada's Alex Fraser Bridge in Victoria, British Columbia.
The twin bridges crossing the river will be torn down after the new span opens. A fishing pier will be built on the pilings of one of the old bridges.
For more information, visit www.cooperriverbridge.org.
Great Wolf to open new resort near Olympia
ROCHESTER, Wash. -- A resort costing more than $80 million, including an indoor water park and a conference center, is going to be built in Grand Mound south of Olympia, the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation and Wisconsin-based Great Wolf Resorts say.
The plan for the 39-acre site includes a four-story, 317-suite resort, a 50,000-square-foot indoor water park, a 30,000-square-foot conference center, family restaurants, an arcade, gift shop, spa, fitness center and outdoor recreation area, the company said.
Great Wolf Resorts, based in Madison, Wis., has five similar resorts in the Midwest and is planning four more in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin and Ontario.
Great Wolf expects to complete construction late next year.
Associated Press