About Strange Carolinas

Strange Carolinas is the Travelogue Of The Offbeat, a wry look at the interesting, unique, and offbeat roadside attractions, people, music, ...

Strange Carolinas is the Travelogue Of The Offbeat, a wry look at the interesting, unique, and offbeat roadside attractions, people, music, art, and food in North and South Carolina.

Strange Carolinas started as a hobby for editor Chris Hocker who often dragged his family to offbeat detours on family vacations. Hocker decided to start photographing and writing about these roadside attractions and in June 2014, launched Strange Carolinas with a story on Myrtle Beach's KISS Coffeehouse.

In March 2017, Strange Carolinas expanded to cover food with its Road Eats series, a look at affordable and recommended roadside eateries in the Carolinas. In August 2017, a concert photography and review section was added to Strange Carolinas.

ANNUAL BEST OF NC COMPETITIONS

To coincide with the launch of Road Eats, Strange Carolinas created the Best Burger in North Carolina tournament in March of 2017. Readers were asked to nominate their favorite burger joints. Strange Carolinas ranked the top 64 nominations and then set up a bracket where readers could vote for their favorites. After three weeks of voting and tens of thousands of votes cast, Lenoir's Carolina Burger claimed the title of Best Burger in North Carolina.

In September 2017, Strange Carolinas ran a Best Taco in North Carolina tournament. Almost 77,000 votes were cast in the three-week tournament that saw Hampstead's Burrito Shak earn the title of Best Taco in North Carolina.

In 2019, Strange Carolinas launched the Best Of NC Awards across five categories: music & entertainment, art, food, shopping, and strange North Carolina,

MEDIA APPEARANCES

Strange Carolinas has appeared on FOX 46's Good Day Charlotte twice, on WBTV Channel 3's Morning Break twice and on WECT Wilmington's News At 4.

Strange Carolinas' photography has been featured in Our State magazine, ESPN's College GameDay, the History Channel's The Proof Is Out There, and the children's book, Horror In North Carolina.

Strange Carolinas has been featured in Asheville Citizen-Times, Caldwell Journal, The Charlotte Observer, Gaston Gazette, Greensboro News & Record, Hickory Record, Jacksonville Daily News, Lenoir News Topic, McDowell News, Morganton News Herald, The Point, Sanford Herald, Spectrum News, Statesville Record & Landmark, The Times-News, Triad Business Journal, WCNC Charlotte, WECT TV6 Wilmington, Wilmington Star News, and Winston-Salem Journal.

CONTACT US

Do you have a roadside attraction, restaurant, festival, or concert we should check out? Are you a member of the media who wants to talk with an expert about interesting and offbeat places and people in North or South Carolina?

Contact: Chris Hocker, Editor
Email: StrangeCarolinas@gmail.com
Call/text: 336.907.2393

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Strange Carolinas is the Travelogue Of The Offbeat, a wry look at the interesting, unique, and offbeat roadside attractions, people, music, art, food, and festivals in North and South Carolina.

EMAIL
strangecarolinas@gmail.com

CALL/TEXT
336.907.2393
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