We still love you, N.C.

The Old North State has been taking a serious beating of late thanks to HB2 and its fallout. Whether you are for or against the bill, it's hard to argue against this: it's been a public relations AND a financial nightmare for North Carolina. It may take a while to recover.

One positive (if you can call it that) that has come out of this is the level of praise for the state and for its people that has come from different corners of the world. For instance, musician Henry Rollins wrote this:

"It is almost impossible to describe how beautiful North Carolina is. For a few summers, I was shipped off there to live in a tent at a summer camp. Each day, we were given chores. Milking cows, feeding chickens, getting beetles off the vegetables. Since the late 1960s, I have always had an affection for N.C."

So as our state continues to take a beating, here is a simple stream of consciousness list of the things that are good and beautiful about the "Vale of Humility." Feel free to add to this list. There's no way to accurately capture all the superlatives. But, by God, I'm willing to try.  #westillloveNC

• Barbecue
• Blue Ridge Mountains
• Blue Ridge parkway
• Outer Banks
• Crystal Coast
• Char-Grill
• Asheville
• Avett Brothers
• The Connells
• Red clay
• Red Clay Ramblers
• Cheerwine
• Pepsi
• Grandfather Mountain
• Tweetsie Railroad
• Wine
• Craft beer
• Furniture
• Sherry's Bakery in Dunn
  
• Our colleges and universities (public and private)
• Our teachers
• Cape Hatteras
• Our State magazine
• Big city downtowns and small town Main Streets
• The suburbs, too!
• Sugar Mountain
• Music festivals
• Waterfalls
• Grey squirrels
• White squirrels
• Cardinals
• Venus fly trap
• The Lost Colony
  
• The Greensboro Four
• College basketball
• Carolina Hurricanes
• Charlotte Hornets
• Carolina Panthers
• Golf courses
• Blowing Rock
• Tim McLaurin
• Lee Smith
• James Taylor
• Biltmore Estate
• Grove Park Inn
• Wilmington
• Bald Head Island
• N.C. Zoo
• Pine trees
• Dogwoods
• Lake Lure
• New Bern
• Bath
• Blackbeard
• Angus Barn
  
• Carowinds
• Chimney Rock
• Fairy crosses
• Emeralds
• Brown Mountain Lights
• Chatham County Line
• Ocracoke
• Andy Griffith
• Mount Airy
• Link Wray
• Carl Sandburg
• Michael Jordan
• Ava Gardner
• Cape Lookout
• Krispy Kreme
• David Thompson
  
• Halifax Resolves
• Bojangles
• Red wolves
• Durham Bulls
• Mount Mitchell

#westillloveNC