Central North Carolina is flat and boring. Eastern NC leans blue due to NE libs moving into the Raleigh and surrounding cities.
Instead, we bought 1.67 acres of lake-front property in SouthPointe, a private community, on a cul-de-sac on Lake James. Five years later we built a 4,000 sf house, gazebo, and dock. Since the Lake is fed by a river and two streams from the Blue Ridge mountains, it is one of the cleanest lakes in the country.
View from our deck.
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View from the water:
As for firearms, fill out a form, take a test, shoot a box of ammo at a target, and a month later you'll have a concealed carry weapons permit. With a CCW, you can legally buy as much as you want and walk out the door the same day.