Tell us about North Carolina

[Barbaraann]

North Carolina is The Tar Heel State. Population is about 8.3 million people. The capital is Raleigh. The largest city is Charlotte. The state ranks 11th in population and 29th in area. The distance between Disneyland and Raleigh is about 2600 miles.

So what do you know about North Carolina? Do you, or have you ever lived in this state? Did you ever visit or vacation in this state?

Tell us what you know about North Carolina.

[Disneykat]

The Panthers play there. Duke basketball!!!! (I root for the sake of my fiancee....he loves Duke and the Panthers)

I'm moving there in 8 months

[stinkerbell]

GO TARHEELS!!!
WOOOOOO!!!

We lived in North Carolina for a little over four years when I was 9-12. It was probably my favorite place I ever lived (out of New Orleans, Sitka, Kodiak, San Diego and Oregon). The entire state is beautiful from the mountains to its glorious coastline. The NC coastline (especially the Outer Banks) is one of the more beautiful beaches in the US. Way more gorgeous than the over-rated Oregon coast. The mountains are breath-taking...I see mountains all the time here in Oregon...but we have nothing compared to North Carolina's....the Blue Ridge Mountains are incredible. Plus, you get some of the Appalachians and Great Smoky Mountains, too.

The college system there is incredible. It's competitive, enormous, the sports are great, and there are some really good schools. It was always my dream to go to UNC-Chapel Hill. Never happened. But I've been there and to Duke, and even to the foul NC State (boo Wolfpack).

My two best childhood friends live in Asheville (we met in Sitka, AK) and Winston-Salem (we met in Oregon) and I haven't been to NC in eight years to see them, although they've been to Oregon to see me.

The downside to NC for me is the humidity, although it's nowhere near as bad as Georgia or Florida or some other states inland, it's still too much for me.

I would gladly move back to NC. I really loved it there. My heart has always belonged to that state...even though I've been in Oregon for twenty freaking years now! Oy!

[Disneykat]

Thanks Stink!!!!!! This gives me hope in a "world" where all my friends say "North Carolina??????????" I like it there!!!! At least I can buy a 5 br 2.5 bath house for $96,000

[stinkerbell]

North Carolina (the east coast in general) is very populated...you'll find a little bit of everyone there, from all over the place. People think it's some backwoods state (and um, yeah, western North Carolina is fairly backwoods), but it's some of the most beautiful land in the U.S.

There are very educated people in NC, as people come from all over to go to college there and then they stay in the state. Almost everyone I was friends with in NC went on to major universities and advanced degrees. Education is a priority there.

And if you get any flack from people in SoCal, remind them that Santa Ana, Long Beach and Anaheim were in the bottom ten of the Most Literate Cities in the US:

Least literate cities

70. Garland, Texas
71. Fresno
72. Arlington, Texas
73 Long Beach
74. Anaheim, Calif.
75. San Antonio
76. Santa Ana, Calif.
77. Corpus Christi, Texas
78. Hialeah, Fla.
79. El Paso

Charlotte made the top thirty overall in literacy, and made the top ten in educational levels. If there was another city in the US that I'd move to....it would be Boston. Okay....but right after that, it would be Charlotte.

It's a beautiful state....I hope you love it there, Kat.

[Little Buck]

I vacationed a few times in the Outer Banks (Kill Devil Hills, Kitty Hawk area). The beaches are HUGE there and I stayed in a house right on the beach. You can drive your Jeep or 4X4 right on the beach for miles (try that in California) In the summer, the weather is great at the Outer Banks. That is, unless there's a hurricane blowing in, which does happen a lot. I visited in winter once and the weather was downright awful. I wouldn't recommend visiting during Christmas.

At Cape Hatteras the surfing is pretty good.

At Kitty Hawk I saw the spot where Orville and Wilbur launched their planes. I also visited "Kitty Hawk Kites"; a very cool store that has everything from tiny paper kites to hang gliders. Oh yeah, you can hang glide at Kill Devil hills.

I also used to visit friends who lived in Elizabeth City. I'm sorry to say of all the places I've visited on the planet, Elizabeth City is my least favorite.