Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
NORTH CAROLINA FACTS
Nickname
Tar Heel State
Population
9.7 million
Area
48,711 sq miles
Capital city
Raleigh (population 416,000)
Other city
Charlotte (population 751,000)
Sales tax
6.75%, plus an additional hotel-occupancy tax of up to 6%
Birthplace of
President James K Polk (1795-1849), jazzman John Coltrane
(1926-67), Nascar driver Richard Petty (b 1937), singer-songwriter Tori Amos (b
1963)
Home of
America's first state university, the Biltmore House, Krispy Kreme dough-
nuts
Politics
Conservative in rural areas, increasingly liberal in urban ones
Famous for
The Andy Griffith Show, first airplane flight, college basketball
Pet name
Natives are called 'tar heels,' a nickname of uncertain origin but said to
be related to their pine tar production and their legendary stubbornness
Driving distances
Asheville to Raleigh 247 miles, Raleigh to Wilmington 131 miles
TOP OF CHAPTER
North Carolina Coast
The coast of North Carolina remains remarkably under-developed. Yes, the wall of cot-
tages stretching south from Corolla can seem endless, but for the most part the state's
shores remain free of flashy, highly commercialized resort areas. Instead you'll find
rugged, windswept barrier islands, Colonial villages once frequented by pirates, and laid-
back beach towns full of locally owned ice-cream shops and mom 'n' pop motels. Even
the most touristy beaches have a small-town vibe.
If it's solitude you seek, head to the isolated Outer Banks (OBX), where fishermen still
make their living hauling in shrimp and the older locals speak in an archaic British-
tinged brogue. The Hwy 158 bypass from Kitty Hawk to Nags Head gets congested in
summer, but the beaches themselves still feel uncrowded. Further south, Wilmington is
known as a center of film and TV production, and its surrounding beaches are popular
with local spring breakers and tourists.
