Nothin' Could Be Finer

Today is my last day of work for the week because I'm headed (sort of) on vacation to North Carolina. One of my cousins is getting married this weekend, so my parents, who have been here for nearly a week, and I are headed to North Carolina to attend. (On the way we're stopping in Chapel Hill to see the 2005 NCAA Championship Trophy...GO HEELS.) My mom grew up in North Carolina, so I've long been a fan of the state and all that comes with it. I didn't grow up there and I tend to appreciate the views of different states from people who are outsiders. It's more real and less biased. I love that no matter where you are in the state you are 4 hours from either the beach or the mountains.

A couple of years ago, a series of books were published called 24/7. They started with America 24/7, which was a coffee table style photograph anthology for the US. Then they moved on to individual states. In the opening of the book, there's a little script on the state that talks about all the great things it has to offer. North Carolina's intro is by far my favorite one...notes in italic brackets are my thoughts:

Bluegrass and Sweet Tea
by Tommy Tomlinson

Let's start out with this: We've got the best barbeque. Don't come in here with your beef ribs or your brisket. Slow-cooked pork from towns like Lexington and Shelby is what they serve in heaven's buffet line [Gary's BBQ in China Grove, NC is the best]. And Winston-Salem is where they invented Krispy Kreme [THANK GOD].
So you won't go hungry [no way, no how].
If you want a day from nature's top-10 list, take the Outer Banks [northeast of Wilmington where Dawson's Creek and other WB series were/are filmed] ferry out to Ocracoke Island and watch the sun come up over the Atlantic. Then loll on the beach, take a long nap, catch a few fish, walk across the island--it takes about two minutes [seriously]--and watch the sunset on Pamlico Sound.
Your money is probably already here, in the Bank of America and Wachovia towers in Charlotte, or in one of the other big banks across the state. Don't worry: Jimmy the night guard is watching the vault.
We don't really like to talk (Michael Jordan) about our homegrown celebrities, but (Billy Graham) it's easy to (John Coltrane) look them up (Andy Griffith) yourself. [The Andy Griffith show is based on a real place called Mount Airy which is actually near Pilot Mountain.]
As far as world-altering events go, we'll see whatever you got and raise you the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk. Maybe nothing else that changed mankind so much was over so soon; that first flight lasted just 12 seconds, not even long enough for Orville to open the complimentary bag of pretzels.
But enough of all that. I've got a sack of stories, like how the North Carolina Tarheels got their nickname [Nickname Story], or why the state's two most beloved figures are race-car driver Richard Petty and pro wrestler Ric Flair [I met him once in an airport]...
...Our state has a lot to be proud of right now. We have two of the most impressive second-place finishers in recent memory: Clay Aiken and the Carolina Panthers [ok this one I'm not so impressed with...but still]. U-hauls roll across our borders every day with people coming for the jobs or the climate or just a good glass of sweet tea. There are so many folks who moved from up North to Florida, then turned around and ended up here, that we gave them a name: halfbacks.
But those are temporary things. Here is the enduring North Carolina: the view from a lookout on the Blue Ridge Parkway [by far my favorite part of the whole state], the eastern cornfields bending in the breeze, a bluegrass band tuning up at dusk.
No state has ever looked better in slow motion...
...North Carolina will be here when you're [ready].

See you next week..........