Devilish N.C.

We are on the cusp of another Halloween! Which means it's time to think about all the creepy places that exist! Or at least their names SOUND creepy. And as we've talked about in the past, North Carolina has its share of those!

Now, the Daily Yonder has put together a pretty comprehensive list of "Satanic" place names ... and North Cackalacky made the list. 

To wit:

"Seven islands in Maine, Wisconsin, Alaska, Montana, and Iowa contain the word 'Devil.' Twenty-two of these devilish places are towns, from Devil Town, Ohio, to Seven Devils, North Carolina."

Other N.C. places include "Devil's Gut," "Devil's Elbow," "Hell Swamp," and so much more. 

Enjoy browsing the evil names!

Forgotten favorite restaurants

We were reminiscing the other day about days of old and how my mother's side of the family would routinely do a big Christmas dinner at Fussell's restaurant in Clinton. 

Oh, those were joyous times. Those fancy dinners took place at the "steakhouse" side of Fussell's. And you better believe there was a salad bar! There was a diner side of the place, too; legend was my grandfather ate lunch their roughly every day. 

Sadly, neither Fussell's is still around. But that got me wondering about other long lost (but definitely not forgotten) restaurants across the Old North State?

No more Pedro?

According to Raleigh Mag's Instagram, South of the Border's days may be numbered. 

I distinctly remember as a kid getting so excited as we would drive I-95 and get closer to the amusement park/shopping center/truck stop/outlet mall. I was BUMMED when my parents told me it was in SOUTH Carolina, not North. (I'm since come to terms with that.)

Conflicted on this .... always hate seeing anything go out of business - especially something that has been so iconic for so many years. But at the same time, I personally haven't stopped there in probably 20 years. (So that probably makes me part of the problem!)

Best of luck, Pedro. You are right: I never "sausage" a place.

'Wait --- what's the name of that school again?'

Recently, while attending my daughter’s high school cross country meet (Go Caps!), I was struck by the name of one of the competing schools. It’s a school I’ve heard of many times before, but never really thought about the name:

 

First Flight.

 

How badass is that?

 

In case you don’t know, First Flight High School is based in Kill Devil Hills, the site of the Wright Brothers’ first successful manned flight. (Do our friends in Ohio have a First Flight High?)

 

That got me wondering about other “cool” high school names throughout North Carolina.

 

(Full disclosure: I went to Triton High in Harnett County, named for the three “towns” that came together to the school. Were we the Kraken, or the Tridents or even the Titans? Nope. Hawks.  Go figure. But I digress.)

 

So here is a very short and incomplete list of cool high school names. Now, unless it’s a super cool person, I’m not gonna include schools named for old white guys. (That may be a list for another day.)

 

So, in no particular order, are some of the cooler-sounding high school names in the Old North State. Which ones did I miss?

 

• Freedom, Morganton
• Croatan, Newport
• St. Stephens, Hickory
• Seaforth, Pittsboro
• Seventy-First, Fayetteville
• Manteo, Manteo
• Grimsley, Greensboro (mainly including because they have a unique mascot: The "Whirlies!")
• Twilight, Greensboro
• Midway, Spivey’s Corner
• Apex Friendship, Apex

N.C. is a summer road trip haven

For those of us who live here, it's really no surprise that North Carolina is a wonderful spot for summer road trips. But now others are taking notice.

According to WalletHub (don't ask), North Carolina is in the top 10 best states for summer road trips. The study calculated its findings based on three key factors:

• Costs
• Safety
• Activities

N.C. makes it into WalletHub's top 10 states for summer road trips at No. 9. The state receives an overall ranking of 57.41, ranking No. 15 in the country for costs, 35 for safety and 6 for best activities.

The Old North State can thank 62 scenic byways and favorable gas prices as a couple of reasons for the high ranking.

Here are the top 10 states for road trips, according to WalletHub:

• No. 1 - Minnesota
• No. 2 - New York
• No. 3 - Ohio
• No. 4 - Utah
• No. 5 - Louisiana
• No. 6 - Florida
• No. 7 - Idaho
• No. 8 - Texas
• No. 9 - North Carolina
• No. 10 - Pennsylvania

N.C.'s time to shine ... still

One of our favorite pastimes here is to gloat about the importance of North Carolina agriculture and "exports" during the holidays. It's hard to argue, after all. 

Think of your Thanksgiving and Christmas meals, and there's a very good chance a large part of it hails from our state. 

To wit:

1. N.C. ranks first in the nation in sweet potatoes/sweetpotatoes
2. We are second in turkey production
3. We rank third in pork production
4. We are also fourth in broilers (chickens)
5. When it comes to pecans, N.C. ranks fifth.

And though you can't eat them, Christmas tree production continues to be a major economic engine here, particularly in the western part of the state. North Carolina traditionally is among the top 2 states for trees. 

Speaking of ... if you can, by all means support WNC tree farmers this year and buy a real tree.  

Image courtesy of FeedtheDialogue.com

N.C. is "First in FRIGHT!"

We are big fans of the spooky and the creepy that North Carolina has to offer. (We've documented that many times through the years.) So you can imagine our excitement when we got an alert that there's a new resource from the good folks at Visit North Carolina called "First in Fright." And just in time for Halloween, too!

"From historic hauntings to unexplained mysteries, find out why these North Carolina destinations will haunt you in the best way."

The site offers spooky trails for the coast, piedmont and mountains -- and haunted places where you can spend the night -- IF YOU DARE!

Oh, and there's a podcast. 

Check it out. Even though it's fright-tastic, the site also offers a list of family-friendly events available all over the state.