“I just e-mailed a friend who has moved from Mass. to North Carolina. “
If he moved from Mass to Mogadishu he would be happy.
The eastern part of the state is very conservative (where I live and volunteer for the GOP HQs)
The western side of NC geographically is probably a lot more like PA. It is more urban and has hills and mountains. The winters can be quite cold and stormy. Many citizens of the west have summer homes and yachts over here on the east coast.
The NC east coast is much more temperate. It's 70 and sunny here today. Cactus and some palm trees grow over here year round. We have had less than a 1/2" of snow this winter. The terrain is very flat. It is also very rural in the east. The beaches and ocean here is spectacular! 20 years ago this was hard core democrat (the old Dixie Democrats) but now conservatives rule. And our party is spreading west. Republicans control everything but the governorship and we'll get that back. I have also found that people over here are very friendly and respectful.
I hope this helps a little bit Tom.
My dad grew up in eastern North Carolina. I was reading that Edgecombe county used to be the wealthiest county in the state and is now the poorest. As a result of this, you will find once beautiful and now derelict farmhouses littering the countrysides. They have sold off the land to corporate farms and these enormous mansions that used to have rooms full of laughing children and grandchildren are now empty and literally falling in on themselves. The kids moved to the city, the grandparents died, and no one wants a huge house that is now sitting on 1/2 acre out in the middle of nowhere. So they rot. Follow "Abandoned Houses of North Carolina" on Facebook to get the gist of it. It's tragic.
North Carolina's mountains are beautiful. I have lovely memories of summer camp in Hendersonville. Sigh. But people are right...Asheville and Chapel Hill harbor a large amount of dope-smoking, over-educated-and-love-for-you-to-know-it fleabags. But at least Chapel Hill and Raleigh have a great music scene.
I had sort a weird point-of-view growing up there because I always felt like an outsider. My mom was from the west coast and I guess I took on her feeling that I didn't quite belong. It gave me an opportunity to do a lot of observing. Therefore, I can tell you the rules. 1) True southerners are nice. Really, really nice. And Yankees have never met such nice people. They are all so nice! What you don't know is that they are actually talking about you behind your back. Always. They will treat you so nice, but you will never be considered one of them. It's not a bad thing though. Just come to the realization that if you weren't born there, and your daddy wasn't born there, you aren't one of them, and that's cool. 2) The daddy thing is a big deal. Do not be offended if someone asks you who your daddy is. It's not a kinky thing. It's just how they try to understand how or where you are connected via family, work, etc. This probably isn't as much of a thing now as it was back in the 70s, but it will be more prominent in the rural areas. I've heard it's a holdover from Scottish culture, which is very thick, especially in the North Carolina mountains. They want to know how your "clans" are connected to theirs. It might help if you are interested in genealogy. Because more than likely, you have a relative somewhere in your line who came through North Carolina at some point. Unless you are a true Yankee. 3) The Beach. I don't understand it and never will, but every native North Carolinian's honest-to-God goal in life is to live at the beach. If you ask them what they are doing this weekend, they are going to the beach. ("Goin' tha beach.") If you ask them what they are doing for Easter break, they are Goin' tha beach. If you ask them what they are doing for their anniversary, they are Goin' tha beach. If they... you get the idea. I never understood it because I would be in the mountains every opportunity, but especially for those in the foothills and Raleigh, the beach is their zen place. My uncle lives in a huge brick mansion in Johnston county, but has a trailer at the beach. It has been blown away by two hurricanes and he always replaces it. I asked him why he doesn't build a house. Answer: it wouldn't be as easy to replace as a trailer. [shrug] 4) Don't rush people, especially when they are telling stories. Just because they talk slow doesn't mean they think slow. Big Yankee mistake.