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Originally Posted by manitopiaaa
Great post! I will say that I've found both Virginias/Carolinas to have pretty underwhelming beaches. I usually either drive north to New Jersey or south to Florida. One thing that both are definitely lacking is the "carnival/resort/boardwalk" places like Wildwood, Cape May, Ocean City, or the "tropical vibes" of Siesta Key or Florida Keys. Outer Banks's beaches are rarely swimmable, Virginia Beach feels very run-down and Myrtle Beach has a very "manufactured/corporate" vibe that I dislike. Then we have places like Cape Charles or Colonial Beach that just feel sad, though I appreciate the effort (temporary palm trees).
I wish both could focus on their beachfronts.
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Eh, you probably could go to Ocean City(MD), or Myrtle Beach(SC) if you want that sort of carnival/entertainment/etc vibe near a beach. Don't know if you necessarily need to head all the way north to NJ, or south to FL to get that carnival/entertainment vibe near a beach. Especially when SC, has Myrtle Beach! Not everyone cares about stuff like that, when they go to a beach. I know I don't seek those things out near a beach and would rather just simply sit down and chill out, but that's just my opinion. And I'd only swim, if I knew for sure the water wasn't cold(side note: outside of a small August/September window, this is why I don't swim in Lake Michigan during those other 10 months).
And while Cape Charles, VA and Colonial Beach may not have the most amazing beaches, be glad those beaches(from what I could see on Google Street View, and photos I found when googling) weren't as sad looking, as what I once saw in person myself when I was in Winthrop Harbor(IL, it's barely south of the Illinois/Wisconsin border, and between Waukegan and Kenosha). Anyway the beach area of Winthrop Harbor was nearly 100% covered up in rocks, and the lakefront there more is a harbor area for boats, vs. a beach for anyone to swim in. These 2 inland VA beaches at least IMO don't look as sad, as Winthrop Harbor does. And don't get me started that IMO, it's downtown(for Winthrop Harbor) isn't anything too special, though at least you aren't too far away from Kenosha and Zion which have at least a few places to eat, along with better beaches(not to forget Zion also has a good mom and pop donut and coffee place). At least Cape Charles and Colonial Beach, seem to have made at least some small efforts to make their downtowns look nice, per checking both out on street view. And I like how I get this sense that both of those VA Chesapeake Bay/Potomac River towns, aren't overrun with tourists thankfully(vs. say like Ocean City, MD), per looking up both on street view.
Back to this overall discussion, I think I'd vote the 2 Virginias, primarily because I like the mountains of West Virginia so much. I wish West Virginia would do more efforts to help develop its smaller cities and towns out, since other than Morgantown(my favorite of these 3, and most likely where I'd live if I had to do so in WV) and to a lesser extent Charleston and Huntington, they aren't as interesting as I'd prefer. And is it only me, or does it seems like how nice NC's more sizable cities and college towns are like in how they're developed(i.e. Greensboro, Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Charlotte, Asheville, Boone, etc), have been underrated a little bit for this thread? For South Carolina I do like Greenville and Charleston a lot, and to a lesser extent also like Rock Hill and Columbia Conway seemed okay when I street viewed it, where I wonder if one day it has potential to become a more interesting town?
I've explored VA and NC and WV the most, of these 4 states. Long ago I did a trip to Charleston, SC, as well. And I wish I could visit SC, more often. Greenville(SC) seems like it'd be a decent city to one day visit, per what I've seen of this SC city on google street view. I intend down the road to eventually look up Spartanburg on street view, though I'm not expecting as much out of that city vs. Greenville(SC of course).
Finally back to VA and NC, both states have smaller cities that IMO feel a little underdeveloped, and depressed. I.e. for 'south side' Virginia there's Martinsville(better known as where a NASCAR track is), Danville, and Petersburg, and eastern NC has some depressed cities like Rocky Mount, Goldsboro, and Kinston. At least a few eastern NC cities have been making efforts to try to turn themselves around, particularly Fayetteville, Wilson, and Greenville. And I do commend Charlotte and Norfolk, for building light rail systems. On one final note I do hope Danville(VA) being approved for one of the new Virginia land based casinos, does help that city out a little bit economically. Since that city badly could use some help, to boost its economy.
Like one person said earlier, it probably more comes down to if you prefer beaches or mountains, when it comes to voting in this poll here. Not going to lie, that I prefer the latter.
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