66th Annual North Carolina Azalea Festival Celebrates Spring

March 19, 2013 - Wilmington, NC - A springtime tradition since 1948, the 66th Annual North Carolina Azalea Festival (April 10-14, 2013) celebrates the rich history, arts, and culture of Wilmington, North Carolina’s historic river district and the island beaches of Carolina Beach, Kure Beach, and Wrightsville Beach. Each year in April when the landscape is dominated by thousands of brilliant pink, white, and purple azaleas, Wilmington pays homage to these dazzling flowers during the annual North Carolina Azalea Festival, a five-day celebration that ushers in spring with Southern hospitality and fanfare. 

Highlights of the N.C. Azalea Festival include the Cape Fear Garden Club Azalea Belles dressed in period hoop skirts and an elaborate Southern-style parade on Saturday morning, complete with azalea-adorned floats, marching bands, clowns, show animals, local pageant winners and visiting celebrity guests, including Queen Azalea (TBA). There’s also a juried arts and craft shows, a traveling circus, concerts, fireworks, and a street fair with exhibits, vendors, live entertainment, and kids’ activities. 

Azalea Festival signature events include the Cape Fear Garden Club’s Azalea Garden Tour (April 12-14), one of the South’s longest-running and most popular garden tours. The 60th annual Cape Fear Garden Club Azalea Garden Tour theme is “Our Diamond Jubilee: Celebrating 60 Years of Beautiful Gardens.” This year’s tour showcases 13 public and private gardens that include a mix of established and new landscapes. Garden tour price includes free admission to Airlie Gardens on Saturday. For details and tickets: www.capefeargardenclub.org/azalea-garden-tour. The 2013 Azalea Home Tour (April 13-14), organized by the Historic Wilmington Foundation, showcases nine private homes and a church of historical and architectural interest. For home tour tickets: www.historicwilmington.org. 

Music plays a major role in every N.C. Azalea Festival. This year’s headline acts include Rock and Roll Hall of Fame classic Southern rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd and North Carolina’s own indie folk-pop darlings The Avett Brothers. This year a third concert will feature country music artists Colt Ford and The LACS. And on Sunday from 1:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m., a free beach music concert will take place on the main stage, featuring local favorites The Mark Roberts Band, The Craig Wollard Band, and Jim Quick and the Coastline Band.

Scott and Seth Avett have come a long way from their neo-punk band days in Concord, North Carolina. Their careers took an acoustic turn when they teamed up with standup bass player Bob Crawford and formed The Avett Brothers. They debuted in 2001 with a self-titled six-song EP, followed by several albums, including 2009’s “I and Love and You.” Their latest release, “The Carpenter,” is described as “poetry from the soul.” The Avett Brothers’ musical evolution from a hard-working indie band to their performance with Bob Dylan at the 2010 Grammy Awards bears witness to a huge fan base. Back by popular demand, The Avett Brothers will perform during the N.C. Azalea Festival on Friday, April 12th at 7:00 p.m. 

With a catalog of over 60 albums, sales beyond 30 million worldwide, and their beloved classic American rock anthems “Freebird” and “Sweet Home Alabama,” the legendary band Lynyrd Skynyrd continues to bring fiery Southern-style rock and roll to their audiences. During a memorable performance on Thursday, April 11th at 7:00 p.m., Lynyrd Skynyrd will perform their classic hits, as well as music from more recent albums, including “Last of a Dyin’ Breed” (2012). 

This year a Saturday night concert has been added to the musical lineup. The hick-hop and Southern rock sound of The LACS will kick off Saturday night festivities when they open for Colt Ford, the walking, talking celebration of country music and country living. Colt Ford will bring his “rural rap” and country music chops to festival audiences on Saturday, April 13th when The LACS open at 7:00 p.m. 

All three concerts will take place outdoors on the main stage at Cape Fear Community College Campus in Downtown Wilmington (411 N. Front Street). Concerts are rain or shine; standing room only. Tickets for all concerts are available online at www.ncazaleafestival.org  and at the N.C. Azalea Festival Office (5724 Oleander Drive, Ste. B7; Mon.-Fri., 9am-5pm). Chairs, backpacks, umbrellas, coolers are not permitted inside the venue. Chairs, food and beverage will be available for cash purchase. 

Attending festivals and events, such as the North Carolina Azalea Festival, is a fun and affordable way to experience a region’s history and culture. For a N.C. Azalea Festival schedule and concert tickets, visit www.ncazaleafestival.org  or call 910-794-4650, or stop by the Festival ticket office (5725 Oleander Dr., Unit B7, Wilmington).

Courtesy of The Southport Times.

It's back! New Jeep gets an old name: Cherokee

Chrysler is turning to an old name for a brand new Jeep. Say farewell to Liberty. The replacement model that will added to the line-up for 2014 will be rechristened the Jeep Cherokee, reviving a nameplate that helped kick off one of the most dramatic transformations in modern automotive history.

Jeep isn’t saying much beyond describing the 2014 Cherokee as an “all-new, ‘no-compromise’” vehicle that will set “a new standard with even more best-in-class capability, exemplary on-road driving dynamics, and fuel economy improvements of more than 45% versus the outgoing mid-size SUV model.”

The new mid-size sport-utility vehicle will make its formal debut at the upcoming New York Auto Show. The 2014 Jeep Cherokee will be assembled at Chrysler’s big Toledo Assembly Plant a half-hour south of Detroit, the same factory that produced the old Jeep Liberty.

A quick look at the styling suggests the automaker wanted a more modern and distinctive look, with design cues clearly borrowing from the Jeep brand’s flagship sport-utility model. But this is more than just a “baby” Grand Cherokee.
 
Observers and company insiders alike say Jeep is taking a risky approach with the front end, in particular, which features a folded take on the brand’s familiar, 7-slot grille, as well as distinctive split headlight and foglamps.

Company officials have hinted that the new model will focus less on the traditional, go-anywhere capabilities associated with Jeep products, putting more emphasis on the on-road ride and comfort that today’s ute buyers prefer.

The old Liberty model was a “niche part” of an SUV market that has “moved on” from its original focus on off-roading, said Mike Manley, CEO of the Jeep brand.

The 2014 Jeep Cherokee will be assembled at Chrysler’s big Toledo Assembly Plant a half-hour south of Detroit, the same factory that produced the old Jeep Liberty.

The Jeep marque was a major factor in the explosive growth of the sport-utility segment during the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s, the launch of the original Cherokee in 1974 creating a surge in demand as U.S. buyers looked for more enticing alternatives to their traditional sedans and wagons.

The early version – which remained in production through 2001 – also helped introduce the concept of four-wheel-drive to a more mainstream audience. Today’s newest all-wheel-drive systems are becoming increasingly common on conventional sedans and even sports cars, as well as SUVs.
 
And on the car-based crossover-utility vehicles that have largely supplanted more traditional, truck-based sport-utes. CUVs often sacrifice the off-road capabilities in favor of better on-road manners and improved fuel economy. But the unibody design of the big Jeep Grand Cherokee shows that it is possible to meld off- and on-road capabilities in one vehicle.

The new 2014 Jeep Cherokee is being seen as a critical part of the brand’s global growth plans. Long focused on the North American market, Fiat/Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has declared the Jeep brand one of a handful of marques that will be sold worldwide.

The reborn Cherokee will likely play a critical part of that, along with the latest updated of the Jeep Patriot and Compass models and an even smaller crossover that the maker plans to produce in Italy. The Grand Cherokee is also getting an early mid-cycle update for 2014, along with the addition of a new, high-mileage diesel engine.

But Jeep isn’t focusing only on downsized models. The marque also is rumored to be developing a larger ute that could bring back another once-popular nameplate, that of the old Grand Wagoneer.

With the addition of the Liberty and the Compass and Patriot updates, CEO Marchionne is hoping to boost Jeep sales to around 800,000 by 2014, up from 701,626 in 2012 – which was the brand’s best year ever.

Courtesy of NBC News.

AEV MOAB Customer Appreciation Run 2013

Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, UT is just around the corner and if you plan to attend, keep Monday March 25^th open! AEV will be hosting its 4th Annual AEV Customer Appreciation Run. This year is very exciting because we have secured the infamous Golden Spike Trail. This means you will get to experience one of the most scenic and iconic trails that Moab has to offer. Golden Spike will test you both as a driver and passenger because of the length and multitude of obstacles that require attention at all times. The scenery has awe-inspiring views that give you everything Utah’s landscapes have to offer. As usual, AEV will offer the guidance of its seasoned staff of off road drivers – so if this is your first time on the trail, you’ll be in good hands.  With the length of this year’s trail, expect to leave early in the morning and have the possibility of coming back to town after dark.

The trail ride is free and is open to the first 10 eligible customers who reply.  Regarding eligibility, please note that the Golden Spike Trial is rated a 7 out of 10 on the Red Rock 4-Wheeler’s scale of difficulty.  Because of this, AEV requires that your vehicle be equipped with:

1) Tires that are 35-inches or taller.
2) Locking differentials.
3) Chassis-mounted recovery points.
4) Functional spare tire.
5) Vehicle recovery gear.

Your vehicle will also need to be street legal and insured.  If your vehicle meets these requirements and Moab is where you plan to be this Easter, don’t miss this opportunity to join AEV for a very special day.

Reply to: jclark@aev-conversions.com