Coastal North Carolina questions.......

Budd

New Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2007
Location
OC, California
Here is my post on Pirate4x4 - and was pm'd to ask over here:

Wife recently has mentioned liking the idea of either a vacation home or permanent home in NC. I surf - so would like to be near the coast. I also wheel - so would like to be somewhat close to some good trails.

Looked online in the Shallotte, Supply, Hampstead, Sunset Beach, etc. Have more looking to do. How is the weather - safe/not safe areas for a family?

Aslo read they do vehicle inspections - am I screwed with a 1968 Jeepster with full hydraulic steering on the street? Or do the inspections stop with the emissions testing of a older than 25 year vehicle.

Gun laws?

TIA.

And for Roxy - what is the bug situation like - noticed a few mentions of fenced in patios.
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Few more details - we homeschool our kids and know that NC is a friendly state - that is one reason my wife is interested. Another person mentioned northern parts of the state are best for surfing and wheeling is a couple hours away. That is fine. Please don't be too hard on a newb over here. Do you guys like people from California - or do most put you off.:popcorn:
 
Just have a minute...

Most surfers go to the Outer Banks (northern beaches). It ain't CA surfing, though. About 5 hours from there to Uwharrie NF. Probably 10 to Tellico at a minimum. Everything wheelin' near the coast is mostly mud, like black peat bog stuff.

No inspections at all over 35 years old. Everything must work/be safe, etc. Safety inspection only pre-OBD (1996), or over 8600#. Emissions testing post '96 under 8600#.

Buyer's market at the coast now.
 
Sadly you're not going to find any decent wheeling and surfing within the same homeplace unless you're ready for a good drive. NC is the opposite of CA from that standpoint.

The banks are your best bet for waves, mostly Hatteras and north of there. There are places around the Wilmington area that go off on a semi regular basis, it helps if you have a boat.

I'd say Raleigh or Greensboro would be your best bet for a happy medium but thats still driving 4 to 6hrs(or more) for one or the other.

I'm 4hrs from Tellico and 4 from Wilmington and I don't mind the drive. I have closer wheeling spots but thats gonna be the closest for surf.

Oh yeah there are no good routes to or from the banks, thats a long drive no matter where you are.
Good luck.
 
Well the closest "fair" wheeling to me is Big Bear - Hammers are about 3 hours. Rubicon is about 8 hours. Moab took me driving 18 hours straight. I don't mind driving for wheeling - I like road trips that are planned ahead.

Surfing is an every week thing - have to be pretty close to that. Looks like I should focus on the northern part of the state?:confused:

Saw Hatteras - kinda central coast area?
 
Hi I'm in Wilmington, my mom lives in Calabash (sunset beach main land) Sunset beach is still pretty private unlike Wrightsville or Carolina Beach. Although according to most of my friends who surf Wilmington is the best populated place to be. The Outerbanks are good but just not very populated if you are into that aspect of a town.

Wilmington is about 4-5 hours from Uwharrie which is the closest wheeling place to Wilmington. You can drive on some of the beaches but it's not really all that exciting.
 
I've been seeing some people surfing over off Emerald Isle and Atlantic Beach (during the last couple of months). Wheeling - its all mud here. I think the only rock in Jacksonville is in my works front yard. Haha...
 
I live in wilmington and surf and wheel also. Wrightsville has the most consistent surf in southern NC. If you look at a map the capes make most beaches in SNC face south. Great for the summer time but in the winter when we really see surf the siuth facing beaches face the wrong way and are flat. In the summer they face right into the hurricane swells but mostly it's flat. Wrightsville faces east and picks up swell from N and S. If this is your second home then you have some jack but for us born here it is hard to afford housing. I40 came in 20yrs ago and the influx of yankee money has driven the realestate out of this world. I'm closing on a house right now but it's about 25miles away. Good luck.
 
Wassup Budd!?
I thought about telling you about NC4x4 after I talked to you tonight but I figured you might oughta steer clear of here cause you never know what kind of advice you get from total strangers from NC!:bounce2:
What you really need to do is come and visit. I can put you up for a weekend and the coast is less than 4 hrs away in most cases.
I can't tell you much about surfing but I can hook you up with a buddy in Ocean Isle who surfs all the time and works at a surf shop. (professional student)
Don't worry about being from the left coast, everybody is from somewhere else but me, I am a Native Charlottean.
Good luck on ya'lls search and let me know if I can help anymore.
RQ
 
Gun laws...

NC is shall issue state. One-day class and permit application w/fingerprints to get your CCW. I *think* you have to be a resident of the state for some period, maybe 90 days before applying. I don't know of any problem counties. Some do take longer than others.

There are some bad restrictions on CCW, such as anyplace alcohol is served. But easy enough to work around.

Open carry is technically legal, I do it sometimes, but some areas are not friendly to it. A couple of areas have specific legislation (i.e. Carrboro near Chapel Hill). Other places you may be harrassed by the popo for it, but know the law. The threat you always hear is "going armed to the terror of the people" but there is no real case law to support that charge for otherwise legal carry. It's usually used for piling on charges for somebody that does something really stupid.

You can carry in your car without a CCW as long as it's "in plain view". Downside to that is if a cop comes up to your car (pulled over for example), you'll probably find yourself face-down in the road when he sees it. CCW is much better.

No silly laws (yet) concerning hollow points, mag capacity, so-called "assault weapons", etc.
 
Macdaddy4738 said:
I was thinking tellico was farther away then it is haha.
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It can be, ask Brandon :flipoff2:
Back to the topic, say you were planning a move to the banks. A Job would be something to think about, if you do that kind of thing(work). A good one might be hard to find since the Islands are still pretty seasonal. Unless, you wanted to open a bait shop......:D
 
Buddy Lee said:
Hi I'm in Wilmington, my mom lives in Calabash (sunset beach main land) Sunset beach is still pretty private unlike Wrightsville or Carolina Beach. Although according to most of my friends who surf Wilmington is the best populated place to be. The Outerbanks are good but just not very populated if you are into that aspect of a town.

Wilmington is about 4-5 hours from Uwharrie which is the closest wheeling place to Wilmington. You can drive on some of the beaches but it's not really all that exciting.
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Depending what route you take, it only takes me 3 hours max to URE without stopping. Tellico is about 9
 
I live in Jacksonville as well as others on here. Originally from Ohio. This town is growing a lot in the realestate world. However we have a lot of push back from the old guys that run the town. Surfing here is a lot like Cali as it goes off in different places at different times. You can check www.eastcoastsurf.com and see what it looks like at this time of year from different locations. Uwharrie from here is 3.5-4 hours and Tellico is like 8. We have the bi monthly local mud bogs www.promud.com that start this weekend. Personally I like Wilmington area as it is a little bit bigger and not dependant on the military or seasonal clients. My wife drives the 45 miles to work in Wilmington at the hospital there. Jacksonville is all about who you know. Hope this helps a little bit.

Doug "I wish I could get orders to Cali or Hawaii"
 
I live in sunset beach.... The waves suck, and OK wheelin is about 4hours away....

This ain't cali, and if your acustomed to that life style. which i have never been there, but i assume, high dollar great stuff everywhere, great waves, and wheelin everywhere... does that about sum it up???

We are the oppsite.... unless your looking for a major life style change, this isnt the best place to go...... I personally love it here, but im not acustomed to that type of lifestyle
 
NCJeepin said:
This ain't cali, and if your acustomed to that life style. which i have never been there, but i assume, high dollar great stuff everywhere, great waves, and wheelin everywhere... does that about sum it up???
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Not really - closest wheelin for me is 2-3 hours away - unless you count when I take my daughter for a night run on the jetty with only the rock lights on.:lol: Fisherman love it when I do that - they always want me to do it again.:lol:

Lifestyle change - we aren't into the high dollar stuff. Looking for a good place to raise our kids - that pretty much sums it up.
 
Looking for a good place to raise our kids
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That's pretty much why I moved here from L.A.
And those pesky 6.8 earthquakes didn't do too much for me either.
I lived in Northridge for the '94 quake.

I'm not a surfer but I've never seen big waves when I've been to the beach over here.

I do however think it's a great place to raise kids and the wheeling is good if you want to drive a little.
 
NCJeepin said:
I live in sunset beach....
We are the oppsite.... unless your looking for a major life style change, this isnt the best place to go...... I personally love it here, but im not acustomed to that type of lifestyle
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Ok let me translate this for you Budd. See he lives on Sunset Beach. The thing you have to know about Sunset beach is that it's one of the last remaining un yankeefied beaches in Southeastern NC. Although it's starting to catch up to the other beaches as far as cost of housing goes. They are still trying to hang on out there. Sunset beach only has a single lane floating bridge. This results in really long lines on and off the island in the summer time. The Tourist hate it and the locals love it for that reason. They have also voted several times not to build a newer bigger bridge that allows more and faster traffic on and off the island.

So that was his/her way of saying they don't want any outsiders coming there and messing with their turf.
 
I kinda read into that from the post - thanks Buddy Lee. So are there waves in Sunset Beach?:lol:

Also, in Texas they go around once a week in trucks spraying pesticide to kill off the skeeters - do they in NC?

Also, smoking in restaraunts - illegal? We don't smoke so would prefer that - not critical - just curious.
 
NCJeepin - you would probably want me there. I used to shape and glass surfboards for a living. I shaped for 8 years and shaped/glassed boards for 5 years. Shortboards only though. Made a few longboards for close friends.
 
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