Greetings from North Carolina

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Well, it has been nearly six years since I retired down here in the mountains of Western North Carolina. I don't miss New England but I do miss all the folks on this forum.
After several hits and misses I landed a part time job a year ago as a Range Safety Officer at:

Foothills Public Shooting Complex – 283 Fielding Road Cherryville, NC 28021 Phone: 704-447-8230

Wonderful facility. It is the largest outdoor public shooting range in the Southeast and you are very welcome to visit anytime you might be visiting the Charlotte area.

Let me tell you one of the major differences between up there and down here: A few years back when I applied for my concealed carry I called the sheriff's office to check on the status and the sheriff himself called me to apologize for the delay and to personally assure me he had expedited the process.

If you DON'T carry a gun down here you are considered abnormal.

All the best to all of you. I don't get onto this site often so if you are planning a visit give me a shout on my email: [email protected]. I can't get you anything free but will be happy to walk you through. Foothills is about 40 miles due west of Charlotte.

Wiedersehen!
 
I remember you News Shooter. Welcome back! Wishing you and yours the best...
~Matt
 
Well, it has been nearly six years since I retired down here in the mountains of Western North Carolina. I don't miss New England but I do miss all the folks on this forum.
After several hits and misses I landed a part time job a year ago as a Range Safety Officer at:

Foothills Public Shooting Complex – 283 Fielding Road Cherryville, NC 28021 Phone: 704-447-8230

Wonderful facility. It is the largest outdoor public shooting range in the Southeast and you are very welcome to visit anytime you might be visiting the Charlotte area.

Let me tell you one of the major differences between up there and down here: A few years back when I applied for my concealed carry I called the sheriff's office to check on the status and the sheriff himself called me to apologize for the delay and to personally assure me he had expedited the process.

If you DON'T carry a gun down here you are considered abnormal.

All the best to all of you. I don't get onto this site often so if you are planning a visit give me a shout on my email: [email protected]. I can't get you anything free but will be happy to walk you through. Foothills is about 40 miles due west of Charlotte.

Wiedersehen!
Only been here about 3 years.

What’s funny is, NC is so deep from the ocean that for me to drive to the mountains is about the same travel time as driving back to MA!
 
Yep I'm over here on the coast. We went to visit our friends out in the mountains, and it was six+ hours. All in the same state, and without a single tollbooth from one end to the other.
 
Yep I'm over here on the coast. We went to visit our friends out in the mountains, and it was six+ hours. All in the same state, and without a single tollbooth from one end to the other.

I say we create NES Southern Annex. There seems to be a bunch of us here.
Me, I’m in the middle. RTP, very western edge of Wake county. Been here for a couple years now.
 
I moved to Morehead City (Carteret County) fall of 2017. CarolinaFirearmsForum.com pales in comparison to the community here on NES.

It's funny, I have to explain my license plate to people here. I go back to New England to visit and everyone gets it instantly.
 
Any global warming down your way? We could use some here. Nice to see you post again.
 
Well, it has been nearly six years since I retired down here in the mountains of Western North Carolina. I don't miss New England but I do miss all the folks on this forum.
After several hits and misses I landed a part time job a year ago as a Range Safety Officer at:

Foothills Public Shooting Complex – 283 Fielding Road Cherryville, NC 28021 Phone: 704-447-8230

Wonderful facility. It is the largest outdoor public shooting range in the Southeast and you are very welcome to visit anytime you might be visiting the Charlotte area.

Let me tell you one of the major differences between up there and down here: A few years back when I applied for my concealed carry I called the sheriff's office to check on the status and the sheriff himself called me to apologize for the delay and to personally assure me he had expedited the process.

If you DON'T carry a gun down here you are considered abnormal.

All the best to all of you. I don't get onto this site often so if you are planning a visit give me a shout on my email: [email protected]. I can't get you anything free but will be happy to walk you through. Foothills is about 40 miles due west of Charlotte.

Wiedersehen!


No shit really? I visit that facility whenever I visit my parents in SC (they left NH and moved to Clover, SC). I was down there last July and this past January. We shot on the steel range in January and it was awesome.
 
The wife and I have been planning our escape to freedom for several years now. NC has been on the short list as has TN and SC, maybe VA.
Last week my lovely town notified me that my property taxes went up again so now I am paying $604 a month for the privilege of being a resident of Gt. Barrington. And I still have an abatement as the house is still under construction.
This was about the final straw. The search will intensify and we need to get out of here. I may be taking you up on your offer for a tour!
 
All my a counts are in the South East. I might stop by next time I'm visiting a customer.
 
I'm a desert fan so I'll most likely be moving to Neveda, but if I were going to stay in the east I think Tennessee would be my choice. But North Carolina looks nice too except they have an income tax, Tennessee doesn't.
 
Ironically, it snowed there today, in Jacksonville of all places.

I saw that on the news yesterday. I had to laugh. Jacksonville is the town just outside Camp Lejeune. I spent nearly 2 1/2 years there as an MP. I only saw snow once during that time frame. One morning, we received about an inch or two of snow and it quickly just turned into slush. It was the kind of coating that we all just slow down a few miles an hour for around here and everything is fine. I reported for the day shift that morning. Roll call was at 0630. I was scheduled for gate duty that week. Nobody liked gate duty. Everyone wanted to be on patrol, staying busy and making the time go by. Gate duty was boring. It was especially boring if you happened to get one of the back gates by yourself.

At roll call, our shift commander (a Lieutenant for the DEEP SOUTH) asks, "How many of y'all are northern boys"? I raise my hand along with the other "northern boys". He then says, "y'all are driving the patrols today and you southern boys are on gate duty. I don't trust you southern boys in this stuff."

I was certainly happy to be off gate duty, but I was kind of chuckling to myself because, to me, there was really nothing to this minor amount of snow/slush. The problem, though, is that I was looking at it through the prism of MY life experiences and MY experience driving in snow. Within the first hour of actually being on patrol, we collectively responded to over 40 accidents across the entire base, an unheard of number of accidents for such a short time. Within a couple of hours, everything melted off and we returned to normal.
 
Yes. It snowed here yesterday in Jacksonville. Wife and I are endlessly amused by the locals and natives. They have no idea how to drive in snow. The closed the schools for an inch of snow that was gone by noon! It’s a freakin riot how they are down here.

Luckily, half of us are transplants from the north. But the natives....don’t get me started. Family trees with no branches.
 
My brother retired and moved from northern Maine to Sneads Ferry, NC last fall and loves it! He moved in a couple weeks before the big hurricane but his new home was, for the most part, unharmed. I've got a few years to go but considering a similar move down the road. The area seems to agree with people.
 
I saw that on the news yesterday. I had to laugh. Jacksonville is the town just outside Camp Lejeune. I spent nearly 2 1/2 years there as an MP. I only saw snow once during that time frame. One morning, we received about an inch or two of snow and it quickly just turned into slush. It was the kind of coating that we all just slow down a few miles an hour for around here and everything is fine. I reported for the day shift that morning. Roll call was at 0630. I was scheduled for gate duty that week. Nobody liked gate duty. Everyone wanted to be on patrol, staying busy and making the time go by. Gate duty was boring. It was especially boring if you happened to get one of the back gates by yourself.

At roll call, our shift commander (a Lieutenant for the DEEP SOUTH) asks, "How many of y'all are northern boys"? I raise my hand along with the other "northern boys". He then says, "y'all are driving the patrols today and you southern boys are on gate duty. I don't trust you southern boys in this stuff."

I was certainly happy to be off gate duty, but I was kind of chuckling to myself because, to me, there was really nothing to this minor amount of snow/slush. The problem, though, is that I was looking at it through the prism of MY life experiences and MY experience driving in snow. Within the first hour of actually being on patrol, we collectively responded to over 40 accidents across the entire base, an unheard of number of accidents for such a short time. Within a couple of hours, everything melted off and we returned to normal.

My boy is posted there now and enjoyed the snow while it lasted. Hope he had a chance to do a donut in a parking lot or something.
 
Last week my lovely town notified me that my property taxes went up again so now I am paying $604 a month for the privilege of being a resident of Gt. Barrington. And I still have an abatement as the house is still under construction.
This was about the final straw.

Taxes...I have a friend who lives in Mansfield, MA and pays over $15,000 per year. Another friend of mine moved to Harpswell, Maine after living in Sudbury, MA and also paying $15K+ per year. They now live on the ocean and pay $7,000 in Maine.

Me? I'm off to SC in a few months.
 
For those that have made the move to NC, any insight into Wilmington, New Bern, Southport areas ?

Wife and I have been to NC multiple times and tried to get a sampling of what the state had to offer. Being near the coast just feels right to us but can't come to terms with the thought of a Hurricane kicking your ass and taking all your stuff.
 
For those that have made the move to NC, any insight into Wilmington, New Bern, Southport areas ?

Wife and I have been to NC multiple times and tried to get a sampling of what the state had to offer. Being near the coast just feels right to us but can't come to terms with the thought of a Hurricane kicking your ass and taking all your stuff.
I don’t live down there but my folks do. I would steer clear of Wilmington proper. Not sure about Bew Bern, but anything in Brunswick county is good. More conservative down that way as well.

All depends upon what you are looking for. More rural? More developed? Access or proximity to the beach? Mountains? Etc.
 
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For those that have made the move to NC, any insight into Wilmington, New Bern, Southport areas ?

Wife and I have been to NC multiple times and tried to get a sampling of what the state had to offer. Being near the coast just feels right to us but can't come to terms with the thought of a Hurricane kicking your ass and taking all your stuff.
Well, Wilmington is bursting at the seams. I’d say it’s like a tiny Boston. Lots of college kids. Lots of homeless and drugs. Wilmington does have some beautiful neighborhoods and high end restaurants. I wouldn’t put Wilmington beaches high on the list though. Crowded and dirty, at least by NC standards. Good fishing if that’s your thing.

Have not been to south port yet. Wife has been wanting to go for awhile. The way it’s been described to me is as a tourist spot with cute little hotels and shops and restaurants.

New Bern is ruralish relative for this area. I like it. It’s close to Wilmington and Jacksonville which is good for doing Home Depot runs and Walmart runs.

Snead’s ferry is a great little town also. Holly ridge is good too, a little more expensive but closer to Wilmington.

We started out at our beach house. Did that for 7 months, November to May. Never again. First, stairs. Everything has to go up at least 2 flights. And to get to the master bedroom, 3 flights. Raw salty wind. The cars all developed problems mechanically in that short time. And beach houses generally have very little storage. And even inside the temp controlled living areas, things will rust. Think guns and cast iron pans. Oh, and I have to buy a new condenser every 3 years. They just disintegrate. But, in my humble optinion, North Topsail has the best, cleanest, and emptiest beaches. I am told Emerald Isle beaches are good too.

We ended up settling in Richlands. 20 minutes to Jacksonville, just about an hour to Wilmington. Rural. But big lots, neighbors are far away. A Walmart down the street and all your basic stores. Cheaper housing. My property tax is 485 a year on 2800 square feet and an acre and a half. And no flipping stairs! Oh, also, the airport is 9 minutes away, and I’m back in Boston within 6 hours when I need to go back to that hell hole. All for about 250 bucks and free groping of my genitals.

It’s really what you want for a lifestyle and what you’re going to be doing with your time.

But just know. Going anywhere out side your immediate neighbor hood is 20 minutes.

Hurricanes are covered by insurance. So no worries there.

Be very very careful of where you buy anywhere down here. The locals know the deal. Get to know a well informed local. There are some places that flood all the time. And other places that never flood. Buy a never been flooded area. Real estate agents are worthless for this sort of info, btw.
 
Thanks for the info....oh, and thanks for the reminder that I'm getting porked on my property tax ;-)
Well the beach house is 1800 sq ft, with just enough land to walk around it, and it’s property tax is almost 4900.

Which reminds me. While my address is richlands, I am not actually in richlands. Richlands is actually just a couple of square miles. Technically, I live 500 yards outside of richlands. Which is good. Lower property taxes.
 
The wife and I are looking to move to the Wilmington area in about 18 months. We have a couple of friends in the Southport area and they love it. We'd be there now but my son is in High School and I don't want to yank him out of a good situation just because we cant stand the politics (or the weather) here anymore.
 
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