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I have been interested in checking out North Carolina for a long loong time. I currently live in Colorado and my favorite Author is Nicholas Sparks (he always writes about NC and now I want to visit!)
I would like peoples opinions on what there favorite town is in NC. When I say town, I do not want to live in a big city and I would love to be on the beach. If you know of a town that fits this please reply, I would love to hear your thoughts!!
You do realize that Nicholas Sparks writes idealized fiction, right?
Are you talking about a vacation? Or are you packing up and moving based on stories?
If you are thinking of moving, you better have a substantial nest egg and a job lined up. The areas along the coast are pretty expensive. You didn't mention what kind of employment you would be seeking. The Carolinas have had a huge influx of people and many came before they had jobs. Thus, the unemployment rate is fairly high.
Just about the whole coast is a small town, outside of Wilmington. Sparks lives in New Bern. But you need more specifics to find a better place for ya.
I have been interested in checking out North Carolina for a long loong time. I currently live in Colorado and my favorite Author is Nicholas Sparks (he always writes about NC and now I want to visit!)
I would like peoples opinions on what there favorite town is in NC. When I say town, I do not want to live in a big city and I would love to be on the beach. If you know of a town that fits this please reply, I would love to hear your thoughts!!
We looked for almost four years before picking the Emerald Isle area. There are some great advantages to the area. One, development density is low. Even in the summer there is plenty of room on the beaches. Two, geographically the area is sandwiched between Croatan National Forest, Cape Lookout National Seashore and Camp Lejeune. I believe that trilogy will prevent out of control development.
Another thing that I really like about the area is the dense vegetation on the barrier island from Fort Macon all the down through Emerald Isle. While there are some places where the second row on the beach side is also second row on the sound side, those places are rare.
For the most part the 24 miles of the Crystal Coast portion of the Southern Outer Banks is a very strong barrier island with some substantial beach growth taking place at the Point area in Emerald Isle.
You can check out my travel guides to Emerald Isle (http://coastalnc.org/emeraldislenctravelguidecd - broken link), Swansboro, and Beaufort (http://coastalnc.org/beaufortnctravelguidecd - broken link) as well as my web page with lots of links to pictures and information about the area and its attraction.
I also have a number of articles about the area posted at this site.
My favorite cool little North Carolina towns and villages on water, some not directly on the ocean, but in close proximity are:
Beaufort
Morehead City
New Bern (45 minutes to beach)
Ocracoke (an island, with a great, long beach)
Oriental
Salter Path (directly on ocean on Bogue Banks)
Swansboro
In all cases, you'll want to bring a job with you, perhaps work in the medical profession, or bring your nice retirement pensions with you.
Much of the available work is related to tourism and in the service industry and not well-paying...but IMHO, worth the trade-off's to live in a pretty place with friendly people, great seafood and beach-walking....
Manteo is another very cool town, as well as Hatteras Village. Pretty much anywhere up and down the coast, as mentioned above. What are you looking for in a town?
Wilmington would be your best bet, if a local university is a requirement.
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No secret that I love Emerald Isle area
