Going to north carolina for a weeks vacation as we've never been there. The purpose of the trip is to look for a place to potentially "retire". Have been looking to work on the NC Ferry.

Would you have any suggestions on places to visit/stay, restaurants to go to, and as part of the "vacation" great places to visit off the beaten path?

At this point, our schedules look like the week of the 20th in June.

Also, we are looking to drive down from MA -- so if there's any other type of suggestions of scenic roads to take, please suggest.

Truly, at this point, we are open to anything !!

So I guess you are looking OBX ?

For the Outer Banks, I prefer Kitty Hawk as a base, and the Wright Brother's Memorial is a good stop. Ocracoke Island, near Buxton (Hatteras Light) is also nice. Beach traffic can be bad in Carolla.

Many NC retirees like the NC mountains, with Asheville, Highlands & Cashiers all nice places. Enjoy.

At this point we are thinking OBX.
I really really would appreciate any guidance you could provide.

My grandchildren are very lucky because one set of grandparents (us) lives on Nantucket and the other set lives in Nag's Head in the Outer Banks. So they get to go to both.

You are going to have to go and look. I can only say that it isn't even a little bit like the Cape or Rhode Island or Connecticut beach areas except in being really quiet out of season. Both have sand and lots of opportunities to fish, but really it is so different in look, feel, accomodation, food, etc. that anything I can say will only confuse you.

Going down, there is a lot to be said for taking the Garden State Parkway to the Cape May ferry from NJ to Lewes, DE, then driving down the DelMarVa peninsula to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. It is mostly pretty, not as crowded as I-95 and a much more direct route than going to Richmond and taking I-64 east.

Let us know how it feels when you have been there. Other areas populare with retirees are the coast in the neighborhood of Wilmington, which is highly developed; the golf areas around Pinehurst; and, as BKTravels notes, the mountains.

MY grandmother, since we are doing a grandparents theme, lived near Highlands, so we spent our summers in the mountains and really only went to the White Mountains for vacations for many years before discovering Nantucket.