Relocating to the Mid-Atlantic:
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ALMOST HOME: Moving to the MID-ATLANTIC
By FRAN SEVERN

A PCS to the Mid-Atlantic is like moving to a military hometown. With as many bases in the region as there are hot dogs at a ballpark, you’ll find communities that appreciate military and dependents.

Housing and schools are the first concerns. In Virginia and the Carolinas, prices run in the neighborhood of $80,000 for 1,500 square feet, with apartments averaging around $500 a month. You can easily add 10-20% to prices near the District. Maryland also has some of the highest closing costs in the country, routinely adding several thousand to the price.

On the plus side, in areas with very high military populations, many landlords participate in set-aside programs for military renters, waiving fees and charging less than the going rental rates.

Generalizing about schools is harder. Virginia and Maryland brag about the quality of their educational systems, but like anywhere else, it depends on the community. Contact the school districts, and ask your sponsor and others in your new unit, especially if you have special needs.

Every location is proud of its recreational opportunities. These are great outdoor areas, with more places to camp, hike, fish, canoe, and hunt than there are mosquitoes at a beach. History lovers overdose on Revolutionary and Civil War sites. The cities have respectable art and cultural communities, while rural areas boast of their hometown festivals. There’s a smorgasbord of seafood along the coast, home-style country cooking‚ inland, and every imaginable cuisine in Washington.

Visiting all three states and D.C. should be part of your standing orders. Here are some suggestions to get you started:

WASHINGTON, D.C.

The nation’s capital has a vitality and excitement found nowhere else. It’s easy to find all of the famous attractions. Most of them are near National Mall. But there’s a lot more to see and do after you’ve toured the attractions found in all the guidebooks.

The District’s streets were planned by a Frenchman for use by politicians riding horses and carriages. You’ll only have to abuse yourself once by trying to drive there to appreciate the Metro, the city’s subway system. It’s fast, efficient, and reasonably priced. It’s also clean and safe. Large, color-coded maps in every station make navigation easy. If you’re doing a day’s touring, look into the all-day ticket. It’s a good buy.

Washington is a city with a lot of unique neighborhoods. Georgetown is the best known. It’s been home to the powerful and famous since the Kennedys. Madeleine Albright, Bob Woodward, and Herman Wouk all live within hailing distance of each other.

Foggy Bottom stretches along the Potomac. It’s as sophisticated as the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and as casual as Thompson’s Boat House. Rent canoes here and paddle across the Potomac to Roosevelt Island for a picnic.

Adams-Morgan and Dupont Circle are multi-cultural fun. It’s a browser’s paradise, with specialty shops selling imported trinkets, clothing, spices, and antiques from around the world. It’s also the center for Hispanic arts and culture in the District. While the entire city is filled with great restaurants, this is the place for Epicurean overloading. Name your country, culture, or dietary obsession, and one of the restaurants stacked next to each other will serve it. If cooking it yourself is your preference, the Saturday farmer’s market probably sells the ingredients.

VIRGINIA

Most of the bases in the Tidewater are in Hampton Roads, where the James and Elizabeth Rivers meet the Chesapeake Bay. You might even say the Native Americans provided the first BOQ when they allowed Captain John Smith and his crew to lodge with them in 1608.

Most bases are within a 15-mile radius of the mouth of the James River. That’s not as convenient as it sounds, though. That radius includes two major rivers and their tributaries. The highway system is extensive, but getting around is often frustrating.

But that’s the only downside. Hampton Roads is a pretty place with a high standard of living. For activities, think of everything you’d want in a major metropolitan area, but spread out over a wide suburbia. Only the most obstinate coach-potato can stay dormant. The civilian communities have concerts and performing arts, museums, ball fields, soccer leagues, weekend and after-school programs, and all sorts of community social centers.

On base, check out the MWR offices for tickets to sporting and cultural events, boating lessons, and equipment for everything from paintball to auto repair. Each base has different facilities and equipment, so ask around to see who has what. For instance, FCTLANT Dam Neck’s Outdoor Adventure Center boasts one of the largest on-base portable rock-climbing walls, while Norfolk Naval Base has its own marina.

Beach lovers have hundreds of miles of sand to explore. Virginia Beach is a year-around resort with a non-commercial boardwalk. Families enjoy Ocean View, near Norfolk Naval Base. It has quiet waters and a great view of ships coming and going. Hampton’s Huntington Park is also popular for its 14,000-square-foot playground and the longest fishing pier on the East Coast. Naturelovers prefer Sandridge. A spit of land between the Atlantic and Back Bay, birds and wildlife are drawn to the island while photographers and artists are drawn to the birds and wildlife.

Food historians make a pilgrimage to Norfolk’s Doumar’s Drivein. It’s where the waffle cone was created in 1904. The original machine still cranks them out. In Portsmouth, the Commodore Theater takes “dinner and a movie” literally. Sandwiches and pizza are served at your table during the show.

NORTH CAROLINA

Tar Heels work hard and play harder. They nearly worship the Duke Blue Devils and N.C. State. The Research Triangle of Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill is the epicenter for high-tech research, yet it’s the only state with a division of the agriculture department dedicated to promoting organic farming.

The original settlers were from the British Isles, but the ethnic background has expanded since then. Festivals celebrate the African-Americans, Latinos, Scots, Native Americans, Hispanics, and Greeks.

North Carolina is also the center for a uniquely American art form — the outdoor drama. These pageants, usually staged under the stars by local performers, recount local history and legends. You’ll find at least 15 of them playing during the summer.

The Outer Banks is convenient to most bases. Cape Hatteras National Seashore is a 57-mile stretch of beaches dotted with small villages and lighthouses. For a thorough aerobic workout, climb the Cape Hatteras Light. You’ll be rewarded with a view of ocean and beach that would be breathtaking if you weren’t already out of breath. Then go fly a kite on Jockey’s Ridge — the largest natural sand dune in the country. It’s just down the road from the Wright Brothers National Monument.

Moorseville is a mandatory pit stop for NASCAR fans. It’s both Richard Petty’s hometown and the site of the North Carolina Auto Racing Hall of Fame. Pottery lovers, meanwhile, opt for the more sedate diversions in Seagrove. Over 100 potters fire their kilns here. The N.C. Pottery Center showcases the state’s longestablished pottery tradition.

You can easily spend every weekend joining in local entertainment. There are the usual harvests and food fests — seafood, chili, BBQ, watermelon, oyster and ham, ham and yam, pickle, and sonker (deep dish pies). But there’s also the New Year’s Eve Possum Drop in Brasstown, complete with a Miss Possum Contest, and celebrations elsewhere in honor of horse-drawn buggies, clowns, mules, and the Renaissance. There’s even a weekend devoted to Kudzu — the imported plant intended to provide cheap ground cover that’s slowly taking over the South.

With so much undeveloped land, outdoor activities are popular. Anglers can choose between charter boat fishing in the ocean and bass fishing in the lakes and rivers. Canoe and boat trails meander through the marshes and rivers. Outfitters offer overnight horseback and llama treks, while motor powered adventurers can check into motorcycle tours of the Blue Ridge with all accommodations arranged in advance.

South Carolina

South Carolina is a case study in opposites. There’s the gentile side; the city of Charleston with horsedrawn carriage tours of its historic district, and the Edisto Gardens, which tests new varieties of roses.

Then there are the snake-infested swamps. Francis Marion used the labyrinth of creeks and marshes to vex the Redcoats during the Revolution. Several canoe trails wind through the waters of the Congaree Swamp and Pee Dee and Wateree Rivers.

For those who prefer their waters calm and open, Lake Murray has over 50,000 acres of water and 525 miles of shoreline. Cyclists and hikers explore each new section of the Palmetto Trail. When it’s finished, it will run from the Atlantic to the Blue Ridge.

With typical Southern enthusiasm for entertaining, South Carolinians throw good parties. With typical Southern eccentricity, many of them are a little off-the-wall. There’s a Rose Festival, of course, but also the Hell Hole Swamp Festival — complete with a tobacco spitting contest — and Snake Appreciation Day.

Perhaps the most unusual spot in the Palmetto State is South of the Border. A sombrero hovers 200 feet above the landscape near I-95. It’s not the opening scene of “Stargate,” but a legend among rest stops. It has three restaurants, a RV park, 300-room motel, par-3 golf course, jogging trail, wedding chapel, 14 gift stores, pool, Jacuzzi, and a firecracker store. Arriving travelers drive through the legs of the 97-foot tall mascot. It’s worth stopping there just to slap one of their bumper stickers on your car.