Over 30 Best Places To Live In North Carolina

Come along as I take my journey to the best places to relocate or retire in North Carolina.

From the Crystal Coast to mountains shrouded in smoke, two-thousand miles later, my trip to the best places to live in North Carolina was complete.

What a great trip and did I find a lot of best places to live all across North Carolina.

I have so much to share with you about the over 30 best places to live in North Carolina, so I've had to break it into chapters.

• NC Coastline
• NC Piedmont Region
• NC Mountains
• More NC Mountains
• Still More NC Mountains
• NC Piedmont Region Again

Driving all day, I watched the landscape change from the familiar suburbs of New York and the industry of New Jersey, to the flat farmlands of Delaware.

As I bobbed up and down across the Delaware Memorial Bridge with the cool air blowing off the water, I got my first premonitions of the Carolina coast. The North Carolina coastline.

Upon my arrival in the Outer Banks, I headed straight for the beach.

A couple of families were still lingering together on the mostly empty beach.  As the swollen red sun slipped down the horizon, two small boys played in the surf at their feet, chasing each other and jumping at the breaking waves.

A little girl was playing tag with the tide, running to the edge and up again as the foam approached her feet.

Mom and Dad, Aunt and Uncle were reading books, occasionally pausing to referee from the side lines. They looked like they found the peace they sought when they had left for vacation. Is it possible they lived here?  Was this there best place to live in North Carolina?

I enjoyed the feeling of the fine white sand between my toes before I jumped into the bracing waves.  The cold, salty water replaced hours of sweat, smog and traffic, swallowing my fatigue whole, and leaving nothing behind.

Feeling refreshed and hungry, I got out of the water and headed back to Route 158, which makes up the major transit and commercial artery of the Outer Banks.

Easily enough I found a restaurant and while sitting at the bar, I got my first taste of southern hospitality in North Carolina via a free order of wings, courtesy of a kitchen mistake.

Regardless of the reason for this southern hospitality I was ecstatic with the outcome, and as I dropped discarded bones into the plate before me I wondered why this never happens in the Northeast.  At least it had never happened to me before.

Where does all of the mistake food go?

Although it was a Wednesday night, the restaurant was still full of laughter, shouted orders, and the smells of simmering food. A mix of ages and ethnicity filled the place with a jovial atmosphere where the only way you might stand out is if you spent the night without a smile.

As I pushed the wings away and started another beer, a couple of Jimmy Buffet types began to play on the small stage in the corner of the restaurant. On their guitar and bass, they plucked out beach standbys that were ample desert after my long day.

I fell to sleep that night with the sounds of chirping insects and croaking of frogs mixing with falling water across broad leaves.

The rain began slow at first and then grew heavier, as the heat of the day broke against the cool night air, bringing with it peals of thunder which echoed in my dreams.

My first taste of the North Carolina coastline and definitely a best place to live.

Morning came with hazy skies as the sun melted away the night's clouds.

I headed south along the North Carolina coastline starting at Kitty Hawk and moving through the similar towns of Kill Devil Hills and Nags Head, on NC-158. The road was a straight-shot and already busy early in the morning.  Residents of the North Carolina coastline or did that many people come to the North Carolina beaches for vacation?

Along the sides, were many beach wear and surf shops and plenty of family amusement centers specializing in mini-golf or go-carts.

Older bungalows mixed with the newer development along NC-12 which runs parallel to 158 a bit closer to the beach.

Before long, 158 turned towards Manteo and the mainland and I hopped onto route 12 to continue south and deeper into North Carolina.

To the left, across fields of ocean grass and marshes was the ocean.  To the right were looming sand dunes with people dotted across the tops.

Here, in proximity to the place where man first learned to fly, Kitty Hawk, are advertisements for hang glider lessons.  Pelicans and other sea birds floated endlessly on waves of hot air rising from the land.

Driving south with the wind whipping through the car, staring out across the flats and fields, I found little reason to question the Wright Brothers choice of location for their maiden voyage, or with people's continued fascination with this beautiful North Carolina area.

The Outer Banks seemed an area where the land lubber may find a bit of the beach bum in him or herself, and just about anyone could be content to spend a while lost in the salt and sand.I got as far south as the black and white striped Bodine Lighthouse before having to turn around.

The Outer Banks…A best place to live for coastal living in NC.

Leaving the area to head west, I knew I’d return sometime later on to visit again.

Continue the journey to the best places to live in North Carolina….next we go to ….

Over 30 Best Places To Live In North Carolina – NC Coastline

Learn more about the Best Places To Live In North Carolina:

Best Places to Live, NC Coastal

Best Places to Live, NC Piedmont

Best Places to Live, NC Mountains
© 2005-2012 Places of Value Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction without permission prohibited.

FREE AFFORDABLE BEST PLACES To Live In North Carolina REPORT

For more information on picking the Best Places to Live in North Carolina or South Carolina or more information about North Carolina and South Carolina Retirement and Relocation, subscribe to our FREE WEEKLY E-Newsletter The Carolina Report.

As my gift to you for becoming a member of the Places of Value community, you'll receive the Affordable Best Places Report.

I look forward to being your Expert for finding your Best Places to Live in North Carolina or your Best Places to Live in South Carolina.

And if you can't find what you are looking for, contact me.

About Bob Bencivenga

Bob Bencivenga

Bob Bencivenga is a professional site locator and location analyst for major corporations. Bob researches the growth of NC and SC to find the Best Places to Retire or Relocate that are still affordable.

Can I Reprint Your Articles?

Search Places Of Value for more information about finding YOUR Best Place to Live in North Carolina.

Have a question about the Best Places To Live In North Carolina or South Carolina? Or having trouble finding what you're looking for? Have a quick question to help make your decision? Submit a question using this form for a speedy response.