[piano intro] - Next on "North Carolina Weekend", join us as we take you to destinations across the state where you can just relax.

We'll visit spas in Asheville, Greensboro, and Pinehurst, a regenerative farm stay in Norcross, and enjoy a round of golf in Waynesville, coming up next - [Announcer] Funding for "North Carolina Weekend" is provided in part by visitnc, 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.

[upbeat music] [upbeat music continues] [upbeat music continues] - Welcome to "North Carolina Weekend" everyone.

I'm Deborah Holt Noel, and this week we are taking you to destinations around the state where you can just relax.

Right now we're at Grandover Resort & Spa in Greensboro, a newly renovated AAA four Diamond Resort with golf, tennis, fine dining an art gallery, and of course a spa.

I can't wait to learn more about it, but first, I recently visited the spa at Pinehurst and must say I received the treatment of champions.

[soft music] No question, Pinehurst is the home of American golf.

Its classic greens have hosted prestigious tournaments like the US Open, the Women's Open, the Ryder Cup, and more, but beyond the fairways, there's a retreat that rivals the excellence of its legendary courses, The Spa at Pinehurst.

One of the most desirable features of the Spa at Pinehurst is wonderfully spacious accommodations.

With over 31,000 square feet of space, it's the second largest indoor spa retreat in North Carolina.

In the main quiet area, you'll find a heated, three lane lap pool, cascade waterfall, and comfortable seating.

The shower room has a hot sauna, showers, and ample changing room.

There's another whirlpool in this women's only lounge just right before or after your treatment.

You can see why this spa is perfect for small gatherings, couples, or your own personal day of relaxation.

- What makes us unique is they can come in and relax all day long.

We actually do facial treatments by the pool as well, and we have a bar.

They can come, so if they don't have a facial or massage, they can have it by the pool.

Our products are southern base, so we use the magnolia.

We use lavender.

So I'll be doing the seasonal facial, which is our strawberry rhubarb facial, so I'll start by deep cleaning the skin, do a good exfoliation with lactic acid, which is in the strawberry rhubarb.

Then I'll put a nice hydrating mask, do Hungarian massage, which stimulates the collagen in the face and lifting effects without using like a Gua Sha.

We do hands, shoulders, neck, facial, and scalp massage.

Facials are good for balancing the mind and body.

I love being able to help other people relax, and to help them with their skin, their routines at home.

- [Deborah] Of course, the products used in your facial are available in the retail area, so you can continue a little self-care at home.

The Spa at Pinehurst is full service, so they offer a range of facial treatments as well as nail services, nourishing body treatments, and therapeutic massage customized just for you.

- Well, we have quite a long list of clients that come.

We have athletes such as golfers, weightlifters.

Here I believe you get a good blend of golf culture and wellness.

You have your favorite athletes golfing on the course that you're currently playing in.

Why not come here and have the same service that they receive here?

- Another wonderful part of the Spa at Pinehurst experience is being able to extend the relaxation with an overnight stay at the Carolina Hotel.

It's just a few steps away.

- The Carolina, it's over a hundred years old, built in 1901.

It's kind of our flagship property.

It's the largest of our four hotels across our campus.

It has 258 rooms across the campus, and it's kinda one of those queen of the south moments for us.

It really is a special place.

Every place needs a refresh every now and then, and The Carolina was no different.

So for the last five years, we've been curating an experience to not only honor the tradition, the history of the hotel, but to also bring it to a modernization that every traveler expects these days, whether it's technology in the room, mechanically in the room, but obviously with the decor and furnishings.

We really tried to step those up quite a bit, and meet today's traveler's needs, so we're excited to to showcase that.

- [Deborah] For the comfort, warm hospitality, and excellence in both accommodation and service, you're sure to have a relaxing experience at the Spa at Pinehurst.

The Spa at Pinehurst is at 180 Barrett Road East in Pinehurst, and they're open from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM seven days a week.

To plan your visit, give them a call at 800-613-7756, or visit them online at pinehurst.com.

I just love these here at Grandover.

They're so fragrant.

Perhaps your idea of a relaxing getaway is a visit to the countryside away from distractions like cell phones and TVs.

If so, come with us to Stanley County for a regenerative farm stay at Juneberry Ridge.

[calming music] - Juneberry is a regenerative agriculture farm based in Norwood, North Carolina.

We have all kinds of events here, concerts, brunches, workshops, or you could come and stay with one of our destination packages that's all inclusive, and really enjoy a full three nights here at Juneberry.

- [Ashton] From the moment you drive up that stone driveway, you know, there's a peace that just comes over you.

- I feel like I have to plan and coordinate so much in my life, and this was just a breath of fresh air that I can just be here and be nourished.

You can show up, check in.

You have a beautiful cabin - [Todd] Throughout the Juneberry farm stays, we take care of all meals.

There's an arrival reception.

There's a picnic basket delivery at breakfast the next morning.

There's a communal lunch, a four course farm dinner.

- When you come to Juneberry, you are in fact escaping to the real world.

Education is a major pillar of why we exist, and who we are, and how we want to be remembered.

I always tell our tours, my name is Ashton.

Interrupt me anytime you want to.

This will be so much better if we talk with each other instead of me talking to you.

Four out of five times, I'll get a question of, "I just don't know what to plant at my house.

How do you get started?"

And I say, "What makes you happy?"

You know, that's where you start.

- Going on a tour of the property, looking at all of the different horticulture, all the different plants, how things were planted, why they were planted that way, when you sit down to have your meal, you know, you can't help but think of all that is going into what is being placed before you, so it took that dining experience for me, it took it to a whole different level of, you know, appreciation and awareness and understanding, and a lot of gratitude.

- David really talked to us about the food.

To me it's like beauty, it's poetry.

It's so beautiful to witness someone that is so passionate about what they do, and you could tell that it's his love on a plate.

- The food, it ebbs and flows with the seasons, but also we do try to, even within the season, you know, vary offerings from farm stay to farm stay, or week to week.

I'm a sommelier by training.

I do enjoy wine.

We will focus on natural wines, biodynamic wines, organic wines to pair with meals.

Juneberry at large has a variety of ways that incorporate wellness that aren't on the plate.

To me, it all is sort of interwoven.

- So many people are looking for the answers.

They're looking for something to make them happy, and that's within us.

We can each make ourself happy, just taking time to look after ourselves.

Forest bathing is a very slow walk through the forest where we engage all five senses and ask you to pay attention to the small things that the forest has to offer.

- To be purely present with yourself, and how you respond to nature, and how nature responds to you, being in that moment was magical.

You know, with my daughter and my four nephews, you see them interact in nature and it's so natural for them.

There's been a huge disconnect between that playful moment as a child to now we're having to be told to be playful and present in the forest when it's been here our whole lives, and that's what Juneberry has really done for me is to show me that the forest never left us, we just left the forest.

- [Catherine] You cannot come to Juneberry Ridge without somehow changing the way that you perceive yourself or the natural world.

- [Deborah] You'll find Juneberry Ridge at 40120 Old Cottonville Road in Norwood.

To book a regenerative farm stay, or any other experience, give them a call at 704-474-7398, or visit them online at juneberry.com.

- We love to tell a great story here at Grandover.

[calm music] It's a story that makes us a city.

It makes us who we are.

We tell a heritage story here, so we go all the way back to our Revolutionary War days where Greensboro got its name from Nathaniel Green, and we tell our textile story, which has made us who we are.

We tell a furniture story, which is another major industry here, and then the arts, and even our golf tournament, which is the third oldest golf tournament on the PGA tour.

It started in 1938, - Grandover is really a special spot for sure, located right in the heart of North Carolina and so easy to get to from all areas.

We are certainly the premier destination for a relaxing leisure getaway for anybody in North Carolina or really into Virginia and South Carolina as well.

- [Kelly] Grandover has so much to offer our guests that come in, 244 guest rooms, eight of those are luxury suites, which are absolutely beautiful.

The gallery at Grandover is all art for sale from North Carolina artists in and around the region.

- So Deb, you know we are right here adjacent to High Point, which is the furniture capital of the world, right, so we have many of our guests that are coming and doing specifically furniture shopping, so when they arrive, and they see the art gallery and all the pieces, it's very easy for them to complete their shopping experience, right, do their furniture shopping in High Point, and then enhance their spaces with artwork from North Carolina here at the gallery.

[upbeat music] - [Kelly] An award-winning Finial restaurant, which is Southern inspired fare.

- Finial Restaurant is our main dining room and fine dining experience, very casual feeling, but also wonderful for a special event.

Adjoining to Finial is 1808 bar, which is a great casual spot, craft cocktails, and then, on the weekends, live entertainment.

Every Friday and Saturday, we have a rotating entertainment schedule, so again, our guests always have something a little bit different to experience.

One of the special pieces that's on display here right adjoining to the lobby is a denim loom that came out of the White Oak plant, which is a cone mills plant, a really special piece, and our guests really enjoy seeing that and seeing that history, very unique.

- I think anytime that we travel, we want to take a little bit of where we went with us so that we can tell that story, so we help share that story with them, and we've got a great one to tell.

[calm music] - I am here with Jamye Bridges-Pass, the Director of the spa here at Grandover, and this room is just everything, so serene.

What's it called?

- So this is our relaxation and meditation room, and it's the opportunity for our guests of the hotel and the spa to come and just really find a zen moment, to meditate, to continue their experience after their services, and just relax.

You don't have to rush out to the world.

You can stay and continue your experience here at the spa.

- That's what I would do [laughs].

Jamye, what are some of the amenities that the spa offers?

- So besides the relaxation and meditation room, when you are a guest of the spa, you can enjoy our sauna or steam room that's back within the spa.

We have our 24 hour fitness center, as well as our indoor outdoor pool, so we have a whole experience here for all of our hotel guests and public to enjoy, - [Deborah] And, well you just said, it's for the public to enjoy, so you don't have to be a hotel guest to enjoy, correct?

- No, we definitely invite the public to come and enjoy the spa.

We do.

You can call and book an appointment as well as we have online booking, so we offer all of our services to the public and to the hotel guests.

- Jamye, what are you hearing back from guests?

- So guests love coming to the spa, because they receive a whole experience.

They can relax their mind, their body, and their spirit.

They don't have to rush back out to the world, but after a relaxation facial or massage, they can just enjoy the whole experience of the spa.

- Well, I look forward to leisurely exploring a little bit later.

Thank you so much.

- Thank you.

- To plan your Grandover experience, give them a call at 336-294-1800, or visit them online at grandoverresort.com.

The Grandover has two 18 hole championship golf courses, and a pro shop, and they offer golfing lessons.

For some folks, there's nothing more relaxing than a round of golf on a fun and challenging golf course.

Well, the Waynesville Inn and Golf Club has recently been renovated, and it's a great place for a mountain weekend golfing experience.

[smooth music] - The Waynesville Inn and Golf Club is a private golf club with a historic inn on site.

We have a sprawling campus here with multiple buildings and a golf course that was built by Donald Ross in 1926, and was recently fully renovated.

So what we offer here at Waynesville is we're a newly Hilton branded hotel, and if you stay here on property, that'll get you access to the golf course, all the dining, our fitness, and all of the social aspects here at the club.

- The golf course in and of itself was a transformed 27 hole layout into a really good 18 holes.

We partnered with Bobby Weed and Bobby Weed Golf Design to really create a good atmosphere out here.

The food and beverage, the pool, the fitness center, we've got great amenities here when guests are staying with us, but yeah, the course is what drives people here.

- Keeping Donald Ross's vision alive was really important to us, and really important to Bobby as he was redesigning.

Everyone that plays that front nine out there knows you can tell it was a Donald Ross design, and then what Bobby's done to the back nine is beautiful, matches it, and the vistas are absolutely gorgeous, so we really have something special going on here in Western North Carolina - With what we have going on at the Inn, the live music, the events that we have, golf related or social related, it's a fun, warm, welcoming place to gather, to hang out, relax here.

We want you to feel like you're a part of something special.

- For me, I wanted a place that we could travel as a family, and everybody play golf, and kind of be in the mountains a little bit cooler, and this was really close to home, about an hour and a half away.

- When we're looking at a club, we really look at the whole package.

As a former golf professional, and a former college golfer, we really look at the course, and we love the golf course, first and foremost, and then secondary, you know, we're looking for a fun family atmosphere, and a place that we feel at home, and this is somewhere that we feel that could be our second home.

- We actually have 17 different room types.

We have kings with a balcony that overlook the course.

We also have two outlying buildings.

We've got our Brookside building, and then we also have our Golfview.

So the cottages, we have three of them.

They would be great for family reunions, because it allows you all to stay together, or if you are between all of our accommodations, it becomes a great central point for y'all to experience.

- So we have a lot of event space here on property.

This is just one, this is the Rotunda.

Below the Rotunda is the Watershed Tavern, that is more kind of like a sports bar feel, but it's also one of our two meeting spaces as well.

Dining options, so some of our most popular items are the Waynesville Burger, which has bacon jam on it.

That's a big hit, our chicken wings, and of course some of our fresh salads.

- I ordered the smash burger and potato salad.

The scenery is stunning here, and I love to hear the music.

It's just very pleasant here, very inviting, refreshing.

It's a nice little place to visit.

- We want an exclusive element to the property, but we want it to be approachable as well, hence why staying at The Inn if you're not a member is a very great option, 'cause it's a fun place to be.

- I mean, this property is truly a getaway.

I mean, whether you're a golfer or not, I mean, we have so much to offer here, and Western North Carolina is beautiful.

The weather's great, with being up here in the elevation, you have mountains everywhere you look.

We're very close to the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

Downtown Waynesville is beautiful shops and restaurants, so it's truly a getaway for everyone in NC.

It's a playground for everybody.

- [Deborah] The Waynesville Inn and Golf Club is at 176 Country Club Drive in Waynesville.

To book your stay, or plan a round of golf, give them a call at 828-456-3551, or visit them online at waynesvilleinnandgolf.com.

Across the southeast, Sauna House creates a space for you to relax while also getting the benefits of alternating the sauna and a cold plunge.

At their Asheville location, they embody completely a dedication to creating a sustainable experience for both you and the planet.

[calming tones] - Sauna House is a modern bathhouse space.

We provide people access to hot and cold contrast therapy in modern, beautiful, tech-free spaces.

So we're here in our original location in Asheville, North Carolina right now, and over the last six months, we've opened in Durham, North Carolina, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Bonita Springs, Florida.

So we opened 2019, was really kicked off by Andrew Laughlin, who is the founder and CEO of the company.

He grew up playing sports, all of those things, struggled with the depression in his 20s, and found hot and cold contrast therapy as an amazing tool to kind of treat those things, and get 'em back on track.

He wanted to do it in a way that was fun, that was social, and also sort of acknowledge the historic use of bathhouse spaces that have been going on for centuries in a bunch of different forms across the world.

We offer both modern and traditional Finnish saunas, cold plunges.

In order to access the bathhouse, we have drop ins, and then we also do memberships.

- New members, we give them a walkthrough.

We do a little tour, make sure that they feel super welcome, and that they know the step by steps of how to do the circuit.

The saunas can get up to like 190 degrees when you add that steam onto them, so you're definitely sweating in there.

The cold plunge can get down to like 40 degrees, 43 degrees, so also very frosty, and basically what this high contrast therapy does, it's gonna reduce inflammation.

It boosts endorphins.

It's great for your skin, it's great for the lymph and detox.

Oftentimes people will kind of just jump in between hot and cold, but that relaxed portion is so important, 'cause that's when you get that rush of endorphins, and you just sit in this really beautiful space where your body is reregulating, and that's where that whole relax area comes in, where we have like heated benches and lots of plants.

It's just a really relaxing body space.

- Usually come here after intense workouts or long hikes, and I would use the space to recover.

Since then, it's evolved into more of like a third place for me.

You know, I'll come here just to read a book and relax.

My partner and I like to come here before going out to dinner.

It's a very enlivening space and rejuvenating.

- I love coming to Sauna House because I'm pretty active.

I bike and run, and I do a lot of dead lifts, and it makes my body just relax.

Life is so like intense right now, so it's so nice to be able to come to Sauna House and just chill.

- So we recognize that this is a communal space.

It's a bathhouse after all.

People are coming in there in their bathing suits.

They're walking around barefoot, so we are upholding the highest standards to make sure that this space is clean and safe for everybody using it every single time.

So every Wednesday when we're closed, we do a deep cleaning of the space.

We lift up the mats.

We're essentially like deconstructing the saunas and the whole space and making sure that every area under every piece of furniture is being cleaned and sanitized to make sure that the space is safe and sanitary for all.

- So right now we're in one of the saunas at Sauna House in the private room.

That's something I really appreciate about Sauna House is you can come here and do a session in the communal space and engage with other people, but then we have private rooms, so if you just want to have your own space, Sauna House kind of offers both.

- It's the best.

It's euphoria.

After you get out of the cold plunge, and you sit in the hot seats, and you've done the whole thing, it's really, it's like almost like you're in the cloud.

It's the best - We really want these spaces to be for everybody.

If you have like an inkling of curiosity about what contrast therapy could do for you, physically, mentally, socially, any of those things, like just give it a shot.

It's two hours of your day, and you'll feel like a million bucks, so you might as well.

Our goal is just to continue building places that people wanna come, keeping like pillars in our community.

We also talk a lot about like the long-term impacts you can have as a business that's growing, right, like we partner with 1% for the Planet, and if we could keep growing and providing more initiatives, and education, and resources to some of our local nonprofit partners and make an impact in people on the planet, that's the hope.

[calming tones] - [Deborah] Sauna House Asheville is located at 230 Short Coxe Avenue in Asheville.

Give them a call at 828-505-6393, or visit them online at saunahouse.com to make a booking.

Well, that's it for tonight's show.

We hope that you have been inspired to visit Grandover Resort and Spa and some of the other places that we've featured in tonight's program, and if you've missed anything in tonight's show, remember you can always watch us again online at pbsnc.org, or you can find any of our stories on our YouTube channel.

Have a great North Carolina weekend everyone.

[cheerful music] [cheerful music continues] - [Announcer] Funding for "North Carolina Weekend" is provided in part by visitnc, 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.

[soft music]