I am a transplanted Southerner through and through.  Both my parents were born and raised in North Carolina and although I hail from northern California near San Francisco, and eclectic Berkeley,  I still consider the blanket of pines in the aerial view from my plane window at RDU, "home."
    In my humble opinion, you just really haven't lived until you have had a holiday meal with my aunt.  I really think my aunt could easily have been the inspiration for the restaurant, "Hometown Buffet." Her holiday spreads are tables' where there are endless food choices, and the selections of cakes, and pies seem to go on forever.
     Diversity?   The city of Raleigh boasts well manicured green velvet lawns, and nights that are as warm, and wet as the mornings.  My aunt and uncle's farm in rural Chapel Hill has rich, orange dirt much like California's adobe, as far as one can see.  The south is still the kind of place where you can get lost, ask for directions, and they will help you with both a smile, and a thick southern drawl.
   North Carolina porches are hard to leave. Despite knowing that all the world's problems can't really be solved there,  it's almost worth a try in a rocking chair, with a cold glass of sweet tea.