— How Charlotte got to be CHARLOTTE (while somehow retaining an amazing microhabitat or two).
— How Asheville came to host its first flash mob pillow fight (while still honoring its more traditional pastimes).
— How a covered wagon from Rowan County ended up on the second floor of a restaurant in New Washington, Indiana.
— How Benny from Lexington became “the old man” on “Pawn Stars.”
— How North Carolina lost — to Ohio! — its official unofficial state “ready-to-eat spiced sausage treat.”