Hi Blake,
I'm glad Jaime is involved in this conversation. I can always count on her for some good UNC talk! We moved from Michigan to Greensboro, NC about 16 months ago. We live in the center of the state and see the peds team at UNC. We love LOVE the hospital! Wilmington, as well as any town along the coast, is beautiful. The people are friendly, the weather is fantastic, etc. We were expecting the humidity our first summer here to be unbearable. What we realized is that you just reverse the times of year when you are outside more. Instead of spending 5 1/2 months cooped up in the house during the Michigan winters, you really only spend 1 1/2 months cooped up in the house during a NC summer. Even winter months are pretty comfortable to be outside running errands, riding bikes, etc.
The one thing that is worse here is allergies. Andrew is miserable! In the past year he has had his first two hospitalizations and significant drop in pfts, but has rebounded both times. I'm sure the climate change and allergens have had something to do with it. But we are at a fantastic hospital and I know he is in very good hands. He just came off ivs and seems to be stabilizing again. (Aside from his crazy allergies.) So, if you have trouble in that department I might suggest visiting for a weekend to see if you can leave your hotel without visine and a box of kleenex!
Good luck in your decision!