[bright music] - Next on "North Carolina Weekend", we're having hot fun in the summertime from Chavis Park in Raleigh.

[upbeat music] We'll go go-kart racing in Mooresville, explore Kinston's art scene, and preview the Earl Scruggs Festival.

Coming up next.

[bright music] - [Announcer] Funding for "North Carolina Weekend" is provided in part by Visit NC, 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] - Hi, everyone, welcome to "North Carolina Weekend".

I'm Deborah Holt Noel, and this week, we are having hot fun in the summertime from the John Chavis Memorial Park in Raleigh.

[bright music] [children faintly speaking] It's a beautiful public park, with nearly 30 acres of fun for any summer day.

Families will love the splash pad, playground, indoor walking track, a historic carousel, and more.

We'll learn more about this 85-year-old park throughout the show, but first, let's go for an adrenaline rush at a two-story family fun center that features go-karting, laser tag, and more, at The Pit in Mooresville.

[upbeat music] [floor squeaking] [go-karts whizzing] [transition whooshing] - So we are at The Pit Indoor Go-Kart Racing in Morrisville, North Carolina.

- [Narrator] The Pit might be the name, but racing is definitely not all they offer.

- We opened in 2007, we were just a track, and then we expanded in 2008.

[children faintly speaking] - It kind of exploded to entertainment everywhere.

So we have more than just go-karts, we have go-karts and laser tag, we have bumper cars, ax throwing, escape rooms, an arcade, birthday parties, huge events, so it's more than just go-karting.

- [Narrator] But go-karts are the star attraction.

- Definitely the go-kart racing.

- Oh, we came here to have fun with the kids today.

Do a little go-karting.

- Of course, the go-karting.

[go-karts whizzing] [go-kart engine rumbling] We have go-karting for all the ages, whether you're three years old or 97 and you wanna do go-karting, we have go-karts for you.

- [Narrator] Here are the facts, there are 70,000 square feet of track, making it one of the largest single indoor cart tracks in the country.

- The track itself, if you stretch it out, it's 1/3 of a mile long.

There's 20 turns, so you get a good workout in there, oh yeah.

- [Narrator] The width of the track is 20 feet all the way around, with a 22-foot-wide straightaway.

Best of all, the carts are fast.

- There's none that's fast as these go-karts here for the adults, but they also have three different stages, most go-kart tracks you go to don't have the stages for the younger crowd.

So they love riding go-kart, that's why we come here.

[laughing] - [Narrator] The age range of adult drivers is 16 and up.

Youth drivers on this track are eight to 15 years of age, and speeds are set accordingly.

- So the adults go up to 45 miles per hour, and then the youth go up to 35.

- They are gas powered, we do have good ventilation in here.

[laughing] Most places around us do have electric go-karts, so we kinda stand out more in ways that we have gas-powered go-karts.

- [Narrator] Gear is provided, but you'll need closed-toed shoes.

After that, you're set.

- [Rileigh] So you get eight minutes out on the track.

You can do anywhere from two laps to 10 laps.

It just depends on how comfortable you are and how fast you like to go - [Narrator] From the track, you can head upstairs for everything else.

- Yeah, so whenever the customers come inside, they go upstairs, they go to the cashiers, and depending on which package that you do, so you can just get individual tickets, but we also have different packages.

And then you get a ticket with your name on it and the activity, and then you'll just head to the activity.

- [Narrator] Activities like ax throwing.

- Oh, I recently found out about it about three years ago, [laughing] and we've been coming since.

[laughing] - You can either do that for 30 minutes or you can do it for an hour.

- [Narrator] That's if your arms are up for it.

- Oh yeah, you get a good arm workout.

- [Narrator] They also have go-karts upstairs for children three to nine, plus bumper cars, escape rooms, and blacklight mini golf.

- [Parent] There you go.

- [Rileigh] We have our laser tag arcade and birthday parties.

- So in a Saturday, we do birthday parties, that would have about three during a day, whether they have racing and laser tag, and we just coordinate with the parents.

- [Narrator] There's also opportunities on site for adults to practice team building.

- We have meeting rooms, so if you wanna come in for your meeting, we have that.

We have a very large banquet room, we do facility rentals.

Other than the whole facility, if you just wanna come in and rent out the track for a couple hours, if you wanna do the laser tag for a couple hours, you are able to do that as well.

- [Narrator] The Pit also has concessions, so you can refresh during your day of fun.

- Whoo.

- [Narrator] And considering everything is under one roof, you can visit rain or shine, cold or hot, just about every day of the year.

- Yes, all you gotta do is just buy a ticket, show up.

[laughing] [go-karts whizzing] - The Pit Indoor Cart Racing is at 346 East Plaza Drive in Mooresville, and it's open daily.

For more information, give them a call at 704-799-3470, or visit them online at meetatthepit.com.

Check out this brilliant mural inside the Chavis Community Center.

[upbeat music] It's designed by artist David Wilson and he draws from historic photos to tell the story of Chavis Park, which is listed on the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places.

Our producer, Seraphim Smith, is also a muralist.

Let's join him in Kinston as he shows us some of the new visual art in his corner of the Carolinas.

[upbeat music] - Welcome to Kinston, a former tobacco town currently experiencing a creative renaissance.

It's a colorful city, ripe with talent and filled with many artists.

In fact, this little city of Kinston has the largest public art trail in North Carolina.

Join me on a little art tour of my home.

- This is the smART Gallery, which is the hub for the smART Artists who are a part of the smART Kinston City Project.

- smART Kinston is also a creative haven in the Arts & Cultural District of Kinston.

The program recruits artists from all over the nation.

[upbeat music] - Just to have a community that wants artists to come and live, work, to do what they love, as an artist, you can't ask for anything better.

- We are helping to revitalize the arts by painting on fences, streets.

We really look forward to having people come in so we can show them around.

[spray can hissing] [birds singing] - [Seraphim] My friend, Jamil, is a smART Artist, and he is helping to beautify the Kinston Music Park.

- I got started back in Newark, New Jersey, when I was a kid, my grandmother, she would draw animals and farm animals and dogs and cats, and she would have me to copy them.

And then she would critique 'em, and then I had to go back and copy 'em again until I got a little better.

So early on, I got the repetition process down.

[upbeat music] [spray can rattling] - [Seraphim] Our murals speak to who we are, such as our farm-to-table notoriety, a monarch butterfly for the King city.

Our NBA players are known all over the world.

And funk music, yes, funk, was born right here in Kinston.

- This is one of the great murals that we have here in Kinston.

So Kinston is a leader in civil rights, not just for our state and our region, but also for our nation.

And there's so much history to learn from these murals and the fact that coming to Kinston for cultural tourism is the right thing to do.

[upbeat music] ♪ - In downtown, on Blount Street, you'll find many of our creative agencies.

At the Kinston Community Center for the Arts, one can peruse their galleries, but they also have many classes, especially for children.

- I need red.

I want red.

- We offer children's art classes that range from pottery, mixed media, painting, cooking.

- Marshmallow cream.

- [Abbye] It's all in this community and we're so happy to do it.

[bright music] - [Seraphim] If you walk just over the railroad tracks, you'll find yourself at the Lenoir Council for the Aging, and I was told I needed to check out their art classes.

[artist faintly speaking] - What we feel like has happened here at the Council on Aging is the pottery class especially that's going on, there's so many that never have touched clay in their lives, and then they are now creating.

And to see them come alive, it's really amazing.

What we've noticed is the laughter in that pottery room.

[artists laughing] You'll hear 'em talking and giggling and laughing, but they're creating at the same time.

And it's just wonderful to see that life doesn't stop just because you get gray hair or get to 70, it should be beginning again.

- It's a blast being old, it's fun.

[laughing] - [Seraphim] Down the street, you'll find Art 105, which is a gallery and a place where artists are actually creating.

- Okay, here's what I'm doing.

I'm putting the second coat of lead.

And you do it on both sides, one side is to look as good as the other.

- [Seraphim] And here's some of my handiwork.

Master potter, Gail Kelly, recently came to us from Washington State.

We're so glad she chose to make Kinston her home.

- [Gail] I don't know if you can see what my hand this doing.

- All of this is just a taste of what makes Kinston so special.

I bet you'll find it so rich and delicious, you'll want more than one helping.

[upbeat music] We warmly welcome you to spend your North Carolina weekend with us and discover why artists from all over are drawn to Kinston.

- To learn more about the Kinston art scene, go to the Community Center for the Arts at 400 North Queen Street, or go online to kinstoncca.com.

And Art 105 is at 105 West Blount Street, and they're open from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday.

Visit them online at art105studios.com.

Right now, with Madison Phillips, assistant director of the John Chavis Memorial Park in Raleigh.

Madison, thank you so much for having us out here.

It is so beautiful.

What all is there for people to enjoy?

- First of all, thank you so much for coming, but here at John Chavis Memorial Park, we have a splash pad, a playground, a historic carousel, an indoor and outdoor track, as well as art features and historic exhibits.

So this place just is absolutely gorgeous and has so much to offer.

- Well, Madison, tell me about the person who this park is named after.

- So John Chavis was a American Revolutionary War veteran, a preacher and a teacher to both Black and white students back in the 1700s and 1800s.

He was a free Black man, which back in the day, he had everything going against him, so the fact that he was able to be a teacher and a preacher, one of the first Presbyterian ministers in North Carolina, as well as a graduate, unofficial graduate of Princeton University.

- Wow, that's pretty amazing.

Now, tell me about another historical element, the carousel here.

- So the carousel is very cool.

It was built by the Allan Herschel Company from Tonawanda, New York, in 1916.

And it traveled a little bit, was bought by the city of Raleigh in 1937, and it has stayed at this park ever since, moving a couple locations, but we're so glad that it is still the same carousel that operates today.

- And about how big is the park?

About how many people come through here maybe throughout the year?

- Yeah, so the park is 28 acres.

It's a very large park, we have thousands and thousands of visitors every single year.

- [Deborah] And then I saw a bunch of children running around.

[Deborah laughing] - Yes, absolutely.

So we have the playground that is brand new as of 2021, as well as our splash pad, which is on from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., April through October.

So this place is full of activity.

- [Deborah] So right now we're standing in front of this gorgeous mural, tell me a little bit about the mural and the history of this site.

- Yes, so I wanna take you back 85 years to 1938, May 10th to be exact.

That is the grand opening of John Chavis Memorial Park.

And there were 3,000 visitors from all over the country here in attendance.

So the park had its boom time in the 1950s and '60s, where there was a F9F-6 Cougar Marine Corps jet here with a slide attached to it for the kids to play on, as well as a grandstand, an amphitheater.

- Now, this was once a segregated park?

- Yes.

- Or has it been open to everyone?

- So it was once a segregated park, and that's why visitors came from all over the country for the grand opening, because they wanted to see the park that African-Americans could attend.

And it was a gorgeous, beautiful, amazing park, and everybody held it so deeply in their hearts.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 integrated all public facilities.

And that's why I say the boom time was before the '70s, because with that act, everybody was able to attend whatever park they wished and the population attending this park went down.

- Interesting.

- Yes, so we are working now on getting that population back up, showing that this park is for everyone and we want everyone to enjoy it.

- Well, Madison, this is truly an amazing park.

I have enjoyed some personal events here myself, but I've still learned a lot, so thank you so much.

- And thank you so much for coming, we love and appreciate everybody that comes out to this park, so we're so grateful to have you out here.

- John Chavis Memorial Park is at 505 Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard in Raleigh, and it's open daily.

To find out more, go to raleighnc.gov and look under Parks.

You can enjoy a short stroll out here at Chavis Park because it actually includes a half-mile stretch of the Capital Area Greenway trail.

Next, let's head to Madison County for a series of foraging, cooking and dining.

[upbeat music] - The woods are my home.

[footsteps crunching] I feel more myself in the woods than anywhere else.

This particular cove, Shelton Laurel, in Madison County, Western North Carolina, is a place where ballad singers settled many generations ago, it's a place that is rich in musical heritage and folksong.

[footsteps crunching] We grew everything we ate.

We went to town twice a year.

We needed nothing else.

Okay, ramp season, my favorite time of the year.

They're green, they're pungent, they're astringent, they're spicy, they're hot, they're wild.

Mm, wow, mm.

Can't get any better than that.

I feel selfish enjoying all of this bounty on my own, so I enjoy sharing that.

[upbeat music] The Appalachian Culinary Experience takes place on this mountainside halfway up the Sugarloaf at about 3,000 feet.

It is a combination of ingredients, cooking, entertaining, savoring moments around the table.

- [Gay] Susi has special knowledge.

- [Susi] From four different heirloom varietals of apples, they all come from the same.

- She's written several books and she's a French chef.

If you really wanna experience Appalachia, I can't think of any better way to do it than with Susi.

[upbeat music] - [Michael] Walking in the mountains, drinking water from a fresh spring, learning from Susi, meeting her parents, It's a complete joy.

- All of the walks are adaptable, I can adjust the path that we might take.

Morels need you to believe in them in order to find them.

Look at that, there you are, okay.

You can take a sniff, it is really, really delicate and lovely at the same time.

We're going to start with a tomato tart with thyme and [speaking in foreign language] and of course, ramps, because we have ramps at our fingertips.

Aren't we lucky?

Press rather than push, because you don't wanna tear the dough.

- [Katie] The food experience, it's sensory.

It is the noises, it's the smells, it's the movements.

- All right.

- [Katie] All of it is combined in such a delightful way.

- To wonderful weekends with friends, wandering the fields and the hollers, which is my very favorite thing to do.

And to everybody being willing to try branch lettuce and sochan and ramps and morels.

[attendees laughing] And all the wonderful things that grace our table tonight.

Yeah, it's in North Carolina.

- I am a meat and potatoes kind of guy.

Susi has expanded my palate.

[attendee faintly speaking] - When you have a steak, you've had these things before, but then adding these components, these elements that are unique to the place where you are just deepens that experience, it makes that stake so much better in so many ways.

And having watched it be prepared, having your hands in it yourself, being a part of that process, all of it is so incredible to the experience.

[stand mixer whirring] [attendees faintly speaking] - The Appalachian Culinary Experience is hosted the last Saturday of each month from March until October.

For more information, visit appalachianculinary.com, or call 828-301-2792.

For years, the town of Shelby searched for a venue to host a festival to honor longtime legend, Earl Scruggs.

Well, they finally found one at the Equestrian Center in nearby Tryon.

And as you'll see, it is the perfect place to hear bluegrass music.

[upbeat music] - We're expecting this to be a great festival and we're really looking forward to it.

A lot of hard work by a lot of people.

Just want it to come off great and everybody to leave saying, "Man, best festival ever, can't wait 'til next year."

- I've always believed that this part of North Carolina was the cradle of civilization as far as bluegrass music and all banjo playing was concerned.

So many great banjo players came out of this part of the country.

And Earl probably had a few to listen to when he was growing up, but no one played with three fingers like he did.

[upbeat music] - His music impacted so many others, it changed American music.

He was really one of the most influential American musicians.

And so he was part of setting the foundation for the music that a lot of these folks who are playing the festival play.

And even if they didn't have an opportunity to meet him, they certainly look to him as a creator of the music, someone who continued to push boundaries.

He was traditionally bluegrass, he played bluegrass music, but he played a lot of other things too, and he collaborated with so many people.

And that's really the spirit that we wanna capture in this festival.

[upbeat music] ♪ ♪ I don't care how many letters they sent ♪ ♪ Morning came and the morning went ♪ ♪ Pack up your suitcase, pick up your tent ♪ ♪ You ain't going nowhere ♪ ♪ Ooh-wee, ride me high ♪ - I'm at the inaugural Earl Scruggs Festival here at the Tryon International equestrian event.

I've never been to this Tryon International equestrian location before.

And Earl Scruggs is a big hero of mine, as he is for a lot of people.

I've been playing bluegrass banjo since I was 12 or 13, and I learned on Earl's book, which many people did, I see the book for sale around here, one of the vendors.

It's the same book I learned on and same book thousands and thousands of people have.

And so Earl is, a part of Earl is in everybody who plays bluegrass banjo, that's for sure.

- I'm a banjo player, and I have been for many, many years.

And to be this close to Shelby, North Carolina, on Labor Day weekend is really an incredible thrill for me.

I mean, if it weren't for Earl Scruggs, my life would've had a completely different trajectory.

And so I really owe most of my experiences and most of my great passions in life to the man who came from Shelby, North Carolina, born in 1924, Earl Scruggs.

I can't think of a better place to be on Labor Day weekend.

[upbeat music] ♪ [upbeat music continues] ♪ Well, Earl Scruggs is known as the father of bluegrass banjo.

He's the guy who invented the three-finger style.

And what's interesting about Earl's career is that as he evolved in his career and especially with The Earl Scruggs Revue, he enjoyed taking the banjo into different musical directions, into a more pop and country rock direction.

I've kinda done the same thing with my group, I'm a three-finger-style player and I love bluegrass music, but our music, the music that I write tends to take the banjo into other directions, into jazz and other kinds of folk music and world music.

So my group will present kind of the different possibilities for the five-string banjo using Earl Scruggs technique and exploring some of the places that the banjo can go.

[upbeat music] - I wanted to be Earl Scruggs, I wanted to be Earl.

I loved how he played, I loved the drive and the fire in his playing and the technique and how clean he was and how masterful he was at his instrument.

No one has ever topped his, has played the banjo the way he plays it.

I mean, they play it like him, but there's an element missing, and that left with Earl.

♪ I ain't gonna work on the railroad ♪ - Get your tickets now for the Earl Scruggs Music Festival at the Tryon Equestrian Center.

The festival runs from September 1st through the 3rd.

To find out more, go to earlscruggsmusicfest.com.

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

We've had a wonderful time out here at the John Chavis Memorial Park in Raleigh.

It is a great destination for families on a hot summer day or anytime throughout the year.

And if you've missed anything in today's show, just remember you can watch us again online at pbsnc.org.

Have a great North Carolina weekend, everyone.

[upbeat music] ♪ [upbeat music continues] ♪ [upbeat music continues] ♪ [upbeat music continues] ♪ [upbeat music continues] [bright music] - [Announcer] Funding for "North Carolina Weekend" is provided in part by Visit NC, 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.

[bright music]