State of North Carolina Marianne and Daughter Love North…read moreCarolina. I've got family members and my friends living there who I've had for over 50 yrs. Then years ago we made Manhattan friends that originally came from North Carolina. I've been to North Carolina staying in my Aunt and Uncle's time share. I can't say enough about how much I enjoy this State. If I didn't have to have a car to get around in North Carolina I'd want to move there in a heartbeat. But that's only if I had to leave Manhattan for some reason. Naturally I love and want to stay here in Manhattan. I'm so happy that I have so many connections in my personal life to this state. It's definitely welcoming and I can visit when I want! If you're looking for a place to retire or relocate for any reason I recommend North Carolina!

Other than two years when I was living in the UK, I've lived in the Tarheel State for the last…read moresixteen years. I've lived in six states (NY, MA, FL, PA, AR, NC) and two countries (US, UK). This is my favorite place. Our motto: "To be, rather than to seem." Don't fake it. North Carolina was one of the original thirteen colonies, the twelfth to join the Union and the last to join the Confederacy during the Civil War. We're in the South now, y'all. It's a huge state, incorporating the cities of Charlotte, Raleigh (the state Capitol), Greensboro, Durham, Winston-Salem, Fayetteville and Asheville. We have the barrier islands, the Great Dismal Swamp, the steel and concrete jungles, the mountains, beaches and the rivers. North Carolina has the highest point in eastern North America, Mount Mitchell. Our license plates say "First in Flight" (because the Wright Brothers flew here first at Kitty Hawk) and "First in Freedom" (as my fellow Charlotteans declared independence a full year before John Hancock signed that other famous Declaration). We have 420 miles of I-40 (the busiest east-west corridor in the USA), 182 miles of I-95 (the busiest north-south), 231 miles of I-85, I-77, I-74, I-73. I-26 clips the corner of the western end of the state and at 12.9 miles long, I-87 is the shortest designated primary Interstate. To drive from Tennessee border (west) to the Outer Banks (east), it's about six hours. Or you can drive three hours from north to south. Could we do better? Sure. North Carolina got worldwide news and boycotts for the enactment of HB2. Officially the "Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act" it got notice as the "Bathroom Bill" that required people to use the bathroom that corresponded to their birth certificate. We're also known for the gerrymandering of our 12th Congressional District that was described as "political pornography" by the WSJ. We hosted the 2012 Democratic National Convention and the 2020 Republican National Convention. We currently have a Democrat governor and both houses of the legislature are Republican. It's interesting. We are home for the Carolina Panthers (football), the Carolina Hurricanes (hockey), the Charlotte Hornets (basketball) and we have the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Charlotte Motor Speedway and Rockingham Speedway host car races. Minor league baseball include the Charlotte Knights and the famed Durham Bulls. The North Carolina Museum of Art, the North Carolina Museum of History, the Durham Performing Arts Center and the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center. In education, Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Wake Forest University are routinely ranked in the top 100 best colleges in America. Thirteen of the Fortune 500 are based in North Carolina, including Bank of America, Lowe's Home Improvement and Honeywell International. Charlotte-Douglas International Airport is the sixth busiest airport in the world after Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver, Chicago and Los Angeles, ahead of Orlando, Guangzhou and Las Vegas. The Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte is the 56th tallest building in the United States. Pepsi-Cola was invented in New Bern, Cheerwine in Salisbury, Texas Pete hot sauce and Krispy Kreme Donuts in Winston-Salem and we have the headquarters for Bojangles Famous Chicken N' Biscuits in Charlotte. The UPC bar code and the CTRL-ALT-DEL key sequence were developed in our state. You might be wondering why we have a NORTH Carolina and a SOUTH Carolina. Here you go: https://www.carolana.com/Carolina/thesplit.html We don't talk to them much. :) Taxes are not excessive, the roads are okay, the crime rate is climbing and it's all good. I love it here. Come visit! [Review 19084 overall - 3402 in North Carolina - 53 of 2023.]

Love this trail. Not many trails can accommodate mobility devices, such as mobility scooters…read more This is great for walking. Dogs are welcome as long as they are on a leash per leash law of Lee County/Sanford.

Here is info from various website about this historic site…read more I hiked to it in the late 80s and it really made an impression on me. I've wanted to revisit it ever since and now I can more easily since a road has been put in. Standing at nearly 40 feet tall, the furnace is an impressive historic remnant of a by-gone era. About a 150 years ago, a group of industrialists came to Lee County to mine local iron ore deposits. They constructed the Endor Iron Furnace to smelt the iron which they then transported by rail to supply the Confederacy. The furnace site is located on the south side of the Deep River. County / Township Lee / Cumnock Watershed Deep River / Cape Fear River Acres 426 Protection Status Acquired by purchase in 2001 using funds raised in the Deep River Campaign and grants from the NC Clean Water Management Trust Fund and the NC Natural Heritage Trust Fund. Transferred to state ownership (Department of Cultural Resources) in 2002, but managed by TLC. Owned by the State of North Carolina, managed by the Triangle Land Conservancy and maintained by Lee County Parks and Recreation.The 426 acre site, on the banks of the Deep River, includes 250 acres of floodplain and wetlands, and about 3.5 miles of stream frontage--TLC's largest conservation project to date. Scheduled tours of the furnace site are announced throughout the year. Site Location: Iron Furnace Road Sanford, NC 27331-1023 Days/Hours: Tours announced throughout year. Also by appointment. Fees: Free Phone: (919) 776-7479 Email: info@tlc-nc.org Website: http://www.tlc-nc.org/endor_property.shtml Bus Parking: Yes Handicapped Accessible: No http://www.historicdistricts.com/NC/Lee/vacant.html http://www.triangleland.org/lands/partnership/endor_property.shtml

Retail owners pockets are janglin' And Barbie's bright red…read moreheels are danglin' So then it must be Xmas And this year's most fun sex was After walking up and down West Franklin! What? This is the heart of Chapel Hill North Carolina which is my favourite town in the whole Deep South. It's a beautiful college town which includes the massive University of North Carolina - it's most famous Campus. You'll spot tons of young people, provocative outfits, expect warm weather most of the year, lots of amazing looking College people running up and down this road, being trendy, judgy, chill, hyper, young and fun, and lots of great times to be had by all. I mean you can have almost as much fun here on Franklin Street if you like college towns as I'm having scratching the head of my little kitten right now, and that is she is having climbing all over me and trying to scratch and permanently scar my face. The highlights are definitely Cha House, which is the best boba in the south, and Buns which has pretty good hot dogs. They have a Waffle House right here on the strip and lots of clothing stores. Nearby, the life-changing Sunrise Biscuit Company which is actually not on the Strip but about half a mile down, has amazing chicken biscuits. And then Meritt's for a Pimento BLT but that's about a half a mile away from Franklin as well. A few old legendary diners along here you need to try! Lots of late night bars and some cute coffee shops and more Boba, and all kinds of other great things, so come and check it out for yourself!

The Elizabeth Cotten Mural honors the Blues legend. Scott Nurkin painted the mural as part of the…read moreNorth Carolina Musicians Mural Trail. This mural grabbed my attention right away. I see Cotten and her guitar, but the closer I look I see how remarkable this mural is with all the windows and the window AC units. This mural was not on a solid wall so that was likely more challenging. So who is Elizabeth Cotten? She was born in Chapel Hill back in 1893. She taught herself how to sing and play her brother's banjo. She was left-handed, and the guitar was for someone right-handed, so she learned to play the guitar upside down. The distinct sound of the guitar playing became her trademark, known as "Cotten Picking" She wrote "Freight Train" back when she was 11 or 12 years old as she could see and hear the railroad from her home. Her musical talents were not discovered until the 1940s when she was living in Washington, DC. Mike Seegar recorded some of her songs, and she started singing her own. She released her first album at age 65 back in 1958. Her songs are about her early life in NC. In 1984, she won a Grammy Award at 91 years of age for her album "Elizabeth Cotten Live!". She was inducted into the North Carolina Musical Hall of Fame in 2019 and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022, both posthumously. It is a shame they didn't do this while she was alive, but at least she got the recognition she deserved..

I remember my first handful of visits to Raleigh as a teenager and seeing the Cree Shimmer Wall as…read moreI drove down S. McDowell St. as we passed the Raleigh Convention Center and Red Hat Amphitheater. At the time, I had no idea what it was but thought the way it shimmered in the light was beautiful. I've been a Raleigh resident for several years now and I can confidently say that even to this day, I have to stop and admire the wall whenever I'm nearby. "Shimmer Wall is a 9,284-square-foot piece of art adorning the west side of the Raleigh Convention Center. This spectacular piece is made up of 79,464 light and dark aluminum square pixels that change shape and disappear as the squares flap in the wind. The design team, including artistic inventor Ned Kahn, worked to put the thousands of 4-inch by 4-inch aluminum pixels hinged on louvers to allow for free motion on 4-foot by 4-foot grids. To aid nighttime "shimmering," the design team chose to backlight the wall with 56 LED fixtures from Cree, which have a lifespan of 15 years. The LED colors vary depending on the season or celebration. The wall depicts an image of an oak tree and has become a symbol for Raleigh, the City of Oaks." - LocalWiki How cool!!! I have heard that you can get a good nighttime glimpse of the Cree Shimmer Wall at night from the bridge on Boylan Street. I've never stopped to check it out there but that is also a great spot to take a snapshot of the city at night. I love this city.

Mad. Cool. (Of course they were setting Red Hat Amphitheater…read morefor Shinedown concert the day I went to see the wall, so whole downtown Raleigh gone mad hatter, but consider it as part of experience) Over 9,000 sq ft wall designed by Clearscapes with LED lights donated by Cree. It made with 80,000 metal panels, moving in the wind and creating rippling effect. Some panels are fixed, and paint a picture of old Oak Tree, to commemorate Raleigh nickname, City of Oaks. Like a reflection of Oak Tree in the water, rippling and changing, it representing the city that stands for it's past and changing for the future. This is grand.

Hooray for the fifth annual Raleigh Typhoon Scavenger Hunt! It was a lot of fun, a lot of food and…read morejust a wee bit of drinking. A great chance to explore the City of Oaks and get silly with 500 other scavenger hunters criss-crossing through the downtown area. But as Christina mentioned, the end was not quite what we hoped for in terms of prizes and how it was handled, bummer. We played leap-frog, passed a hula hoop, did word jumbles, hop scotched, counted crosses, rocked and scissored it out and more. Along the way we got to check out Ripple City, the Big Easy, Woody's, The Oxford, Hibernian, Armadillo Grill, Noir, Jules and a slew of other sponsors. And yes, we drank some beer! But given the amount of ground we covered, we had to hydrate! ;-) All-in-all a fun event that could use a little better organization. Just know that Team Yelp was in it to win it. Puzzles: Finished. Drinking: Complete. Eating: Done. Next year we're bringing home a big prize! And only 3 sombrero's were sacrificed during the evening. Nice job peoples!

Honestly, I'm really glad I competed in this year's Raleigh Typhoon, but I'm not sure I'd do it…read moreagain, or if I did I'd focus more on enjoying the drinks and games instead of trying to get it all done, because at the end of the day...it was about the journey, not the reward (because there was none). Seriously, the deck was stacked against participants in the first place. After registering, we received a white sheet with clues on where we could find 'challenges' that would earn us blue puzzle pieces. Challenges ranged from a good ol' crossword, to origami crawfish to more physical challenges like a team vs. team leap frog race. Once we had the blue puzzle assembled (before any other team we saw) we had an entire new list of 17 items we needed to find and paste to a 24x24 posterboard to get the $400 prize. The $600 prize puzzle was a 'letters missing' puzzle and the $1000 prize was a pictogram to find a key that would open a safe. So yeah, not easy. Things that need work: 1. Attention to detail: Our blue puzzle, once assembled, was cut from different stacks so we had whole words missing (effectively eliminating us from being able to even compete for the 'letters missing' $600 prize). 2. Closing/Prize Ceremony: I don't know about you, but after I've been running around in costume for 9 hours in the heat, not stopping for food, but stopping for lots of drink, I want to pay for MORE beer and listen to LOUD Katy Perry/Gaga pumping out of the same mic used to announce rules for submission of posters / prizes. It took them 3 hours to even announce the winners. Tighten that shiz up! Then, we'll party. AND...when it came time to submit the posters for the $400 prize, they chose the winner based on the first one they liked out of only 20 submissions. Our poster was complete, along with our other items at 7:30, when some people were still making theirs at 8:30. I know it's not a race, this just seems unfair. 3. Confusion: We understood that we were supposed to get photos at every stop, save receipts and other such requirements, so we did it all. At no point in the prize ceremony were these items mentioned or considered, enhancing the feeling that we busted our butts for nothing. GoodTimes: 1. Meeting other teams! There were some playing dirty (grab all the matchbooks...you know who you are...) but most people were happy and having a wild-eyed good time. 2. Getting to see Raleigh! Businesses I'd never been to like The Union and Gypsy Jule made a great impression. Others were less welcoming (and that's pretty interesting too). 3. Bonding with my own team! Raleigh Typhoon is a great way for a group of people to see many sides of each other, working together, keeping each other pumped and sacrificing your own comfort (feet & heat) with your eyes on the prize.

As I live and breathe-- I truly cannot believe that the local flavor and glory of Raleigh hasn't…read morebeen reviewed yet! I've officially been exploring these parts for about a year now and (while I'm still figuring it all out) I'm smitten and pleasantly surprised, quite frankly. Raleigh is a sleeper, meaning that outside of the state you don't really hear much about Raleigh, in particular, and Charlotte gets the majority, if not all, of the NC attention outside of sports and the tourism in Asheville. I've been told more than a few times that's by design and the "Triangle" locals prefer it that way. (lol) Raleigh has Southern charm and a strong arts, culture, and food scene. The coffee and BBQ here leaves much to be desired, but that 's subjective and no city has it all. Cost of living is fairly decent in these parts, and the suburbs are growing fast. Raleigh is an interesting city to explore, has great flight routes, and the traffic/parking situation isn't unbearable in the least. (Huge nod for that coming from Houston.) I love Raleigh's location with easy access to other cities like Charleston, Charlotte, Asheville, the mountains, and several beach vacay spots. All in all-- Raleigh's alright with me!

Shout out to Jared Long (customer service) for taking the time to help me submit a building permit…read moreto the city of Raleigh. He went out of his way to help me complete the permit apparently. He was responsive and courteous and quickly resolved my predicament. Thank youJared!

We are all entitled to our own opinions, right? Well here's mine:…read more Parking: 4 Location: 4 Decor/ambiance: 4 Customer Service: na Compared to the Raleigh Food Truck Rodeos, this one was miniature. It featured (2019) about 25 trucks all spread out along the main drag of downtown Cary. There was a truck for every taste bud so the food was popping! There was security everywhere so you had no choice but to feel safe. Parking was not a struggle as it free and parking lots all over downtown Cary. The 2019 Chowdown was a success and I look forward to the next one. Two of my favorite trucks where in attendance so I was happy!

Cary's Downtown Chowdown Food Truck Rally is always a fun time. The food options are not as large…read moreas other food truck rodeos but I do enjoy grabbing a drink and food to enjoy by the fountain while listening to music.