# What the heck is there to do in North Carolina? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 6, 2007, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-there-to-do-in-north-carolina/403017 "2007-05-06T20:16:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-there-to-do-in-north-carolina/403017/21 "2007-05-07T19:08:27Z")
[QUOTE=Glory] Jacksonville is pretty much a dive…of course, I haven’t been back there for over 15 years so maybe it’s improved. [/QUOTE] Apparently it still is. The guys pretty much try to find new and exciting places to drive to on the weekends, since there’s nothing to do around the base. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-there-to-do-in-north-carolina/403017/22 "2007-05-07T19:09:32Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] I’m not a golfer, either. Don’t get it; don’t want to. 😕 [/QUOTE] You? You’re good people. We see eye to eye, my friend. ---
**Author:** ![awldune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@awldune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awldune)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-there-to-do-in-north-carolina/403017/23 "2007-05-07T19:10:52Z")
[QUOTE=Maus Magill] **Topsail Island/Surf City** - There’s the Missiles and More Museum, which details the history of the Navy’s missile projects from the fifties. The museum is in the old assembly building. As you drive down NC50 to Surf City, you’ll see these 3-4 story buildings on the beach - those are the old launch towers. [/QUOTE] Personally I wouldn’t make the trip just for the museum, but I really like Topsail. The southern end is very laid back feeling for a beach town. Most of the houses are old looking and there aren’t chain stores everywhere. > [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > The beach is a possibility, but then again I’m from California so a beach is not such an unheard of commodity around these parts. Although, it would be pretty cool to see the sunrise over the ocean for once. I don’t think it’s fair to say “if you’ve seen one beach you’ve seen them all.” The ocean at NC is very sandy, warm, and gentle compared to California. Much nicer for swimming IMO. My main recommendation is that you get the heck out of Jacksonville. Get a beach house. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-there-to-do-in-north-carolina/403017/24 "2007-05-07T19:11:56Z")
**Glory** , my parents used to live in Swansboro (as retirees, not locals) and my husband and I were married there…in my parents’ backyard overlooking Kings Creek. I love the little town and we spent a lot of evenings wandering around there. I forgot to mention the maritime museum…worth a browse around. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-there-to-do-in-north-carolina/403017/25 "2007-05-07T19:18:47Z")
Drive up to Lexington and eat BBQ for a week. I can’t say this enough. NC BBQ is the best in the world, and I’m from Texas! (Well, my family is.) ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-there-to-do-in-north-carolina/403017/26 "2007-05-07T20:32:08Z")
[QUOTE=awldune] Personally I wouldn’t make the trip just for the museum, but I really like Topsail. The southern end is very laid back feeling for a beach town. Most of the houses are old looking and there aren’t chain stores everywhere. [/QUOTE] That’s why I go every summer. > [@](#): > > I don’t think it’s fair to say “if you’ve seen one beach you’ve seen them all.” The ocean at NC is very sandy, warm, and gentle compared to California. Much nicer for swimming IMO. > > My main recommendation is that you get the heck out of Jacksonville. Get a beach house. Seconded. If you look at Topsail DO NOT rent at North Topsail Beach. See my earlier comments regarding the moving island. Surf city is much more stable and you’re more likely to actually have a beach in front of your house rather than a small strip of sand during low tide. ---
**Author:** ![AHoosierMama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/258eb7/32.png) [@AHoosierMama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHoosierMama)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-there-to-do-in-north-carolina/403017/27 "2007-05-07T20:56:25Z")
Topsail is a sand bar, not an island. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-there-to-do-in-north-carolina/403017/28 "2007-05-08T14:22:58Z")
[QUOTE=AHoosierMama] Topsail is a sand bar, not an island. [/QUOTE] As are almost all barrier islands, yet we still call them islands. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-there-to-do-in-north-carolina/403017/29 "2007-05-08T14:35:44Z")
[QUOTE=DiosaBellissima] All wonderful suggestions- thank you guys! So I- being a desert dweller- am I probably going to fall over in horrible, humid pain, aren’t I? That’s ok, one does not need good, non-frizzy hair to have a good time. At least, I hope not. [/QUOTE] It depends on when you will be here. If it’s in the next few weeks, the air will still be pretty dry (though the water will be freezing). If it’s in, say, July, it’ll be hot as stink and probably pretty humid, though it’s always cooler near the water and you should have a nice breeze. Between Labor Day and the first or second week of October are really the best times to go to the beach here in NC - the crowds are mostly gone, the water is still warm and it’s less humid. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-there-to-do-in-north-carolina/403017/30 "2007-05-08T14:44:32Z")
[QUOTE=DiosaBellissima] You? You’re good people. We see eye to eye, my friend. [/QUOTE] The waste of open land is almost as annoying as graveyards! And what. is WITH. the obsession with the little white ball? Can we just skip the game and go for a long walk that ends at a bar? _Please??_ ---
**Author:** ![AHoosierMama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/258eb7/32.png) [@AHoosierMama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHoosierMama)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-there-to-do-in-north-carolina/403017/31 "2007-05-08T18:42:03Z")
[QUOTE=Maus Magill] As are almost all barrier islands, yet we still call them islands. [/QUOTE] I know - even the ones like Topsail where I can be in the ocean and talk to my friend in the Sound. I think dolphins can clear it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-there-to-do-in-north-carolina/403017.md?page=1)