Quote:
Originally Posted by tsmcavoy
My husband is likely accepting a promotion in NC. While he will need to travel to Raleigh several times a week, we are very interested in being on the water. We currently like in Arlington, VA and have a weekend home (about 2 hours from here) on the Potomac River near the Chesapeake Bay. We are tired of having 2 houses and would love to find one house on the water that meets all of our needs -- but I don't know if this is possible. We have 3 young kids and would really like there to be other families living close to us year round. Also, we of course, need good schools -- and prefer public schools. We'd love to be near a quaint town, too...but would probably sacrifice that first. The closer we are to Raleigh, the better. Is this possible?
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I don't know what your husband's travel tolerance is, but the Crystal Coast- Swansboro to Beaufort is about 2.5 hrs from Raleigh depending on where you are going and where you are on the Crystal Coast. I have a high tolerance since for 15 years I commuted from Roanoke, Va. to Reston for my job at Apple Computer.
On the Crystal Coast we do quaint small towns very well,
Swansboro and
Beaufort (http://coastalnc.org/beaufortnctravelguidecd - broken link) being exceptional examples.
We also do old fashioned family oriented beach towns very well,
Emerald Isle (http://coastalnc.org/emeraldislenctravelguidecd - broken link) being another great example.
As to schools, Carteret County's are highly ranked in the state, and Croatan High which services Cape Carteret, Cedar Point, and Emerald Isle among other areas received
a national award this past year as one of the top schools in the country. I have clients who moved here last year and had previously had their children in private schools, their two daughters went to White Oak Elementary and Broad Creek Middle. Both the parents and the children were very pleased with their first year. Both those schools are consistently discussed in very positive terms.
There are plenty of subdivisions with high percentages of year around families and waterfront and/or water access properties.
We live in subdivision called
Bluewater Cove. There are about 42 homes with a couple new ones under construction and a number of lots (some waterfront) available, and I would guess 16-18 children of varying ages. We have a pool, clubhouse, boat ramp, boat storage, large boardwalk and lots of private road for biking and walking. We are also gated which unfortunately seems to keep the ice cream truck out of the neighborhood.
Our home is on the water and we are ten minutes by water from the Intracoastal and another ten from being in the ocean. It is a great area for boating. This
slide show is from our home one morning to the ocean by way of Swansboro.
The
White Oak River where we are is close to two miles wide, but it is a great place for boating and kayaking. When the Intracoastal is crowded during the holidays, we often have the White Oak also most to ourselves. Our sheltered cove is often a refuge for some of the working boats when a storm comes up the coast.
One of my favorite things about the Crystal Coast is the family orientation. There are lots of festivals planed with families in mind. We really enjoy those festivals which start in February & March each year. There are also some great museums in the area and we have
fantastic hiking trails in the Croatan National Forest. Of course don't forget
the miles of beach for walking.
There is nothing like being sandwiched between a National Forest and
a National Seashore which is undeveloped. We also have a branch of the
NC Aquarium in Pine Knoll Shores.
We have found the area churches to be very welcoming. This weekend our church, Cape Carteret Presbyterian, is having
an End of Summer Music Program and covered dish supper (http://www.webvillages.us/ccpc/content/end-summer-gathering - broken link) just to welcome new people and visitors to the area.
In the next couple of months two of the local Episcopal Churches will be hosting lobster dinners which are great fun.
Swansboro's Mullet Festival is fast approaching and just last night Beaufort had a covered dish dinner at
the Maritime Museum which is one of my favorite museums in the world.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention one of my favorite events which is the old fashioned Emerald Isle Christmas parade which has almost as many people in it as are watching. This is
a link to a Quicktime version of the movie of last year's parade. The same page has YouTube links.
I write
Saltwater on my feet, a blog about the area which has a tremendous amount of information about living in the area especially if you dig into
the archives.
I also maintain the
Crystal Coast links site which has lots of pictures, information, and an interactive map of the area and
this archive of articles about the area.
There are homes in a wide variety styles and a number of subdivisions that might meet your needs. There is no shortage of waterfront lots and great builders. You can find everything from under $400K cottages on the water to $1M plus homes. It just depends on what features you want and what type of neighborhood fits your family. We do have modern services including three area hospitals. There are four grocery stores with ten minutes of our home. There is a brand new Harris Teeter only twenty minutes from us. The same area where the Harris Teeter is has Belks, Best Buy, Sears, Walmart, Panera and all your chain restaurants. Our Lowe's Home Improvement store is only ten minutes away and has a brand new Walgreen's in front of it. Construction is supposed to start on a new small Walmart next February in the same area. We also have a great number of
small family owned restaurants. We had a late college graduation celebration for a Marine family from Richlands last night. Our meal was at
Riverside Steak and Seafood. As usual everyone was amazed how great the grouper was there. My two soft shell crabs were fantastic.
I also think the Crystal Coast, and western Carteret County in particular, is a great place to raise children. It has a small town feel, but there is enough change along with people coming into the area to keep it from feeling isolated. Every spring I interview prospective college students for my alma mater, Harvard, so I get to see students from the whole southern coastal area, and I have been very impressed with the students from the Crystal Coast area.
I monitor this forum regularly so I would be glad to answer area questions. It is no secret that
I love living in Carteret County.
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Yes what you are looking for is possible
