By Ron Kapon

Jesse Helms, tobacco, basketball and three distinctly different regions; that is North Carolina. Bordered on the north by Virginia; the west by Tennessee; the south by South Carolina and Georgia. The total population of the state is 7 1/2 million. The Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains form the mountains of western North Carolina; the eastern part of the state is 300 miles of beaches, islands and inlets. The portion of the state I visited for 5 days is known as the Heartlands, which includes the state's largest urban areas.

If you saw Forrest Gump, The Fugitive, The Color Purple, Patch Adams, Bull Durham, 28 Days, The Green Mile, you saw North Carolina. Since 1980, more than 400 motion pictures, 6 network TV series and thousands of commercials have been filmed there. Only California has more sound stages; they are third in total filmmaking behind California and New York.

From the high tech (Cisco, IBM, Lucent, Nortel) of the Research Triangle, Raleigh, Chapel Hill and Durham, located just a half-hour apart, with its million plus population (voted best place to live in the South by Money Magazine) to the Revolutionary War battlefields of Greensboro. From Andy Griffith country in Mount Airy (Mayberry) to the banking industry in Charlotte, my 5-day circle trip opened up a New World for me. I have already planned two more trips: to the mountains and the outer banks.

US Air flies to its hub in Charlotte; Midway Airlines flies to its hub in Raleigh/Durham. I purchased senior coupons for my trip through Midway.

My love of wine is only exceeded by my passion for college basketball. What a thrill- I got to see North Carolina (the oldest State University in the US- 1789), North Carolina State and Duke during my trip. They are located less than a half hour apart. I spent my first night at the AAA 4 Diamond Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill before the NC-Wake Forest game. Walk three blocks to Franklin Street and mingle with the students and alumni preparing for the game. Purchase Carolina shirts and hats at the Shrunken Head Boutique. The Carolina Inn was built in 1924 (completely renovated) and is now owned by the university and operated by Doubletree Hotels. While in town I visited the Star Theater presentation at the Morehead Planetarium. The Dean Smith Center, named after the retired basketball coach, has a trophy room worth visiting.

Less than half hour away, I walked through the Duke campus, past the famed University Chapel to Cameron Indoor Stadium and the Duke-Clemson game. I toured the Duke Homestead State Historic Site where the Duke family's home, tobacco barns and original factory are located. The third part of the triangle is Raleigh, also 30 minutes away from Durham and Chapel Hill. I stayed at the Mariott Crabtree Valley Hotel, a short drive from my long-awaited dinner at the Angus Barn and its Wine Spectator Grand Award winning wine list (since 1989). Founded in 1960, it serves 40 wines by the glass, seats 660, has 25,000 bottles in its cellar and 1,200 selections on the wine list.

While in Raleigh I also visited the Chatham Hill Winery and the state capitol area, including Exploris, a global experience interactive center with its hands-on exhibits. My last night was spent in the downtown Oakwood Inn, a Victorian retreat with its 6 guestrooms. After dinner at Second Empire, it was off to the NCState- Duke game at the new Raleigh Entertainment and Sports Arena.

Bright and early I drove the 3 hours to Charlotte. The Lowes Motor Speedway is home to three NASCAR Winston Cup races (and I thought basketball was king). The town is noted for its financial services. It is the nation's second largest banking center, after New York. Professional football, men and women's basketball and hockey teams call Charlotte home. It is the largest city in the state, with over 1.2 million in the metro area. At the Square in downtown are the 4 symbolic sculptures that symbolize the town; a gold miner, a woman textile millworker, an African-American railroad builder and a mother holding her baby. Fortune Magazine named Charlotte the city with the #1 "Pro- Business Attitude" in America. My home was the Mobil 4 Star, AAA 4 Diamond Park Hotel, a member of the Preferred Hotels & Resorts.

From Charlotte I drove 2 1/2 hours, almost to the Virginia border, to Mt. Airy, better known as the birthplace of Andy Griffith. He incorporated many of the town's people and places while doing the TV show- Mayberry. There is the Andy Griffith Museum, the Old City Jail, Floyd's City barbershop and Snappy Lunch with its pork chop sandwich. There is even a Mayberry Memorabilia Collection Center. Keep your eyes on the newly opened Shelton Vineyards in nearby Dobson. The first wine will not be released until later this year. With a 30-50,000 case capacity, 1,200-foot altitude and 200 acres of grapes, I predict great things for their wine. My last night was spent at the Pilot Knob B&B Inn, at the foot of Pilot Mountain, just outside Mt. Airy.

My last day in North Carolina was a 1 1/2 hour drive to Greensboro, with a population a bit over 200,000.It was the site of the American Revolutionary War battle at Guilford Courthouse (1781). I toured the National Military Park at Guilford. Greensboro was also the site of the first civil rights "sit-ins" at a Woolworth lunch counter in 1960. The Tannenbaum Historic Park hosts a variety of exhibits and programs focusing on the late 18th Century. One place I did not get to, because of my flight schedule, but sounded wonderful, was Replacements Ltd. They have the world's largest inventory of discontinued and active china, crystal and flatware. Over 3 million pieces and 100,000 patterns.

This state, or the third that I visited, made me want to return. And return I shall.