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My family and I live in Port Townsend, WA now but were originally from coastal California. We've been quite happy with the small-town feel, sense of community, sailing, and beautiful outdoors, but we're not sure we can take all of the grey days. (156 days of sun).
Wondered what you all thought of our current crazy notion to move to Oriental, NC or somewhere similar. Sailing is a big part of our lives, but we also want a smallish town (doesn't need to be as small as Oriental) somewhat reasonable housing/ cost of living and especially a good place to raise kids.
We tend to like towns with some cultural events (festivals, etc.), a fairly laid back pace, and at at least some creative class of residents. We're not religious nor are we particularly liberal, just your average fun-loving centrists ;-)
Any comments? Anything us West Coasters wouldn't be prepared for and wouldn't like? Would appreciate other town suggestions if you have them.
We moved to Carteret County from coastal CA--the Bay area--about five years ago. We love it here. Two areas might give you some adjustment time. There are four seasons here. Winters are mild and not hard to take. We had a sprinkling of snow this past winter that was very exciting for everyone but none stuck. That was unusual.
The summer quarter of the year, July, August, Sept., are quite muggy and hot. Nice tropical nights. Took some getting used to, especially the first summer. Spring and Fall are lovely.
The second area that took us by surprise was the lack of ethnic restaurants...there are a few Mexican and some average Chinese places, but very few Asian places--Thai, Vietnamese and Indian. Our nearest good Thai place is 45 minute away in New Bern...living in the Bay area meant we practically lived on Asian food and we miss it...I've earned to cook some simple Thai dishes--that helps.
Oriental is an adorable town and filled with sailing activities. Beaufort is a favorite port of call for those traveling up and down the ICW--and a place with a deep maritime history, a maritime museum and boat-building center. Lots of sailers here, and good repair boatyards and canvas makers. There are some sand bars to be wary of getting in and out of the Beaufort Inlet for deep draft sailboats, though. Shallow draft and centerboard boats are popular here for that reason.
I'd give a look at Oriental but if you find it too small, consider Beaufort, Morehead City, and New Bern. Swansboro is another cute, little town, as is Cape Carteret. Your best bet is to come visit and have a look-see. One of the towns will call likely your name. And yes, loads of sunshine--that famous Carolina Blue sky.
As you can see from my user name, I live in Oriental. Yes from what little you wrote I think you would be a good fit. About 900 people, most not too religious or too liberal..kinda in-between. Me, I'm real liberal and anti religious but most here aren't. Besides the sailing there's kayaking and fishing a theater group, 6 restaurants some with bars a walking group, a biking group, book clubs, yoga stuff etc... The small grocery store is not too bad, we have a farmers market on Sat. mornings and I forgot to mention there are a lot of artists who also put on events. There is a hardware store, 2 marine stores and a Dollar General. The winter is cool, average about 40. The summers are hot 88-90 in daytime. Sailing is the big thing with several sailing clubs and lots of races. Some serious, some just for fun. You can get a lot of info from www.towndock.net our on-line paper (just for Oriental) As far as schools go there is an excellent Charter school for K-8 in the next town and the high school is not bad...They have a great music and arts program as well as sports and good AP and honors classes. My gifted daughter graduates in a few weeks with a 5.53 gpa. My more average daughter is a sophomore and is failing spanish and maybe algebra so it's really what they make of it and some kids don't want to take advantage of what the school offers. In the summer kids from this county can attend one of several world class summer camps here or go to the youth sailing camp or the kids theater group. The county is very poor but the town of Oriental is like an island unto itself. Mostly upscale homes, mostly around 300.000 which you probably think is cheap coming from the west! Rents are about 650-1400 depending what you want. Lots of places with docks. I lived in coastal Calif for about 10 years and I guess what you might not like is not nearly as many stores. We have them but it's a longer drive then you might be used to. Feel free to direct message me with any questions.
The ocean will be the biggest change. I remember a young poster was on here a year or so ago, and he doubted there would be much difference in the two bodies of water, the Pacific and Atlantic. Well, I've seen and swam in both, and the Atlantic is sort of like rock-and-roll compared the waltz going on in the Pacific. The first time you see it, well, it's like that movie "Atlantic City" with Burt Lancaster in it, "You should have seen the Atlantic back then..."
Rainfall will be sort of in between what you've got in Washington and what you had in California. And one of the above posters was correct in mentioning how muggy it can get, but the humidity is usually offset by the coastal breezes. Still, the heat you may have had in Calif is nothing like the oven over here, that sometimes goes right on thru the night. But you do indeed get used to it, especially with A/C, fans, no-sleeved shirts, shorts, cotton clothes, and of course a dip in the water. Mosquitos can become an issue when you're away from the winds, everybody has got them a can of Off or something, and a screened porch is a PLUS when you look for a place to live.
To me, California and the West is so totally different from the East Coast, that the only way I can describe it is the difference between a big modern city and a small town. By the way, sailboating is very popular in the area you are looking at, as it also is in Wilmington NC, and Charleston SC, but the two towns are rather large and unwieldy in comparison to the places near Oriental. I think if you visit the area you're interested in, and it seems a little too snug, why, go south on 17 and visit Wilmington, and if you think you like that city, take the extra hours to keep going on down into Charleston, SC. Then you'll have a better chance of being satisfied with your move, cuz you'll see clearly the advantages of the biggest and the littlest.
I think it would be just wonderful to live in a little town on the coast of North Carolina, especially with your interest in water activities. You'll be amazed at the difference in flora and fauna here, the Southern Style we're all so fortunate to grow up with, and the almost total lack of insanity and crime. And while I loved the peaceful smooth glassy waters of the Pacific, I have to say that the sound of a roaring Atlantic ocean tide crashing onto shore is one of the most restful experiences imaginable, for those weekend overnight trips right on the beach.
Really appreciate the feedback and information! Interesting to hear about the lack of variety in restaurants. I like to think that's a trivial thing, but then I do notice we've so far ended up living where there are a ton of restaurants. Fun for entertaining out-of-town visitors for one thing.
Love the idea of living on a creek or inlet where we could launch a really shallow-draft boat.
Good to hear Oriental isn't extreme in terms of religion or politics. And the schools sound pretty decent. I'm sure the humidity will bother us some, though living in Western Washington we're so looking forward to the idea of being too warm for once ;-)
Thanks for the suggestion to drive to Wilmington, Charleston etc.
A few follow-up questions if you guys don't mind:
If you need services in a larger town, where do you go from Oriental? How far?
I can look up the statistics, but are their any places near the spots we're looking at where crime is a problem? We really want to avoid crime even if it means being away from some other services
Do any of these smaller towns (Oriental, Swansboro, Cape Carteret, Beaufort, etc.) have more youngish families? We love living around retirees, but we don't really want to live somewhere where schools, parks, etc. are shorted in favor of other things.
Which of those towns would be considered the most quaint or historic? We don't want to live anywhere near track homes, strip malls and the like.
I assume if you live near the water in NC you need flood insurance. Is it expensive? Any other hurricane-related concerns?
I recognize we're probably looking for a perfect place that doesn't exist, but thanks for your help and suggestions.
Beaufort is the most historic of towns you listed, but oriental is not far from New Bern, which has a lot of history as the first capitol and a civil war battleground. Also New Bern is where'd you go from oriental for the services you speak.
Cape Carteret sort of runs into Swansboro. I haven't personally been to Oriental in ages, but as a community, you do not have to worry about the lack of parks, schools, or recreational activity all through Carteret County. I can't speak on Swansboro specifically, but I imagine do to the high military family population and the number of kids that entails, that it wouldn't be lacking either. I can't speak for Pamlico, but neighboring Craven County is big on youth and community activities as well.
Speaking of Craven County, yu might want to look into fairfield harbor, or brice's creek area for water access. On Beufort has great boating as well, with all of the little banks and islands. There are plavces like shackleford banks where there are feral forses, remains from old spanish galleys that sank in "the graveyard of the atlantic"
The answer above is right on...got to watch out for those "feral forses" though (horses that is... lol.
All of the little towns here have their quaint and historic side to them. Flood insurance varies depending on if you're in a flood zone..some houses are, some not--even those right on the water might not be in a flood zone while some more inland might be if they get a storm surge during a hurricane. It's tricky. Look to a good realtor and zoning to help you out there.
There are some nice developments and you can also buy an older or even historic home--some of which are plaqued and have to be maintained and painted to conform to historic guidelines. Living in a home from the 1700's has its charms, but is also a lot of maintenance....there are lots of cute cottages and bungalows from the 30's, 40's and 50's, too--as well as new construction.
Beaufort and Morehead--and likely, Oriental and Swansboro, don't really have any age separated developments that I'm aware of (except for a few retirement and assisted living communities)--everyone's all mixed up together age-wise, which makes our towns more Norman-Rockwell than others where elders live in gated developments away from everyone else...
City Data has info online that breaks down the age categories for you as does Sperlings Best Places...
When we moved out, we had Savannah, Charleston, Wilmington, Beaufort, SC, New Bern and a few others on our radar screen, but it was Carteret County that we fell in love with. Wild ponies, leaping dolphins, warm water to swim in, exotic ibis's, lots of concerts, free live music, festivals, good seafood--especially the shrimp, kindly people, sunny skies--what's not to like?
There's really no substitute for visiting in person to see the charms and differences between towns.
Thanks again for the feedback. Sounds like Beaufort and Carteret County merit a long look.
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