Despite our state’s backward-thinking legislature, piss-poor education system, and largely unhealthy residents, North Carolina is truly a state that has it all. From a one-of-a-kind strip of beaches to some of the oldest mountains on Earth, road tripping across this historic state will leave you in awe from sunrise to sunset.You may think you know all that North Carolina has to offer, but you might be wrong. Here is a list of things you probably didn't know about the Old North State.
1. Babe Ruth hit his first professional home run in Fayetteville on March 7, 1914.
2. The Biltmore Estate in Asheville is America's largest home.
3. With over 77,000 miles of roads, North Carolina has the nation’s largest state-maintained highway system.
3. With over 77,000 miles of roads, North Carolina has the nation’s largest state-maintained highway system.
4. North Carolina was the first state to establish a State Museum of Art, as well as a State Symphony.
5. North Carolina leads the nation in furniture, tobacco, brick, and textile production, with High Point being known as the “Furniture Capital of the World.”
6. Krispy Kreme Doughnuts was founded in Winston-Salem.
7. Whitewater Falls in Transylvania County is the highest waterfall in the eastern United States.
8. In 1999, the Cape Hatteras lighthouse became the largest lighthouse ever to be moved. Due to erosion, it had to be moved 2,900 feet to safer ground after the ocean’s edge had crept to within 15 feet of the lighthouses’ base.
9. The University of North Carolina's mascot, the "Tar Heels", is a nickname for North Carolinians that supposedly came from the days when NC produced a lot of tar, and someone saw a set of footprints made by someone who had stepped in the tar.
10. North Carolina is the largest producer of sweet potatoes in the nation. The sweet potato is also the state vegetable thanks to petitioning by a group of students at a Wilson County School.
11. The World War II battleship 'North Carolina' is permanently berthed on the Cape Fear River at Wilmington. She was saved from the scrap heap in the 1960's by public subscription, including donations of dimes by schoolchildren.
12. The first English colony in America was located on Roanoke Island. Walter Raleigh founded it. The colony mysteriously vanished without a trace except for the word "Croatoan" scrawled on a nearby tree. Roanoke was then a part of North Carolina.
13. Mount Mitchell in the Blue Ridge Mountains is the highest peak east of the Mississippi. It towers 6,684 feet above sea level.
14. The first miniature golf course was built in Fayetteville.
15. Fontana Dam is the tallest dam in the Eastern United States, at 480 feet high.
16. Grandfather Mountain, the highest peak in the Blue Ridge, is the only private park in the world designated by the United Nations as an International Biosphere Reserve.
17. Pepsi was invented and first served in New Bern in 1898.
17. Pepsi was invented and first served in New Bern in 1898.
18. Beech Mountain is Eastern America's highest town at 5,506 feet above sea level.
19. Cherry Point in Havelock is the largest air base in the Marine Corps, and Fort Bragg in Fayetteville is the nation’s largest military base.
Who knew North Carolina had so much to offer?
