Re: NC lake help
I suggest you get on GoogleMaps.com and put in Raleigh, NC. Just scroll around the state looking at the lakes. You can tell a lot about a lake by the streets around it and the general shape of the lake. You can read all about any lake on the internet.
I would suggest you look between Raleigh and Tennessee. Just beware that the mountain lakes often go up and down substantially for water retention/flooding.
If you have really fast boats, you really need a big lake to keep from getting bored. You don't want to cover the whole lake in 15 minutes, do you?
For a lower cost of living and a lack of state income taxes, I much better prefer the Tennessee River outside Knoxville. Watts Bar has incredible real estate developments on the water, and the Little Tennessee River is also very nice. (Douglas and Norris Lakes are great but they go up and down too much.) Many of the Tennessee River lakes have fixed boathouses, making it much easier to deal with large boats (not having to board them in marinas.)
I'm on the Tennessee River at Muscle Shoals, AL (140,000 population.) Our lake houses are nothing short of incredible, and they're just a few feet from the water. The price of housing is incredibly low, and property taxes are 25% that of North Carolina or Tennessee.
Virtually every large city in the south has a major lake closeby. They all have their plus' and minus'. Your idea to move south is a good one, as the pace of life is slower and boating and fishing is fantastic.
