There must be another one somewhere because I read through that thread and found no mention of my two favoritesā¦Primantis in Pittsburgh, and those fries at Cedar Point!
Love grits (especially cheese grits) but they have to be made by someone who knows what theyāre doing. Itās hard to get the consistency just right.
Iām fairly new here to NC and I enjoy most of the local cuisine (never liked grits, tho). But WHAT is the deal w/ pimento cheese !!!???
Pimento cheese = crack SO good! But if you have texture sensitivities, I can see where it might throw you off - lots going on in that little tub of cheese!
Thatās the thread!
Itās tasty comfort food?
I was a member of the Look It Up Club when I was young. Also the Clean Plate Club, but I was better at the former than the latter.
Even better than pimento cheese is the South Carolina alternative Palmetto Cheese. Just like pimento cheese but no sugar so itās more savory and sooooo delicious. To be on topic - I will tie this to a place to live. South Carolina! My sister had a great house in Mt Pleasant, outside of Charleston. We liked it so much that we looked into moving there at one point, for a business opportunity. It didnāt work out, but I could be very happy there. Proximity to Charleston and the water, great food, good university system.
Mount Pleasant is a great place. We went there for lunch while staying in Charleston and ended up looking at houses which seem to have almost tripled in the last 6 years. It looked like a great place. Only downside were the high water lines where you could envision huge water damage from previous hurricanes. ( They were building differently when we were there). Most had their first floor up many stairs to accommodate the inevitable storms.
Before we learned that weād have a grandchild, after thinking for years that would never happen, H and I asked ourselves this question. We never could come up with an answer that we stuck with for more than a month. If not for GD, weād probably still be in our old house. Sorry thatās not much help.
At one point we considered the beach community where I once lived. Then I saw the flood prediction maps and realized that my parentās home could be underwater from a Cat 2 or 3 if it hit at high tide. A relativeās home thatās about a mile away flooded during a tropical storm. We crossed that off the list. I spent enough years packing and unpacking bug-out bags and bins of nonperishable food and water, wondering when weād have to make the call on whether or not to leave. The west coast and panhandle of FL arenāt safe from storms, either.
Next we thought about the inland city nearest āmyā beach town only to watch bridge approaches flooded out during the next hurricaneās close pass. The first floor of my late fatherās nursing home flooded, too. It seemed that every location we liked along the east coast suffered from flooding and storm damage while we were considering our options.
We looked at some areas in western NC, only to soon after hear about mudslides and flooding from heavy rains. H pointed out that I really dislike driving on winding mountain roads, which eliminated several other places.
We loved visiting both Charleston and Savannah, but that would put us back at risk of coastal storms. At least with tornados, instead of hurricanes, thereās generally less widespread damage so infrastructure repairs can be completed faster. We also didnāt like the idea of being in a tourist-oriented location.
We considered Davidson, NC, as well as the RTP area. Both would have put us closer to some family and provided a more moderate climate. I had just compiled a file of home builders and communities for us to visit when we learned about our GD. That file was trashed and we bought a house near her to live in until we could built an accessible home for aging in place.
This may not be the ideal community, but itās still the best location for us now. H surprised me last week by saying heād consider moving again once GD is grown, especially if she goes elsewhere to college. After what weāve been through with the new house build, which still isnāt finished, I didnāt think heād ever say that. He mentioned a patio home in a 55+ community near S and DiL as an option in our 80s. We may end up in NC after all.
Pimento cheese is great in my opinionā¦have you tried livermush??
From experience, Iāve learned that there are 3 things in lifeā¦job security, good salary, and area you want. Pick any 2. Although, I recommend Texasā¦but good luck finding a house, though 
The real estate market there is in a toilet paper apocalypse.
Probably not if your kid is transā¦ https://19thnews.org/2022/02/ken-paxton-texas-trans-kids-families/
Letās face itā¦ the places most desirable for majority of people/retirees (weather, airport access, healthcare, scenery/recreation etc) are likely to be in demand, higher costs. OP is also interested of course in schools, but I assume they will want to stay put after the kids have left the next. This is a good thread because it might highlight some lesser known potential locations that check most of the boxes.
All states have school (district) rankings, right? (correct me if Iām wrong about this)
So likely MOST states have some excellent, outstanding school districts. Itās not like we have never had successful people/students/scholars/model citizens from some states.
Get rid of the concept of ābestā. Let lifestyle fit be your guiding star and then look for schools/universities that are darn good.
I disagree. I have loved life in the DC suburban area (38 years here). Both H and I were always able to find good jobs. We are moving soon to the city where D and SIL live and that city provides all 3 of those things for them
I have 2 adult children. Both have reasons that they will NOT choose to live in Texas.
DS hopes to move to Texas. Lots of great opportunities there.