tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62057563180723278622024-03-12T21:13:43.929-07:00Caroliner NotesNotes from a North Carolina lifeLaurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12415155948577364954noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205756318072327862.post-30891035938519191502012-08-10T19:02:00.000-07:002012-08-10T19:02:47.545-07:00Standard introWho am I? I'm Laura, and I'll be your guide to the stuff I find interesting about living in North Carolina.<br />
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What do I want? I want to share some of the exciting and perhaps not so well known bits about my native state. I haven't been everywhere, and I don't know everything, so this isn't a comprehensive exploration. It's just stuff that catches my fancy, especially stuff that other people who live here seem to be surprised to learn about.<br />
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Did you know that <a href="http://ils.unc.edu/nclibs/davidson/Davidson%20County%20Mining.htm" target="_blank">North Carolina had a gold rush</a>, years before the ones in California and Alaska? It's true. It's why there was a branch of the US Mint in Charlotte. Said branch has now been turned into the <a href="http://www.mintmuseum.org/about/history" target="_blank">Mint Museum</a>, the state's first art museum.<br />
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Did you know that the Germans staged a major World War II offensive just off the Outer Banks? During the first half of 1942, German U-boats sank over 80 ships off the NC coast, and a total of almost 400 ships off the Atlantic coast. The Outer Banks already had a reputation as The Graveyard of the Atlantic, but in 1942, the area earned a new nickname, "<a href="http://www.nps.gov/caha/historyculture/torpedo-junction.htm" target="_blank">Torpedo Junction</a>."<br />
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Those are the kinds of things I'll be sharing.<br />
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Look for a review soon of <i><a href="http://www.homerhickam.com/books/tj.shtml" target="_blank">Torpedo Junction</a></i> by Homer Hickam, that details the U-boat attacks of 1942.<br />
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<br />Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12415155948577364954noreply@blogger.com0