Random question about vacationing...

[Peppers49]

We have a family house in the NC mountains, and growing up in the Charlotte area we took a lot of day trips/weekends trips there as well as other areas in that part of the state. As others have said, the NC mountains aren’t as striking as the landscapes you find in the West, but for my money it’s still one of the most beautiful areas in the world. Western NC is also sneakily a large area. I’ve taken a weekend trips there hundreds of times and there are still plenty of towns that I’ve either never been to or have only stopped through once or twice. Cashiers and Highlands for example are absolutely beautiful, yet I’ve never really visited either other than driving through them on 64 a few times a long time ago.

I think if you grow up in NC and live there long enough it’s easy to start to take for granted how nice it is to have beautiful mountains and beautiful beaches both within relatively close proximity. One of the biggest drawbacks to living in Texas for me (well besides the terrible politics) is the relative lack of scenery. The beaches are a joke compared to NC, and while there are a few mountain ranges in the very far western part of the state that have higher peaks than NC, the ranges themselves are pretty small and isolated. There’s no cultural identity associated with them like Appalachia.

 

[mpaer]

. Western NC is also sneakily a large area. I’ve taken a weekend trips there hundreds of times and there are still plenty of towns that I’ve either never been to or have only stopped through once or twice. Cashiers and Highlands for example are absolutely beautiful, yet I’ve never really visited either other than driving through them on 64 a few times a long time ago.

I have lived in NC most of my life-and I still am "intimidated " at trying to figure out new places to visit in the Mountains

 

[farce©]

The Boone/Blowing Rock/Banner Elk/Linville area is just so close to Charlotte and the elevations are high enough to escape the heat, I find myself not wanting to make the longer drive to Highlands or other areas west of Asheville. It's just not nearly so convenient for a quick trip. I've been to Cherokee and Murphy and Cullowhee and Fontana and they are beautiful but it's just so far compared to Avery/Ashe/Watauga counties. When I was a kid I remember driving through "Stinka" Enka on mountain trips with the family.

 

[Icky Mettle]

We have a family house in the NC mountains, and growing up in the Charlotte area we took a lot of day trips/weekends trips there as well as other areas in that part of the state. As others have said, the NC mountains aren’t as striking as the landscapes you find in the West, but for my money it’s still one of the most beautiful areas in the world. Western NC is also sneakily a large area. I’ve taken a weekend trips there hundreds of times and there are still plenty of towns that I’ve either never been to or have only stopped through once or twice. Cashiers and Highlands for example are absolutely beautiful, yet I’ve never really visited either other than driving through them on 64 a few times a long time ago.

I think if you grow up in NC and live there long enough it’s easy to start to take for granted how nice it is to have beautiful mountains and beautiful beaches both within relatively close proximity. One of the biggest drawbacks to living in Texas for me (well besides the terrible politics) is the relative lack of scenery. The beaches are a joke compared to NC, and while there are a few mountain ranges in the very far western part of the state that have higher peaks than NC, the ranges themselves are pretty small and isolated. There’s no cultural identity associated with them like Appalachia.

I don’t get the condescension some have when they compare the NC mountains to the mountains out west and refer to the ones out west as “real mountains”. They’re much bigger mountains and absolutely amazing, but it doesn’t mean that the NC mountains aren’t beautiful in their own way. They’re just two different things. There are also places that are beautiful and worth visiting that have no mountains at all. It would be silly to denigrate those places on the ground that they don’t look like mountain regions of the Western US. Ditto for the NC mountains.

 

[gregh1]

Not even a daytrip? I understand you've seen a ton of NC already, but I think NC is great for long weekends. Like you say, it is easy to take it for granted.

You mentioned vaca AND leisure time, but i often like somewhere new for vaca. WNC is 4+ hrs from the Triangle and I could be at Rocky Mtn National Park (or somewhere else, very different from NC) in "only" double that. So if i'm seeking something new (special, unique, whatever), then i'd have a similar feeling wanting to go further afoot.

On that point, I really enjoy our national parks but never even consider Great Smoky National Park despite it being the closest option. It never pops on my radar despite being something that I want to do one day, maybe i'm just saving it since it's just a drive. Same with SC's Congaree.

 

[wmheel1287]

My GF and I got 2 free 10-day cruises each from status matches in AC casinos a year and a half ago. We each used one last year to go to Mexico (me with my boys and her with a friend) and it was an awful experience so we did things different this year.

We chose to use our 2nd cruises back to back in the Mediterranean. Starting in Istanbul and going to Greece, Eastern Italy & Southern Turkie then flying to Marseille with 3 days on the Riviera and Monoco then our second cruise from France went to Spain, Portugal, Tunisia, & Western Italy. We then flew to Ireland for a few days then home.

All told it was 9 countries, 3 continents in 28 days with 13000+ photos & 57 videos of the best vacation I've ever taken.

Sounds amazing!

 

[Peppers49]

I don’t get the condescension some have when they compare the NC mountains to the mountains out west and refer to the ones out west as “real mountains”. They’re much bigger mountains and absolutely amazing, but it doesn’t mean that the NC mountains aren’t beautiful in their own way. They’re just two different things. There are also places that are beautiful and worth visiting that have no mountains at all. It would be silly to denigrate those places on the ground that they don’t look like mountain regions of the Western US. Ditto for the NC mountains.

I hear you. I do love visiting the mountain ranges out West, but I also get defensive when people disparage the NC mountains when trying to compare them. As you say, they’re two completely different places and experiences.

I think the better discussion is NC mountains vs New England mountains.

 

[4thgenheel]

I would probably decline that too. The Outer Banks are just too damn far from the NC population centers to drive to (especially for Christmas.) My answer would be different if I lived in Tidewater or somewhere closer.

nags head resident here, we're 3 hours flat from raleigh.

corolla does add about another hour, though.

 

[rodoheel]

Honestly I figured it was just me being very odd.

As an example, I was offered to use this house to have both of our families for Christmas and politely declined. That interaction is what prompted the post.

Outer Limits

Outer Limits - J10917 is an Outer Banks Oceanfront vacation rental in Whalehead Corolla NC that features 8 bedrooms and 8 Full 2 Half bathrooms. This rental has a private pool, an elevator, and a theater room among many other amenities. Click here for more.

www.twiddy.com

 

[Zoo_View]

We have a family house in the NC mountains, and growing up in the Charlotte area we took a lot of day trips/weekends trips there as well as other areas in that part of the state. As others have said, the NC mountains aren’t as striking as the landscapes you find in the West, but for my money it’s still one of the most beautiful areas in the world. Western NC is also sneakily a large area. I’ve taken a weekend trips there hundreds of times and there are still plenty of towns that I’ve either never been to or have only stopped through once or twice. Cashiers and Highlands for example are absolutely beautiful, yet I’ve never really visited either other than driving through them on 64 a few times a long time ago.

I think if you grow up in NC and live there long enough it’s easy to start to take for granted how nice it is to have beautiful mountains and beautiful beaches both within relatively close proximity. One of the biggest drawbacks to living in Texas for me (well besides the terrible politics) is the relative lack of scenery. The beaches are a joke compared to NC, and while there are a few mountain ranges in the very far western part of the state that have higher peaks than NC, the ranges themselves are pretty small and isolated. There’s no cultural identity associated with them like Appalachia.

Have you been to Big Bend or Hueco Tanks? Enchanted Rock?

Texas is arid; but, it has some beautiful areas.

I spent two winters at Hueco rock climbing. Beautiful area.

 

[05C40]

Which Finger Lake? I used to spend a lot of time at Canandaigua Lake. Love the Finger Lakes - except for the over abundance of Trump and Confederate flags in recent years.

We used to drive up to Rochester each summer and Christmas. Going through all those towns and small cities up the Susquehanna Valley took forever.

Every stop at the Kinzua Trestle State Park in Pennsylvania? Last spring on the way to visit my cousin and see the Eclipse, we stopped at the Kinzua "Overlook."

 

[Zoo_View]

I don’t get the condescension some have when they compare the NC mountains to the mountains out west and refer to the ones out west as “real mountains”. They’re much bigger mountains and absolutely amazing, but it doesn’t mean that the NC mountains aren’t beautiful in their own way. They’re just two different things. There are also places that are beautiful and worth visiting that have no mountains at all. It would be silly to denigrate those places on the ground that they don’t look like mountain regions of the Western US. Ditto for the NC mountains.

I’ve climbed in the Alaska Range, the French Alps, Scotland, Mt. Logan (St. Elias Mountains), the Wind River Range in Wyoming, Devil’s Tower in Wyoming, the Bugaboos in British Columbia, the Brooks Range, and elsewhere……many of those areas are more spectacular in a “jagged, rocky, glaciated” sense than the North Carolina mountains; the North Carolina mountains, New York’s Adirondacks and Catskills, Vermont’s Greens, and Maine and New Hampshire’s Whites all have their own beauty.

 

[05C40]

. . .. Same with SC's Congaree.

I love Congaree NP. Really a fairly short drive from Charlotte and well worth the trip.

One thing I really want to see before I get too old is The Nature Conservacy Black River Preserve/Three Sisters Swamp. I grew-up 30 or 45 minutes from that area and I knew absolutely nothing about it until a few years years ago. I'm not expecting anyone to point out the 2,600 year old cypress tree or that there will be a historical marker in front of it. But I would like to kayak through the general area.

Also, what's the deal with tree scientists from ARKANSAS discovering that tree. The needs to be an investigation as to why no one from NC State made that discovery.

Link: North Carolina Bald Cypresses Are Among the World's Oldest Trees

 

[Zoo_View]

I hear you. I do love visiting the mountain ranges out West, but I also get defensive when people disparage the NC mountains when trying to compare them. As you say, they’re two completely different places and experiences.

I think the better discussion is NC mountains vs New England mountains.

Both NC and New England mountains are gorgeous.

Maine’s Mt. Katahdin is one of the most remote places in the USA in the winter. Ice climbing gullies up to the Knife Edge has one wondering if this is Alaska.

 

[Peppers49]

Have you been to Big Bend or Hueco Tanks? Enchanted Rock?

Texas is arid; but, it has some beautiful areas.

I spent two winters at Hueco rock climbing. Beautiful area.

I’ve been to big bend and guadalupe mountains several times each. West Texas has a unique beauty to it for sure, it’s just very far away from where I live in Central Texas lol. You need at least 4 or 5 days at minimum to properly enjoy those places when you factor in the amount of time it takes to get there and back.

Hill Country is beautiful as well and is a better direct comparison to the NC mountains for me because it’s closer and easier to visit for a day or weekend. Solid hiking options like enchanted rock, wineries, quaint little towns, etc. It’s also a very fascinating area as a geographical and cultural transition zone between what we consider “the south” and the high desert of the west.

All that being said, Texas just doesn’t quite scratch the itch for me the way that the NC mountains do lol.

 

[wmheel1287]

Not even a daytrip? I understand you've seen a ton of NC already, but I think NC is great for long weekends. Like you say, it is easy to take it for granted.

You mentioned vaca AND leisure time, but i often like somewhere new for vaca. WNC is 4+ hrs from the Triangle and I could be at Rocky Mtn National Park (or somewhere else, very different from NC) in "only" double that. So if i'm seeking something new (special, unique, whatever), then i'd have a similar feeling wanting to go further afoot.

On that point, I really enjoy our national parks but never even consider Great Smoky National Park despite it being the closest option. It never pops on my radar despite being something that I want to do one day, maybe i'm just saving it since it's just a drive. Same with SC's Congaree.

Not even the remote thought of a daytrip

 

[gregh1]

Honestly I figured it was just me being very odd.

As an example, I was offered to use this house to have both of our families for Christmas and politely declined. That interaction is what prompted the post.

Outer Limits

Outer Limits - J10917 is an Outer Banks Oceanfront vacation rental in Whalehead Corolla NC that features 8 bedrooms and 8 Full 2 Half bathrooms. This rental has a private pool, an elevator, and a theater room among many other amenities. Click here for more.

www.twiddy.com

What did you do instead? Then i'll judge the oddity ;-)

 

[farce©]

nags head resident here, we're 3 hours flat from raleigh.

corolla does add about another hour, though.

But it's six hours from Charlotte, and I can get to the Brunswick County or South Carolina beaches in four hours or less.

 

[Geisterfahrer]

Honestly I figured it was just me being very odd.

As an example, I was offered to use this house to have both of our families for Christmas and politely declined. That interaction is what prompted the post.

Outer Limits

Outer Limits - J10917 is an Outer Banks Oceanfront vacation rental in Whalehead Corolla NC that features 8 bedrooms and 8 Full 2 Half bathrooms. This rental has a private pool, an elevator, and a theater room among many other amenities. Click here for more.

www.twiddy.com

That just sounds like you don’t like your families.

 

[4thgenheel]

But it's six hours from Charlotte, and I can get to the Brunswick County or South Carolina beaches in four hours or less.

yeah, its a hike from the charlotte area.

but you said "the NC population centers" and wake county (#1), durham county (#6), johnston county, etc. are all highly populated and within 3 hours of the outer banks, give or take. guilford/forsythe (#3/4) are up there too and are @ 4 hours from the outer banks.