At the end of this week, I’m flying to Norfolk, VA, and driving into northeastern North Carolina for a job interview that I’m quite excited about. I love living in the high desert, don’t get me wrong, but I’m desperate for a radical change of scenery… oh, yeah: and a full-time position (ka-ching!)
Today, I’m working on two things:
(1) My presentation (which by posting this I’m actually delaying on, but it is probably the most important part of my interview); and
(2) Compiling a dossier about the school and–more importantly–the area, which I’ve never even been near. (I’ve only been to the East Coast thrice, not counting airport lay-overs, and the closest I’ve been to SE VA/NE NC is Washington, DC).
So, if any of y’all can help me out by telling me anything you think I should know about the area (cimate, history, fishing, insider stuff, legends, experiences, etc.), I’d really, really, really, really appreciate it!
Actually, I’m glad you mentioned BBQ. As a Texan, BBQ = Beef (although for me personally, BBQ = Chicken; please don’t let my fellow Texans know I said that); can I assume that up there, BBQ = Pork? Also, I prefer seafood, anyway–what kinds are prevalent up there? I assume that it’s too far north for Shrimp and too far south for Lobster…
BTW: an auspicous omen–my RL name is the same as the leader of the Lost Colony, IIRC!
BBQ=Pork. Period. End of discussion. If you want TO barbecue beef or chicken (cook slowly over a hot, smoky fire) then go ahead, but if you ask for A barbecue you’re going to get a pork sandwich.
All kinds of seafood are available. Lobsters aren’t native, but many places do have them flown in and they are fresh (you can buy them in the grocery store right out of the tank). Shriimp are handled the same way. You can get nearly any kind of fish you’d want.
The job is in Elizabeth City, which I assume is part of the Norfolk-Virginia Beach MSA (is it?) So, if I get the job, that’s where I’m heading–unless there’s a better place to live nearby. I dunno; maybe it’s the best place in the area to live.
Elizabeth City is not part of the Norfolk/VA Beach MSA to the best of my knowledge.
The traffic and congestion in Hampton Roads (Norfolk, VA Beach, etc.) is pretty bad, so if I were you I’d find a place in Elizabeth City (or at least witin NC proper). You’ll be close enough to the OBX (Outer Banks) to enjoy them without having to pay the prices associated with living in a resort area.
Elizabeth City has a small state university, and is not a long drive from Norfolk/Tidewater metro area. Quite a pretty little town.
Area is fla-a-a-a-a-a-t, with quite a lot of wetlands around. Weather is four-season, but with a very short winter with perhaps one snowfall and that brief and fairly light, and a long, hot summer (it’s been 80 or close daily for over a week here; coastal area is only slightly cooler).
Outer Banks are heavily developed except for Cape Hatteras National Seashore, which is pretty. Land along the two Sounds, which includes the E-City area, is fairly undeveloped – rural, with farms and trees and some exurbanites.
In my experience, eastern NC is one of the nicest places
When are we Tarheel Dopers going to have a get-together, with or without the Baltiwash group and the Richmond folks?
Your mission, Aenea, is to start a thread on the subject. (My MPSIMS threads are always made of lead – off the first page within 35 seconds on average! ;)) Arnold VonWinkelreid will disavow any knowledge of your actions. (But we might talk UncleBeer into coming down…)
aaaaaahhhhh…
My old stomping grounds! ( I grew up in Hampton VA, but spent many a weekend at the OBX )
If you’re coming from the high desert, expect HUMIDITY, and lots of it! But, on the other hand, everything’s so GREEN there! Lots of military in the Tidewater area of VA, lees so near Elizabeth City, expect maybe on the weekends.
I saw my first drive-thru liquor store in Nags Head.
There’s BUNCHES of places to buy a kite. Now, we’re talking HUGE kites!
BBQ is regional. I don’t think that any ONE way is right. Having spiced pork BBQ with coleslaw ON the bun is soooooo goooood!
The waves are better near Cape Hatteras. Waves are very mushy near Nags Head or Virginia Beach.
Weekend trips from Elizabeth CIty… Williamsburg (Busch Gardens & Water Country USA), Virginia Beach, Nags Head, Washington DC, Kings Dominion near Richmond VA.
TONS of shopping in Norfolk and Hampton/Newport News.
Y’know, for some thoroughly illogical reason, every time I see one of those bumper stickers, I read it as “Obnoxious”. Dunno why, it’s nothing against the people who have these bumper stickers. Just seems that in my mind, ‘OBX’ is the abbreviation for obnoxious.
Silly brain…
…and these things you might, at first, mistake for small predatory birds.
'round here we call them “skeeters”. Don’t worry bout them - you’ll be issued with a bug-zapper when you move here.
And, a half-day’s drive west, Asheville, with some of the most beautiful mountain country on earth.
Jonathan Chancewas going to be hosting MountainDope on June 8, before life got in the way. I’d been thinking of a local alternative, but if you guys wanted to do a NC Dopefest that weekend, a lot of DC/VA Dopers probably still have that weekend open. I’d try to talk the wife into coming down!
Just a cautionary tale on the drive to Norfolk/VA Beach (45 mins to Norfolk, 1 hr to VA Beach). Rte 17 in NC is a nice 4 lane road 'til you get to the VA border, then it’s about 12 miles of 2 lane blacktop with bumps and dips and generous blind curves that have killed about 25 people in the last five years.
Other than that, there are a number of people I work with who commute to Norfolk from Moyock and a couple other places down there. IIRC, I don’t think there’s any property taxes, sales tax is minimal, and state income tax is lower than VA’s. Technically, the cost of living in EC I think is about 5% lower than the Norfolk/VB area.
There’s no state lottery in NC, so expect long lines at border 7-11s and such during a big payout. The NC state troopers that work 17 love out of state tags. That part of NC is a sportsmen’s paradise, hunting, shooting sports, fishing (both fresh and salt), cycling (NC has some pretty generous shoulders compared to southwest VA) and just about anything else you can think of.
Thanks, everyone. I’m back from my visit to the Albemarle / Tidewater area and… I loved it! Everyone’s description of the area (esp. the traffic on 17) was right on.
Now, hopefully they’ll pick me and I can move there!
