I envy your trip! But I want to warn you of a couple of things. It may sound like I am giving negative info but I am trying to warn you about some aspects of the places you mentioned just so you wont think all of us are crazy if it doesn't live up to your expectations. Driving down the outer banks is something I think everyone must do at least once in their lives but it isn't always the most scenic - some areas are nothing but mega beach homes blocking all the view and for the most part the dunes block the view of the ocean so don't expect to see a lot of waves (the sound side is usually visable but it looks more like a big lake than the ocean). If you want to get out of the car and hike over the dunes to walk on the beach be aware that the beach grass areas are usually full of stickers or sand burrs - I am often reduced to carrying my 60 lbs dog up and over so that the trip doesn't take so long with the constant stopping to pick burrs out of her pads. For the most part the beaches are empty. Most people go to the outer banks to deep sea fish. There isn't a lot of shade either. I love to go out there but prefer to go in the winter so that if I have to leave the dog in the car she doesn't overheat. Ocracoke Island is quaint but since the streets aren't marked it can be difficult to find your way around. The photos always show it from an elevated view - they must have been in a plane to take that picture because the island itself is flat. The lighthouse there is tiny but charming. The grassy areas at the beach campground are full of burrs and difficult to walk around in. Walking a dog through town can be difficult because many residents let their dogs run free. (is there a theme here???) My biggest complaint about Charleston is the plantations. I love touring them. But you don't get to wander around inside the houses by yourself, you are escorted by an interpreter. I understand why, but I am not interested in Civil War history and that is all they seem to think is relevant. I remember one plantation had ancient natural history books and writings by John James Audubon (he had stayed there for years to paint). I could have spent the entire weekend looking at those display cases but in that section of the house we were rushed by to see more war significant features. No matter how many times I asked about the natural history stuff I got nowhere. Civil war and only civil war history, it is apparently the only thing that matters. They also seem to want everyone to eat at the same restaurants downtown where I found the food kinda ordinary. But just on the outside edge of downtown at smaller places the food is unique and reasonably priced (and the people actually seemed to be from the area). Many of the spots you mentioned are indeed special but most of the roadways connecting them are kinda "not". Be prepared.

Many of us who live in northern California feel that the southern California water districts do NOT take water allocations seriously AT ALL. Golf courses are so special. Hotels/motels are so special. Etc. I live in the East Bay Municipal Utilities District coverage area. Drought restrictions were imposed on us in, I think, May, and were predicated on "the most recent 3 years of usage at your address." Oh, boy: MUCH public resentment, because many people in Berkeley, Oakland, Albany, El Cerrito, Kensington and other nearby spots were already conserving out of general principles, and we were clearly being put into an untenable spot due to our previous environmental awareness and water conservation. After this rather heated feedback, EBMUD then allowed for special petitions AND stated that the 19% required reduction would NOT be obligatory for those customers whose household usage was less than 100 gallons per day (gpd). Then it came out in a local paper that 25% (wow...) of the EBMUD residential (single-family houses) customers in the towns/cities listed above were 100 gpd or less users! Wow! We were already helping out quite a bit! But the real uproar has come from the folks east of the Oakland Hills, whose climate zone is warmer AND drier than ours, who have very lush lawns. One man whose comments I read on a local newspaper's website was downright snotty about his lawn and his swimming pool and washing his cars, etc. Let me say: California is a natural desert from March through November. Lawns are NOT natural around here; they require way too much water and upkeep. Swimming pools??!!?! When I walk my dogs around my block, only one house on my side of the block has a lawn, and only two on the other street have lawns. And our lots are 50' x 100' here; the lots on the other side of the hills are much larger. Clearly, there's no room around here for swimming pools (and no water, either)! So there *are* some here who are operating under fairly stringent water-use guidelines. in el cerrito Here is a link that might be useful: EBMUD Drought Restrictions FAQ & links

Thanks, Spazzycat - it was worth a try and so far, I'm getting very good feedback on said kennel from other sources. Zig was a pound puppy, so this is my first time out 'buying' a friend, and I'm enlisting all the help I can get. My condolences about your kitty, but 21 is a nice ripe, old age - hope he just expired in his sleep and didn't have to undergo heavy medical stuff. I lost Zig to a rare blood cell cancer - we conservatively fought it for nearly three years, beating the odds by a mile, and she never had a bad day. I know beagles are great - Zig sure filled my bill for 13 years. As for the 'funniest bark' - well, that's the beagle bay, very handy and a true benchmark when treeing a coon or chasing down a rabbit ! My Ziggy never did do the beagle bay - I think she ran away from home before she learned it - but, what she did do was the most blood curdling screach/scream you have ever heard! More than once I had to literally pick her up and remove her from the Greenway mid-walk - people were looking at us really funny and, to be honest, she was embarrassing ..... in an endearing sort of way. So, there will be a new pup in my gardens sooner than later and I'll probably be back here begging for advice. Thanks for listening. :o)

Get serious..When you post "Moving to NC,but where???" are we to presume you are retired,independently wealthy,empty-nesters with pristine credit(mtgs are stricter now) and are Baptists who have a wild taste for any kinds of foods. Most people have to find a job. Have kids and care about their schooling. They want to make the transition in moving as smooth as possible. Site yourself here in a little burg and prepare yourself to find none of the foods and brands you are accustomed to. The bigger cities have had nearly 30 years of people transferring in so that their stores stock other than Southern brands. Of course, anyone coming from NYC/Long Island will be accustomed to higher taxes than what NC/SC charge. Comparatively, the highest tax areas in NC are still way below what people pay in the North. Up north, those higher taxes are paying for older infrastructure,denser population/more crime, schools that pay a higher wage to teachers etc. If you situate yourself in an area close to where there are the most jobs for your skill sets then you will be happier. Even the biggest cities have outer ring towns and counties that are more affordable. Beach/mountain should be your last consideration if you need to find a job here and get your kids into a halfway decent school (don't get me started on that). If you really like gardening and like the ease of planting in the sandy loam of Long Island you're going to face a chore of amending most soils you get here unless you've bought the house of a gardener. It's a lot more complex a process when you seek to move to an entirely different region of the country. Granted, this is a great region. I'd sooner go from there to here than here to there but where you locate depends on a lot more than its proximity to the beach/mountains.