Jabado Salwa - Fodors the Carolinas & Georgia

No matter who you meet in the Carolinas and Georgia, rest assured theyll be friendly. Folks in this part of the Southeast like to say helloor rather hey, howdy, and how yall doing. Such openness dates back to genteel 18th- and 19th-century plantation days when scattered neighbors in remote, rural areas had only each other to depend on.

Late-20th-century migrations from the Northeast and Midwest changed the regions previous agrarian lifestyle. Coastal and metropolitan areas boomed. The mild climate and reasonable cost of living attracted businesses. Thousands of retirees and vacationers came seeking leisure, especially golf and seaside homes. New job opportunities brought people from all over the world. Asians and Latinos round out the 64% white, 26% black population at 8% and 2.4% respectively. Nearly a fourth of the population hold college degrees, and cities host some of Americas best-known schools, including Duke University in Durham, North Carolina; Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia; and Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina. Needless to say, college sports rivalries run deep.

It used to be that nearly everyone in the Carolinas and Georgia had agricultural ties. Colonists planted the first crops for sustenance, but by the mid-1800s the regions economy depended on cotton and tobacco, and slave labor was used to work large plantations. Civil War ravages and subsequent Reconstruction forced economic diversity.

Farm fields still characterize the regionGeorgia alone produces half of Americas peanutsbut the larger employers are government, retail, manufacturing, education, health, and tourism.

Marine Corps bases like Camp Lejeune, the nations largest amphibious training base, employ thousands of troops and civilians in North Carolinas coastal plain. Georgia hosts massive Fort Benning Army base. South Carolina houses various military complexes, too, most famously the major Marine recruit base Parris Island.

Military and other government employers like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta help cushion the region from economic recession. Still, unemployment rates hovered around 10% starting in 2009, South Carolina leading with 12%. The region has since started to recover, with unemployment rates in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina dropping to around 9%. Various contributors fuel each states economy. Georgia ranks high in aerospace exports and hosts 14 Fortune 500 companies. The states numerous corporate headquarters include Coca-Cola and Delta Airlines in Atlanta. North Carolinas Piedmont is a research and science hub, and Charlotte is a major U.S. banking center. South Carolina claims BMW vehicle and Honda ATV and personal watercraft plants, as well as a Boeing aircraft-assembly plant. Tourism and service industries are important sectors throughout the area, especially along the beaches.

During one week each spring, work stops in many Georgia and the Carolinas locationsand bosses dont mind. No doubt theyre all drawn to the same thing: college basketball.

This is Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) country, and when the mighty league hosts its annual March college basketball tournament, fans here have many teams to cheer. Schools in these three states make up half of the ACCs 12, soon to be 14, members. North Carolina alone owns the powerhouse Carolina Tar Heels, Duke Blue Devils, and Wake Forest Demon Deacons.

The region is represented in the Southern, Southeastern, and Big South conferences, too, and basketball isnt the only hot game. College football is just as significant.

Professional sports are dearly loved, too. Tailgaters root for the National Football Leagues Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers. Mild winters cant deter hockey madness in Raleigh, North Carolina, home to the Carolina Hurricanes, 2006 Stanley Cup champions. Baseball fans have the Atlanta Braves, and hoops lovers the National Basketball Associations Atlanta Hawks and Charlotte Bobcats.

NASCAR races were born on North Carolinas mountain roads, where drivers ran bootleg whiskey during prohibition. The first NASCAR strictly stock car race happened in 1949 in Charlotte. Today, the region boasts the major NASCAR tracks Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina; Atlanta Motor Speedway in Atlanta, Georgia; and Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. Charlottes 150,000-square-foot NASCAR Hall of Fame features 18 historic cars.

Golf lovers relish the regions hundreds of courses, some of the worlds most challenging. Pinehurst in North Carolina has staged more golf championships than any other American golf resort and hosts the 2014 U.S. Open and U.S. Womens Open. The Masters Gold Tournament is played annually in Augusta, Georgia. In 2012, South Carolinas Kiawah Island Golf Resort hosted the 94th PGA Championship.

Early explorers arriving in what would become the Carolinas and Georgia found Native Americans eating corn, beans, pecans, and seafood. These humble foods combined with imported ingredients shaped the regional cuisine and inspired cooks to create distinctive local fare.