There’s a fairly seismic news event happening on Tuesday afternoon, one that has the potential to blot out the rest of the media landscape like an eclipse. Hence, it’s the perfect time for a good old fashioned news dump. You, the Rabbit Hole reader, can once again publicly utter something about this state that you don’t actually want anyone to know about, because people will almost certainly be paying attention to somehing else. So go ahead: Drop your unpopular opinion about North Carolina in the comments. Nobody will ever know.
The state is oriented wrong. It should be portrait, not landscape, to reduce travel time between mountains and ocean. Apart from that, I wouldn't change a thing.
Durham is not nearly as progressive as it pretends to be, and won't be until it stops letting Duke have outsized influence on the town. Or until you can ride a bike from one side to the other without risking your life the entire time.
-The platonic ideal barbecue plate is eastern-style whole hog with western-style sauce. (While we're here, calling western sauce "tomato-based" is pretty misleading; anywhere else in the country it would still be considered a vinegar-forward sauce.)
-The cardinal should not be the state bird. Sharing a state bird with one other state is cowardly; sharing the cardinal with six other states is unconscionable. My vote would be for the Pine Siskin but I'd entertain any reasonable option not already used by another state.
-State flag is terrible. Not original enough, and text on a flag is always a net negative. Scrap it and start from scratch.
1. The top date on the state flag needs to be changed to May 31, 1775. Yeah, yeah Mecklenburg Resolves isn't as snazzy a name as Meck Dec, but it's real and it's still the most radical of the colonial responses to Concord and Lexington. You don't have to say "I declare independence" to declare independence and the state should honor it.
2. The best barbecue sauce is a blend of tomato-based and vinegar-based sauces, and more barbecue places should offer it as a unified North Carolina sauce.
As much as I love eastern NC BBQ (whole hog, vinegar-pepper sauce) above all the pretenders, I just can't abide by some of the truly awful slaw being foisted on us at many eastern NC joints. Some is chopped so fine it may as well be slimy sand doused with vinegar. I'm probably going to get skewered for this but here I stand.
Hoping this is only more our area of the state. Love the folks here, but sooo much trash along the roads. One neighbor put up a trail cam to catch people throwing stuff out of their cars. Why do we not insist on the roads being maintained with painted lines we can actually see.
Bullet train from Charlotte to Raleigh would elevate the state, linking brain power from the states two largest metropolitan areas and fertilizing lord knows what kind of regional business and cultural creativity. Get behind it!
Too permissive with U-Turns. In Virginia, where I am from, they are rare. To take a U-Turn is a sign that something has gone horribly wrong. You do everything you can to avoid them, because the psychological implications are immense. When one takes a U-turn it's a time of reflection that one takes solemnly, with pangs of regret. "What led me to take this U-turn, and how can I avoid it in the future?" you ask yourself.
Down here we make them the only way to leave certain malls. For years I had to whisper to myself, "It's not your fault... it's not your fault."
PS: Also sometimes we have those weird street lights with two red lights at the top, one yellow light, and one green light. The red lights are always red at the same time, so they can easily be replaced by one red light. What's up with that?
The state treasurer’s office is or needs to take over more town /cities finances. Most small towns do not have the money or lack the skill to run their own services.
The places that make pretty pictures in brochures advertising NC are too expensive for your average North Carolinian to ever visit. Also, BBQ is BBQ--all good, no matter if it’s East or west.
The only thing worse than the city of Charlotte itself, are the self righteous original "Charlotteans" that think their special for being born here. B!t£h they recruited me, moved me and rewarded me to be here because this city has no talent.
We welcome people from other states to move to the great state of NC. I just wish they wouldn't bring habits and norms here that caused the place they moved from to be an undesirable place to live.
New to NC, and the “true” South - I’m from OK, which, contrary to the belief of most Okies, is actually the Southwest, but I digress... What is the deal with people calling you “Mr.” followed by your First Name? It’s infantile. Worse, if you have a first name that can be used as a last name, it’s just confusing as hell. Just stop. My name is Louis, not “Mr. Lewis.”
The two Carolinas were likely not legally separated properly. So there should probably be some kind of convention or conference to settle it, or else Charleston is still the capital
As a transplant who has lived in NC for 25 years, I still don’t get all the sweetness--sweet tea, sweetheart, sweet potatoes, Krispy Kreme, sweet potato pie . . . . NC cooking and NC culture are overcome with sweetness.
Time to dissolve the ACC and break up the "Big Four". Duke to the Big East, UNC to the SEC, NC State to the Big 12, and Wake Forest to a Group of 5 conference (AAC, Conference USA, Sun Belt).
North Carolina is not geographically in the South. People seem to think it's closer to Florida. You'll find this out the first time the temperature dips into the 30's.
Obviously, the folks who created the Mason Dixon line only knew politics and didn't know much about geography or the weather, not that they would back then.
I would never kid around about Gas-town. Ranlo, Lowell, Spencer Mountain - that’s fine to kid around about them. But not Gtown (the soon-to-be capital of the Tar Heel State).
Time to confess your unpopular opinions about North Carolina
The state is oriented wrong. It should be portrait, not landscape, to reduce travel time between mountains and ocean. Apart from that, I wouldn't change a thing.
Boiled peanuts are gross.
And kudzu is pretty when it’s not in my yard.
There is no passenger train service running from eastern NC to Asheville. And the traffic in and around urban areas—especially the Triangle sucks
Probably should mention here that there was an actual North Carolina news dump right in the middle of today's proceedings: https://www.axios.com/local/raleigh/2023/04/04/nc-democrat-flip-republican-legislative-supermajority
I'm pretty upset we nixed the permitting process for handguns. How can that be positive?
It is too hot in the summer and always has been
the outer banks are sorely overrated
Durham is not nearly as progressive as it pretends to be, and won't be until it stops letting Duke have outsized influence on the town. Or until you can ride a bike from one side to the other without risking your life the entire time.
-The platonic ideal barbecue plate is eastern-style whole hog with western-style sauce. (While we're here, calling western sauce "tomato-based" is pretty misleading; anywhere else in the country it would still be considered a vinegar-forward sauce.)
-The cardinal should not be the state bird. Sharing a state bird with one other state is cowardly; sharing the cardinal with six other states is unconscionable. My vote would be for the Pine Siskin but I'd entertain any reasonable option not already used by another state.
-State flag is terrible. Not original enough, and text on a flag is always a net negative. Scrap it and start from scratch.
It takes far too long to get from Wilmington to Kitty Hawk!
And we don't pay our teachers enough.
1. The top date on the state flag needs to be changed to May 31, 1775. Yeah, yeah Mecklenburg Resolves isn't as snazzy a name as Meck Dec, but it's real and it's still the most radical of the colonial responses to Concord and Lexington. You don't have to say "I declare independence" to declare independence and the state should honor it.
2. The best barbecue sauce is a blend of tomato-based and vinegar-based sauces, and more barbecue places should offer it as a unified North Carolina sauce.
As much as I love eastern NC BBQ (whole hog, vinegar-pepper sauce) above all the pretenders, I just can't abide by some of the truly awful slaw being foisted on us at many eastern NC joints. Some is chopped so fine it may as well be slimy sand doused with vinegar. I'm probably going to get skewered for this but here I stand.
People who have lived here for two months and now want to change everything about NC need to move
Hoping this is only more our area of the state. Love the folks here, but sooo much trash along the roads. One neighbor put up a trail cam to catch people throwing stuff out of their cars. Why do we not insist on the roads being maintained with painted lines we can actually see.
Whispers “sweet tea is maybe slightly overrated”, is immediately pulled into a fiery chasm in the earth by a million sweet little old grandma hands.
I don’t know how many more years I can do a real Christmas tree, Jeremy.
Brunswick stew is not good at all. Same for sweet tea.
Why are the people in eastern NC so obsessed with those weird ass bright red hot dogs? It makes me irrationally angry
Bullet train from Charlotte to Raleigh would elevate the state, linking brain power from the states two largest metropolitan areas and fertilizing lord knows what kind of regional business and cultural creativity. Get behind it!
Texas, Ohio and Florida plates should only be allowed access to the right hand lane of I-95 and I-77. No other lanes and no secondary roads.
State Bird - I nominate the "Mall Parking Lot Gull"
Too permissive with U-Turns. In Virginia, where I am from, they are rare. To take a U-Turn is a sign that something has gone horribly wrong. You do everything you can to avoid them, because the psychological implications are immense. When one takes a U-turn it's a time of reflection that one takes solemnly, with pangs of regret. "What led me to take this U-turn, and how can I avoid it in the future?" you ask yourself.
Down here we make them the only way to leave certain malls. For years I had to whisper to myself, "It's not your fault... it's not your fault."
PS: Also sometimes we have those weird street lights with two red lights at the top, one yellow light, and one green light. The red lights are always red at the same time, so they can easily be replaced by one red light. What's up with that?
1. Coke is better than Pepsi.
2. Sweet Tea is gross
3. Cookout food is only great because of the prices. The food is just "fine."
4. Although Eastern NC BBQ is easily the best, South Carolina mustard sauce is better than western NC.
5. Krispy Kreme is good but it's a bit overrated. There are a lot better donuts out there.
I don’t understand the Cheerwine thing at all. It’s a…fine soda.
The state treasurer’s office is or needs to take over more town /cities finances. Most small towns do not have the money or lack the skill to run their own services.
South Carolina BBQ is waaaaay better than any North Carolina BBQ.
Coke is exponentially better than Pepsi.
Also, the fact that Horneytown, NC and Climax, NC are only 30 minutes apart is not nearly as well known as it should be.
The places that make pretty pictures in brochures advertising NC are too expensive for your average North Carolinian to ever visit. Also, BBQ is BBQ--all good, no matter if it’s East or west.
1} Not a fan of Vinegar based Barbecue
2) I don't get "Beach Music", I like most of it, but there is a lot of "Soul Music Lite" that deservedly never were hits and ruins everything.
Best beach is Topsail.
Animal abuse and neglect should be a felony in our state and the law enforced.
The big cities have no real character or culture. It was all killed off over the years, scraped to the ground, and remanufactured by instagram.
Pimento cheese is gross
The Outer Banks are kind of boring, cost us too much money to maintain, and are too far away.
College sports aren't a substitute for pro sports.
Gastonia should be the state capital.
Don't tell anyone that there are actually more people living in NC than in NJ. I can't stand that!!
The only thing worse than the city of Charlotte itself, are the self righteous original "Charlotteans" that think their special for being born here. B!t£h they recruited me, moved me and rewarded me to be here because this city has no talent.
We welcome people from other states to move to the great state of NC. I just wish they wouldn't bring habits and norms here that caused the place they moved from to be an undesirable place to live.
New to NC, and the “true” South - I’m from OK, which, contrary to the belief of most Okies, is actually the Southwest, but I digress... What is the deal with people calling you “Mr.” followed by your First Name? It’s infantile. Worse, if you have a first name that can be used as a last name, it’s just confusing as hell. Just stop. My name is Louis, not “Mr. Lewis.”
Even Brian Bosworth wasn’t as overrated as Cookout
The mountains are pretty, the coast is pretty, but everything in between kinda sucks.
Also, I love pulled pork, but beef brisket is the best thing to barbecue
The two Carolinas were likely not legally separated properly. So there should probably be some kind of convention or conference to settle it, or else Charleston is still the capital
As a transplant who has lived in NC for 25 years, I still don’t get all the sweetness--sweet tea, sweetheart, sweet potatoes, Krispy Kreme, sweet potato pie . . . . NC cooking and NC culture are overcome with sweetness.
Time to dissolve the ACC and break up the "Big Four". Duke to the Big East, UNC to the SEC, NC State to the Big 12, and Wake Forest to a Group of 5 conference (AAC, Conference USA, Sun Belt).
North Carolina is not geographically in the South. People seem to think it's closer to Florida. You'll find this out the first time the temperature dips into the 30's.
Obviously, the folks who created the Mason Dixon line only knew politics and didn't know much about geography or the weather, not that they would back then.
Food Lion fried chicken is better than Bojangles.
I would never kid around about Gas-town. Ranlo, Lowell, Spencer Mountain - that’s fine to kid around about them. But not Gtown (the soon-to-be capital of the Tar Heel State).
Everyone in Charlotte thinks they are NASCAR drivers. What's up with that!