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.
Eastern NC is great until you get a hurricane or it gets really hot. I’ve been looking at houses near Shallotte NC, mostly because they are near the beach and very cheap.
My understanding is that Asheville is an expensive place to live. I tried to get back to Boone to live but I couldn’t afford a house.
Astute observations, and dead on. And.. funny/true. Goin tha beach— though phosphorescent white SPF 120. LOL.
But you left out two important items: Church and Bible Study. Folks might ask about your daddy, but the second thing they will ask is what church are you going to. It's not about denomination exactly, it's sort of a "who's your daddy" kind of question.
Obviously Christianity is the assumed common denominator. In small towns there are two main social activities: Sunday church, and Bible study. Bible study is most often on Wednesday evenings, and can run one or two hours
The first half of Bible study is catching up on who's in the hospital, who's family is visiting from out of town, who's going to take a trip, who died, who's in jail, who's getting married, who's getting divorced. Maybe the last half or so is devoted to actually studying some part of scripture. And of course prayers for the sick, and travelers, and folks on hard times.
If you move into town and want to be part of the community, you have to go to Bible study. Then when someone asks you what you're up to, you can say proudly, "I'm on my way to Bible study. I'm late. I've got to hurry over to the Tabernacle of the Holy Ghost Bible Church, you know, just past the railroad tracks.".
It might not be the same Bible study which you're questioner attends. It doesn't matter. They will approve and be satisfied with your answer. Not to go to Bible study, is to be outside the community.
Oh, and if you are some esoteric faith like Buddhist, or Hindu, when asked you might just want to say "I'm still looking."