We've all seen the incredible pictures of our Carolina coast with turquoise clear blue Caribbean like water only to find dreary dule looking water when we get to the beach unless you're extremely lucky. I'd like to know under what conditions does the clear Emerald blue water appear at our Coast. In my 40 years living in North Carolina I've seen it less than a dozen times but when I did it's truly spectacular. So Jeremy when do I need to head to the coast again see the spectacular clear blue water.
T. Edward Nickens, whose writing I always love, has a poetical answer to the inverse of that question (what is the color of the Carolina Ocean during a storm?) in a recent Our State column:
I mean, it’s the most Nicholas Sparks-iest place in North Carolina, cause he lives there. Really pretty, quiet, has a thing for bears (because of the name). It’s like Edenton but with stuff to do. But in my opinion, you just have to be prepared to drive to Greenville for *specific* stuff. That’s true for any small town in eastern NC though. But it’s great! I’ve been there and keep meaning to go back.
Did you know the Jackie Robinson of golf is from Charlotte? Charlie Sifford was the first Black member of the PGA tour. Shocked we don't highlight this more here and I'm not even a golf guy.
Maybe more questions to come as I noodle on things for a bit.
Got another one for you (mine will be almost all Charlotte related). Charlotte has a neighborhood (once upon a time it was a township) called Paw Creek. As the name implies, there's a creek there. My question is, was this so named because paw paws grew along that creek? I doubt they do today, but would be fun to find out.
Do you envision a day when the Charlotte/Triad/Triangle metroplexes all merge to create one giant traffic jam along I-85 and I-40 from the SC state line to I-95? Charlotte is now dangerously close to Salisbury, the Triad seems to pick up from Lexington and hands off to the Triangle at Mebane. Talk about your urban sprawl!
My conspiracy theory is that the Triad is getting all sorts of new highways lately because eventually we’ll be in the dead center of the Raleigh-Charlotte metroplex, and people will just commute into those cities from Greensboro.
The spaghetti network of interstates in the Triad seemed to blossom overnight...Waze STILL tries to route me on 85 Business instead of the bypass when going to/from the Triangle. I can't think of a better city to serve as the hub of the Charborohamleigh googolplex. Except maybe Kernersville...
basically people in the office know to ask me stuff about North Carolina, especially if they’re planning a trip somewhere. I did do a North Carolina trivia game in a meeting the other day!
Jack Cobb's BBQ in Farmville had scientifically unique hushpuppies: huge and crispy but not greasy at all! How do web get their recipe? I have eaten a lot of hushpuppies and have never found anything like the ones there.
RIP Jack Cobb's! Don't know the recipe, it came from Rudy Cobb's stepmother. From Rudy's interview with the Southern Foodways Alliance: "Now that I don’t know where—I guess she tried and came up with the—you know, she kept mixing and mixing and she tried and she came up with the taste and she said, 'This is the one.' So like trial and error I guess." https://www.southernfoodways.org/interview/jack-cobb-and-son-barbecue-place/
My wife and I enjoy taking day trips to explore all that our great state has to offer. What is a little-known place, or thing to do, that you think all North Carolinians should check out at least once? You do such a great job of describing out-of-the-way places, I'd love to know which one you feel like everyone needs to visit in person!
It’s hard to pick one, but generally you can’t go wrong with either: A big city’s signature park, or a small county seat-adjacent downtown. Still love Freedom Park in Charlotte, LeBauer in Greensboro, Bailey Park in Winston, the Riverwalk in Wilmington. Also have had great success by veering off the highway in places like Morganton, Salisbury, Burlington, Wilson, Sylva, Kinston, and Columbia. The trick is to make these low-stakes quick excursions close to wherever you were already going. If you show up and it sucks, you can keep going. If you like it, you can stay or remember to go back.
I mean, “town” is probably a loose term. There was stuff there (a school, a church), and it all sat at the point where Buffalo Creek dumped into the Broad River. But old maps that I’ve seen don’t say “Buffalo” on them at that spot, “Buffalo, North Carolina” doesn’t show up in old newspapers, and it wasn’t, like, an incorporated town with a mayor and stuff. But there was definitely a community down there. This is probably the best writeup I’ve seen on it: https://hickorynutgorgehikes.wordpress.com/town-of-buffalo/
Is the Pamlico Beach area of North Carolina sinking?
I’ve read about Tidewater Virginia and our northeastern coast having issues with subsidence and rising sea level, but Pamlico Beach is only 10 or so miles from NC’s first town(e), Bath. Is it too about to sink below the waters of the Pamlico River?
I mean, it's sinking by millimeters per year, so it's not going to fall into the sea in a few months. But most parts of the coastline and coastal plain are subsiding in the United States. Combine that with rising seas, and more and more areas are going to be at risk of flooding over the next few decades. This is all from a study published in Nature, which you can see here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07038-3
The elevator pitch is that you can explore the state AND live here. Some states are livable and boring. Some are amazing but expensive. North Carolina has what you want and what you need.
You seem to have lots of adventures all over North Carolina. How does your family (wife? children?) take it when you go galavanting?
It also seems that sometimes your adventures take an unknown period of time (kayaking?). Does your family understand that your whereabouts and return time are often indeterminate?
Well, my family gets pretty advanced warning of trips. When I was at Our State, I knew I had to travel for stories, but I could schedule them with enough of a heads up to avoid any big family disruptions. (My time in local television did NOT work like that!). My eight day kayaking trip was definitely planned in advance. The only time at OS when I had to run out of the door for a story was when I followed some hikers who were crossing the state on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. I got a call on my son's birthday that one hiker was finishing MUCH earlier than I'd thought. So I waited until we'd celebrated and he'd gone to bed, then I got in the car and drove to the Outer Banks and got there after midnight and found a hotel.
I'll say that doing all of that travel back then gave me a pretty good base of knowledge and a lot of contacts, so when I see or hear something now I don't always have to get in the car and go, which I'm thankful for since this isn't part of my full time job. I do have some plans in the works to get out on some reporting trips again, and my family and I do travel around the state a decent amount anyhow, but I don't gallivant around as much as I try to plan out trips that make sense for the stories that I tell.
We've all seen the incredible pictures of our Carolina coast with turquoise clear blue Caribbean like water only to find dreary dule looking water when we get to the beach unless you're extremely lucky. I'd like to know under what conditions does the clear Emerald blue water appear at our Coast. In my 40 years living in North Carolina I've seen it less than a dozen times but when I did it's truly spectacular. So Jeremy when do I need to head to the coast again see the spectacular clear blue water.
Well, my friend Chat never ceases to amaze me. It a bit convoluted but here is the answer. https://chatgpt.com/share/68556836-91c8-800c-865d-9bd812a6e42d
I have also wondered this (which is my way of saying that I don’t have an answer now).
T. Edward Nickens, whose writing I always love, has a poetical answer to the inverse of that question (what is the color of the Carolina Ocean during a storm?) in a recent Our State column:
https://www.ourstate.com/local-color/
Can you confirm that LL Cool J lived in the Piper Glen neighborhood in Charlotte back in the late 80s/early 90s?
Yes. Per property records, he owned a home there with his wife from October 1996 until June 1999.
This is a GREAT AMA question.
Is new Bern sneakily the best city in North Carolina?
I mean, it’s the most Nicholas Sparks-iest place in North Carolina, cause he lives there. Really pretty, quiet, has a thing for bears (because of the name). It’s like Edenton but with stuff to do. But in my opinion, you just have to be prepared to drive to Greenville for *specific* stuff. That’s true for any small town in eastern NC though. But it’s great! I’ve been there and keep meaning to go back.
Did you know the Jackie Robinson of golf is from Charlotte? Charlie Sifford was the first Black member of the PGA tour. Shocked we don't highlight this more here and I'm not even a golf guy.
Maybe more questions to come as I noodle on things for a bit.
I did! He figures prominently in this just released video on the Greensboro Six: https://youtu.be/X3KqDFWhOgQ?si=T0xih5QnYw8oB-kh
Got another one for you (mine will be almost all Charlotte related). Charlotte has a neighborhood (once upon a time it was a township) called Paw Creek. As the name implies, there's a creek there. My question is, was this so named because paw paws grew along that creek? I doubt they do today, but would be fun to find out.
Per the Charlotte News in 1914: It was named for a Catawba tribal chief named Pau. A local tribal group got mad when they tried to rename a railway station there from Paw Creek to Thrift. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-charlotte-news-paw-creek-naming-hist/3167503/
Do you envision a day when the Charlotte/Triad/Triangle metroplexes all merge to create one giant traffic jam along I-85 and I-40 from the SC state line to I-95? Charlotte is now dangerously close to Salisbury, the Triad seems to pick up from Lexington and hands off to the Triangle at Mebane. Talk about your urban sprawl!
My conspiracy theory is that the Triad is getting all sorts of new highways lately because eventually we’ll be in the dead center of the Raleigh-Charlotte metroplex, and people will just commute into those cities from Greensboro.
The spaghetti network of interstates in the Triad seemed to blossom overnight...Waze STILL tries to route me on 85 Business instead of the bypass when going to/from the Triangle. I can't think of a better city to serve as the hub of the Charborohamleigh googolplex. Except maybe Kernersville...
The folks up here wanted to build a Major League Baseball stadium on the east side of Kernersville! https://www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/local/mlb-in-nc-it-struck-out-19-years-ago/83-455758206
They have been written about before, but I feel that you could put a unique Rabbit Hole spin on the Ang twins. https://www.surryarts.org/siamesetwins/
!
How have you been able to incorporate what you do with the Rabbit Hole in your job at Wake Forest?
basically people in the office know to ask me stuff about North Carolina, especially if they’re planning a trip somewhere. I did do a North Carolina trivia game in a meeting the other day!
Jack Cobb's BBQ in Farmville had scientifically unique hushpuppies: huge and crispy but not greasy at all! How do web get their recipe? I have eaten a lot of hushpuppies and have never found anything like the ones there.
RIP Jack Cobb's! Don't know the recipe, it came from Rudy Cobb's stepmother. From Rudy's interview with the Southern Foodways Alliance: "Now that I don’t know where—I guess she tried and came up with the—you know, she kept mixing and mixing and she tried and she came up with the taste and she said, 'This is the one.' So like trial and error I guess." https://www.southernfoodways.org/interview/jack-cobb-and-son-barbecue-place/
That is a brilliant interview, thank you. Would love to know whether heirloom pasture-raised hogs produce that smell and taste he refers to.
My wife and I enjoy taking day trips to explore all that our great state has to offer. What is a little-known place, or thing to do, that you think all North Carolinians should check out at least once? You do such a great job of describing out-of-the-way places, I'd love to know which one you feel like everyone needs to visit in person!
It’s hard to pick one, but generally you can’t go wrong with either: A big city’s signature park, or a small county seat-adjacent downtown. Still love Freedom Park in Charlotte, LeBauer in Greensboro, Bailey Park in Winston, the Riverwalk in Wilmington. Also have had great success by veering off the highway in places like Morganton, Salisbury, Burlington, Wilson, Sylva, Kinston, and Columbia. The trick is to make these low-stakes quick excursions close to wherever you were already going. If you show up and it sucks, you can keep going. If you like it, you can stay or remember to go back.
Maybe answered in the past, but what is the background with creating this commercial from the 80’s and why Greensboro?
https://www.instagram.com/p/DHtbNfbg0At/?igsh=MWU1b2x4YTdhOGwzcg==
You did ask this before! It’s on my list, which I have misplaced.
Sounds good. Sorry to ask again. No pressure! 😉
You’re good Kelly!
I think you must know the factual answer to this…. Was there really a town called Buffalo under what is today the actual lake in Lake Lure?
I mean, “town” is probably a loose term. There was stuff there (a school, a church), and it all sat at the point where Buffalo Creek dumped into the Broad River. But old maps that I’ve seen don’t say “Buffalo” on them at that spot, “Buffalo, North Carolina” doesn’t show up in old newspapers, and it wasn’t, like, an incorporated town with a mayor and stuff. But there was definitely a community down there. This is probably the best writeup I’ve seen on it: https://hickorynutgorgehikes.wordpress.com/town-of-buffalo/
Is the Pamlico Beach area of North Carolina sinking?
I’ve read about Tidewater Virginia and our northeastern coast having issues with subsidence and rising sea level, but Pamlico Beach is only 10 or so miles from NC’s first town(e), Bath. Is it too about to sink below the waters of the Pamlico River?
I mean, it's sinking by millimeters per year, so it's not going to fall into the sea in a few months. But most parts of the coastline and coastal plain are subsiding in the United States. Combine that with rising seas, and more and more areas are going to be at risk of flooding over the next few decades. This is all from a study published in Nature, which you can see here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07038-3
My mom just forwarded me this Facebook post about a very unique brand of potato chips from 1930s Dunn. Feels like there's more to this story and man than just potato chips... https://www.facebook.com/100069536050770/posts/1007374808257045/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v
I’m on it
what would be your elevator pitch to entice someone who's never been to NC to come visit
The elevator pitch is that you can explore the state AND live here. Some states are livable and boring. Some are amazing but expensive. North Carolina has what you want and what you need.
First, thank you for bringing Biscuits N’ Porn into my life. 10/10. The cheese biscuit is no lie.
Second, the question - what are your preferred biscuit locations? Always looking for new ones to try when I visit.
If I were you, I’d read this Travis Fain story from The Assembly: https://www.theassemblync.com/culture/food/cheese-biscuit-eastern-nc/
Jeremy,
You seem to have lots of adventures all over North Carolina. How does your family (wife? children?) take it when you go galavanting?
It also seems that sometimes your adventures take an unknown period of time (kayaking?). Does your family understand that your whereabouts and return time are often indeterminate?
Well, my family gets pretty advanced warning of trips. When I was at Our State, I knew I had to travel for stories, but I could schedule them with enough of a heads up to avoid any big family disruptions. (My time in local television did NOT work like that!). My eight day kayaking trip was definitely planned in advance. The only time at OS when I had to run out of the door for a story was when I followed some hikers who were crossing the state on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. I got a call on my son's birthday that one hiker was finishing MUCH earlier than I'd thought. So I waited until we'd celebrated and he'd gone to bed, then I got in the car and drove to the Outer Banks and got there after midnight and found a hotel.
I'll say that doing all of that travel back then gave me a pretty good base of knowledge and a lot of contacts, so when I see or hear something now I don't always have to get in the car and go, which I'm thankful for since this isn't part of my full time job. I do have some plans in the works to get out on some reporting trips again, and my family and I do travel around the state a decent amount anyhow, but I don't gallivant around as much as I try to plan out trips that make sense for the stories that I tell.