THINGS I LEARNED GROWING UP IN NORTH CAROLINA

Vacation means spending a day in the mountains or on the coast.

Schools close if it's too cold.

Schools close if it's too hot.

Brown Liquor is a staple of Carolina Society.

South Carolina was dead weight well shed.

Tea is served sweet unless you specifically asked for unsweetened.

A small round sticker bearing just a number such as 42 or 3 on the back windshield of a car can inspire other drivers to give a friendly wave as they drive by... or a number such as 24 could provoke a less friendly gesture.

I remember watching the ACC Tournament on television at school.

My local newspaper covers state, national, and international headlines in one page, but sports require six pages.

Most men in my town consider the first day of deer season a national holiday.

Fifty degrees Fahrenheit is a little chilly.

The four seasons are almost summer, summer, still summer, and highway construction.

I can tell if another North Carolinian is from Eastern or Western North Carolina as soon as he opens his mouth.

BBQ is actually pronounced "bobbycue."

BBQ is just a little bit better east of Raleigh.

Schools and churches hold barbecue fundraisers with banana pudding as the dessert.

Krispy Kreme makes the best doughnuts!

I can spell words such as Ocracoke, Fuquay-Varina, and Chocowinity.

Folks with a few generations of North Carolina blood in their veins would rather eat at Bojangles's rather than McDonald's.

In the Piedmont, even the grown-ups go out and play in the snow.

I have actually uttered the phrase "It's too hot to go to the pool."

I know what tobacco looks like before it's made into cigarettes.

I know Pepsi originated in New Bern, and that Mountain Dew was invented in Fayetteville.

I know Coke taste better in the little bottles and that peanuts makes coke taste even better.

I know it is hard to find Sun Drop anywhere else.

I have an opinion about UNC. (I went there and loved it, or I hate everyone who did.)

I know folks who have taken trips to the mountains to look at leaves.

My friends skipped school to go to the State Fair in Raleigh.

My school took a field trip to the State Fair in Raleigh.

I know more about ACC basketball than professional basketball.

I know everyone claims to hate Senator Jesse Helms but somehow he has never lost an election.

The Carolina League is the greatest baseball league in the country.

There is a good chance that Richard Petty or Ric Flair could be elected governor if he ever ran.

Rubbin' is Racin'

Dale Earnhardt is the only man who ever lived who could go 200 mph, spin somebody out, flip them the bird, call them a you-know-what, and win the race all in the last lap.

Folks from other parts of the state have to buy gloves and winter coats if they go to college at Appalachian or Western Carolina.

I would hate to live anywhere else!

I'm Done, let's go Back Home