Whether you are a veteran who prefers the beach, the mountains, winter activities, amusement parks, or history, North Carolina is a great place to find all of these!
North Carolina beaches are very popular places to visit. If you are looking for more of a “family beach,” Topsail Island and Surf City are great places to start—they have nice places to dine with the family! The Wrightsville beach is the best option if you are looking for entertainment and shopping, while still have access to the beach. What if you like culture and history ?! Do it along the North Carolina’s Outer Banks that stretch 130miles, where you can find lighthouses and all sorts of adventures. The Outer Banks have drawn explorers for over 400 years where the first manned flight at Kitty Hawk took place and where colonist have disappeared on Roanoke Island.
Let’s move along to the beautiful mountains of North Carolina for those who love hiking, camping, fishing, horseback riding, and enjoying the outdoors. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is perfect for this, where 800 square miles have been preserved since 1934, with 700 miles of it having beautiful streams and rivers, 800 miles of trail to hike, and 2,000 acres of forest with plants and animals. It has been chosen as an international biosphere reserve and seen as the most biologically assorted spot on earth. Other mountainous places to experience are the Southern Mountains where you can have fun rafting the whitewater rapids or skiing during the winter; the Blue Ridge Mountains where about 20 million visitors come each year—it is the biggest attraction for the National Park Services; High Country and the Northern Mountains with more skiing and unique places to shop; the 88 miles of the Appalachian Trail; and finally, the Asheville and Central Mountains, which are known for their arts, history, and culture in the towns of Brevard, Flat Rock, and Hendersonville. Discover here the prehistoric forests and magnificent waterfalls!
As mentioned previously, North Carolina has numerous fun things to do during the winter months! It has the highest ski areas and biggest tubing resort in the eastern United States, as well as sledding parks, ice skating, and frozen waterfall climbing. The Hawksnest Snow Tubing and Zipline Course has the longest zip line in the country, which is 1.5 miles!
Other must-see attractions are the King Dominion amusement park, Wilmington’s USS Battleships, North Carolina Arboretum, Pack Place Education, Arts, & Science Center, Cherokee Heritage Center and Museum of the Cherokee Indian, the Folk Art Center, and the Flat Rock Playhouse: State Theatre of North Carolina.
If you are a veteran that loves the mountains, coast lines, museums, entertainment, winter sports, culture and history, or whatever it may be, you can find it all right in North Carolina making it the perfect place to buy a home using a North Carolina VA loan!