Is North Carolina a bunch of country folks? Does everyone watch basketball?
And is there really pirate gold off the coast?
We’re gonna answer those questions and more. So get out your favorite bottle of barbecue sauce as we get ready to unbox the state of North Carolina.
Okay let's turn that off. So, North Carolina - a beautiful state. In fact, this is my home state. And I have to say of all the states I’ve been to, this state has it all. Cool mountains and awesome beaches, friendly people, and kinda clean modern cities.
Okay, so not all of em are clean and modern. In fact, not many are. North Carolina cities have some work to do. But they’re getting better!
But to get a big picture overview of the Tar Heel State, we need to look at a map and discover this state’s wonders.
North Carolina is pretty much comprised of six major areas. We’ll begin on the western side of the state, which is mostly mountains. The most well known of this part of the state is the city of Asheville, which has almost 100,000 people. And that number is growing every single day. Asheville is a pretty neat mountain town, where there’s a lot of breweries. Nearby is the Biltmore Hotel, which you’ve probably heard of. They do a big ta do at Christmas.
Also in these mountains are several mediocre ski resorts, here, along the Virginia and Tennessee state lines.
You have Charlotte, which is the 17th biggest city in America. It’s one of the fastest growing cities in the nation, and is growing so fast, the suburbs are actually now in South Carolina.
There are two other large metro areas in the state - and they kinda make up one longish giant metro area. The western side of this area is mostly made up of Winston Salem and Greensboro. They call this the Triad. Then, the other main metro area to the east is called The Triangle. You may have heard of this region.
The Triangle is the cities of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, and their suburbs. This region is pretty much the fastest growing area in the country outside of north Dallas. These three cities have major universities, hospitals and a growing number of tech companies. Hence, this is also called the Research Triangle.
We’ll talk about the universities here when we get into sports.
Now, on the eastern coast are two major regions. The Outer Banks makes up a series of island chains which stretch from the Virginia border all the way down to Cape Hatteras. This thin strip of land is made up mostly of vacation homes, beach rentals, sightseeing destinations, lighthouses, tacky beach shops and places to get ice cream.
That’s really it. It’s very quiet here and the water is warm. North Carolina beaches are far superior to those in California.
The other region of note is the lower outer banks. This is a different set of islands, which are far more populated. Especially in the middle, where there is a large population in the Wilmington metro area.
The further south down these island chains you get, the more rural it gets, until you get to the South Carolina border.
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