Hey ladies, we currently have orders for Cherry Point. I am wondering about housing, yes I looked at the AMCC site! But, where is it at on base, the housing that is. I have never been to Cherry Point, we were at Camp Pendleton for 13 years. So I am used to California. What's it like there. I have researched New Bern, Havelock, and Morehead City. We have 3 children so we def want to try and live on base until we learn the area. Looking at the base map, I see Slocum Rd heading west going to housing. Is that ALL the housing? And it looks like there are entrances from HWY 70 is that correct? If so, is it a gate to get in? Or what? I am so confused! Thanks for any/all help :) 

Slocum is housing located off base. They are offering a paid vacation or some crap right now if you want to live there.
All other housing is on base.
Given I dont know rank or age of kids you are on your own.
You can call housing and ask all these questions. 

Slocum Rd is what is considered the "back gate". It is the road that will lead you to staff capehart housing area. There is another gate in staff housing, but it is only open for a VERY limited of time during school hours.

If you continue on Slocum Rd to Roosevelt Blvd and make a left and go past the flight line, you'll be going into officer housing.

Slocum Village is off base military housing with no guardhouse and no visitor restrictions, located right off Hwy 70.

Hwy 70/Main St is THE road to get around town. 

Wow Boom Boom...Troll much?

I know the housing names, that is not what I was asking but thanks!

Little Miss, thanks!!! My husband is SNCO. I was just curious how the gates work! So if you lived in SNCO Nugent Cove, how far is it to the commissary? Is it pretty nice there? I have been to NC but never Cherry Point! :) 

Nothing on the base is over a 10-12 (even in traffic) minute drive no matter where you live. The base is pretty small. The only thing that will slow you down is the speed limit if you live at the back of the housing.

The "back" gate/slocum rd is closest to all the housing. but really the gates are only about 2-3 miles ish apart, so it doesn't really matter which one you use IMO. I usually drove to fron gate if I was heading to morehead, back gate if I was heading to new bern, The other two gates are only opened such short limited time (like right before/after school lets out at AWE)- which if you got the new SNCO housing might benefit you if your kid goes there. The other side gate is oneway out after work hours.

Havelock/cherry point is very small. I enjoyed my time there. There's nothing over the top AMAZING in the area, but it's not hard to drive one way or the other to get to something to do. I hear a lot of things are or have been shut down on base like bowling due to budget cuts.

Honestly I think it's a decent place to live with younger kids- my kids are all under 8, so it might be decent for the older kids as well, but I never saw that side. 

Awesome Champ, thanks! Mine are under 8 too! So, Roosevelt Blvd is the front gate then? And Slocum Rd is the back gate and it's open round the clock? I love/hate new places! So confusing. What do you think of the housing on base? I heard alot of stuff on bases have close as well. We are not on a base currently, not even close to one! I miss that. 

I think the back gate is 5am to 10pm or 11pm front gate round the clock.

We lived in NCO housing binder oaks, and had no real issues or complaints. The new SNCO housing looked super nice. I can't imagine anyone complaining about that. Alot of people don't like old nugent cove (I don't know the name they call it now) but I had a couple friends who lived in them, and they seemed content, but the square footage is on the smaller size for 3 kids! I've been in slocum too, and they were nice (harder to baby proof with the floating stairs- but that's NCO housing) I havn't been inside of grants landing though.

Honestly unless we were buying a house or if the wait list was extreme I'd 100% live on base again.

We are currently on recruiting duty and no where near a base, so I miss that. 

It will be a culture shock, coming from Cali.

Havelock is a small city, most of the locals are related and own 3/4 of the real estate! Havelock has 2 grocery stores (same chain, just two stores on each end of town), a movie theatre, a Super Walmart and a TON of fast food restaurants - 2 burger kings, 2 mcdonalds, 1 Kentucky fried chicken, 2 pizza joints, 2 Chinese restaurants, 1 Wendy's, a barbeque restaurant, a waffle house, 3 Japanese restaurants (Musashi,Oki & Lew's rod & reel)1 seafood place (Crabby Patty's)and Subway, There's also a 24 hr diner type place (Bayside), a coffee/ice cream business, a dunkin donuts/baskin robbin,1 pizza hut, a Mexican restaurant with 2 locations on each end of town(El Cerro) and a coffee café that serves lunch.

Several nail & hair salons, a bunch of barbers, several chain drug stores and a bunch of furniture stores as well, round out the businesses in Havelock. 

Seriously? Troll much? How about you give more to go on dumb azzz. Have fun living in that hell hole! 

Like i said your laziness...call AMCC they have welcome packs, idiot. 

Wow, I am an idiot because I want someone who is/has lived there to answer a few questions? Sheesh. I have been in touch with the AMCC office, but you can only talk to the person for so long. When you move to a new place a person has many, many questions. And you are rude as FU(K BOOM BOOM! GTFO.

Champ, thank you so much! Yeah, were gonna live on base to see if we like it there and if so, my husband only has about 4 years left so possibly stay there since neither of us want to go to our home states! lol Plus, I don't want to rent a house site unseen knowing we will be locked in for a full year. Housing we know is kept up and such. We lived on base at Camp Pendleton and loved it, but lived in town and loved it just as much!

Little Miss, you ROCK! Thank you so much for all the info. I have googled and googled and still just want to know what its like! lol Which town do you prefer New Bern or Morehead City to do your shopping at? 

*makes dependapotomous fart sounds in Cali's general direction

No you are rude. I gave you a little info bc you gave little info, dont get all butt hurt about it. 

Depending on what we are looking for decides if we are going to Morehead City (MHC) or New Bern (NB). NB has Target, MHC does not. NB also has a VERY SMALL mall. MHC has a shopping plaza with Belk, Hobby Lobby, Ross, TJ Maxx, etc. We do not have CostCo, Macy's, etc... that is a trip to Raleigh which is about 2.5 hours each way. NB has a really neat historic downtown with some little shops and Tryon Palace. MHC will get you to the beach. It is small here, so it will be an adjustment for sure, but you will find your way around pretty quickly. 

We do not have CostCo, Macy's, etc... that is a trip to Raleigh which is about 2.5 hours each way.

How far away is Wilmington for you? There's a Costco there, but I don't know if it's much less of a drive (I live in Hubert).

Jacksonville has a Sam's Club, but it's always so packed when we do manage to go there. We much prefer to drive to Wilmington and go to Costco. 

Wilmington takes about the same amount of time, we did that one once before, so we just prefer Raleigh. Also, Wilmington does NOT have Macy's and I am an addict. :) 

Since I have a sister in Raleigh and my son attends the University of NC @ Wilmington, I do clothing shopping when I visit them.

Greenville is my second (third?) choice. Greenville is about an hour away and has Kohl's, Sears and a decent mall. 

Also, Wilmington does NOT have Macy's and I am an addict. :)

;) Yup, too bad the one there closed. 

Here are some local news sites, there are more, but these are the ones that I am familiar with:
http://www.wcti12.com/
http://www.witn.com/
http://www.wnct.com/
http://www.havenews.com/
http://www.newbernsj.com/ 

;) Yup, too bad the one there closed. 
Dang, we have only been here 3 years, so I didn't realize they used to have one. 

yeah, it was in Mayfair. I don't think it was even open for more than a couple of years. I think Belk is there now, but not sure. Seems there were a few in there in just a few years. lol 

Wilmington is 2 hours. There's a Trader Joe's there!

To Raleigh's Crabtree Mall is 2 hours 20 minutes.

:-) 

Awesome ladies! Keep it coming... :) What cool little mom and pop stores did you ladies like to shop at? NB, MHC, or Havelock! 

Lol this gets funnier by the minute.

Yay! Drive TWO HOURS to get to "something"
Sad really. So sad. 

So jaded Boom....

I have been here at the "The Point" for almost 5 years and it took me a bit, but I have definitely grown to enjoy it and will be sad when our time comes to move on to the next assignment. However, it is up to us, the spouses, to make the best of it!

As far as housing you have 2 choices for SNCO. The new Nugent Cove, which the ladies addressed above. They are nice, 2 story homes. They have fenced in backyards ( resident responsibility to mow) but tiny front yards. It really is a cute neighborhood that reminds me of Pleasantville. Your other option is Grants Landing, which is the opposite way on Roosevelt from the front gate. Some of the homes over look the water. There are 2 story duplexes and one story homes (with fireplaces =) ) Personally, I love my one story home and where I live. It is much more peaceful than in the other housing we used to live in. Lots of trees, the sound of waves, and just a nice laid back atmosphere and not too congested feeling.

From what I am told the housing office is no longer doing wait lists, so which ever housing is available is the one that you will get. I can only assume that too many people were holding out for the new homes and leaving the other homes to sit empty, thus caused a loss of income.

Like everyone said, there is not a lot of shopping but more options an hour away and even more if you venture 2 hours in either direction.

If you have younger children this actually is a great place. There are tons of festivals, free events hosted by local churches, base, and others. There is an Alpaca farm in Newport, a barnyard animal farm there as well. You can strawberry pick in the summer, go to the beach (25 min or so away), paint pottery at the accidental artist, roller skate, go bowling, play putt putt, or even join the local MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) group, which does TONS of stuff with kids as well as hosts moms night out once or twice a month. There is the local rec center and base programs which offers sports for all ages and genders.

It really is a nice place to live if you are willing to get out of the house and look beyond what this place appears to lack. 

Woo- I agree completely! I am currently in Kansas and hubs is in Japan. I am making the most of it here for the time being. I am excited to get back to the east coast! When you say Grant's Landing is opposite do you mean its by the commissary? Sorry, I am just looking at the base map but it doesn't label housing. In all honesty, I am not picky I just want a house and be reunited with my husband! lol I do want a 4bdrm that is a must, but other then that I am open! What do you think of the elementary schools? I will have a 1st and 2nd grader. The ratings for schools there are pretty good. I love that they offer cheer and soccer and so on, we have that here and my girls LOVE it! I am looking forward to the change and being close to my inlaws. What do you think of the commissary there? It is a good size? I absolutely miss the commy at Camp P! Thank you so much for your input, it is exactly what I was wanting to here! 

I live in Newport, which is between Havelock and Morehead City. I'm not military and am also not a local. I've lived in this area for about 5 years now and I really like it. I spent two years in Havelock and didn't find a THING wrong with the area.

As far as the schools go... the schools here are definitely behind those on the west coast. And the quality of your childs education really does come down to which teacher they end up with. With 4 kids all in elementary school I was able to get a good feel of what Graham A Barden has to offer (that is the school for Slocum Village). I was beyond unimpressed. My daughters kindergarten teacher had recently been released from a mental hospital after having a breakdown IN CLASS. Per my daughter, the teacher rarely spoke at all and most of the teaching was done by an assistant. That was probably the BEST experience I had with that school. So I would definitely suggest not living in Slocum Village.

I've heard great things about AWE and Gurganus, which I believe.

Havelock Elementary is on the upswing. They're making staffing changes and working on improving their reputation. I'm not really sure how well it's working out for them as I have no real experience with them.

Deb basically gave you a run down of every store/eatery in Havelock. Morehead City is about 15 minutes from Havelock and has a couple of shopping centers. Walmart, Kmart, TJMaxx, Ross, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Belk, Staples, Best Buy, Hallmark, Sallys, Ulta, Shoe Dept, Rack Room Shoes, Rue 21, Cato, Pier 1, several thrift shops, many more restaurants and a handful of mom and pop places. Jacksonville is about an hour one direction and has a TON of shops. Greenville is an hour the opposite direction and also has a ton of shops.

I never have a hard time finding things for my 4 kids to do here. We do a lot of fishing, hitting the beach, visiting the many festivals, parks and museums. 

I can definitely understand your excited to be a family again! It will be here before you know it =)

Grants landing is by the Hancock pool and the Hancock Marina. If you are looking at a map, the road that you use to enter the front gate is what you would take to get back into the housing area. You just stay straight on the main road and take it all the way back. The first part of Grants landing is the officer housing and the next part is SNCO. It sounds like you would rate a 4 bedroom, but there is always the chance that you guys get here at a peak time (Dec-Feb or May-Aug) and have slim pickings for houses and they say 2 kids can share a room, but I have rarely heard of that happening here and can say I know that there are quite a few home available in Grants landing alone.

As far as elementary schools, if you live on base you will have 2 options: Arthur Edwards (AWE) which is for Nugent coves homes or Havelock Elementary, which is for Grants Landing homes. You will get many many many various opinions on any and all schools, as everyone has children with different personalities and needs, so their experiences will vary greatly. My good friend has 2 children at AWE (Kinder and 2nd) and is heavily involved in volunteering. She loves it. It primarily is military families, as only one subdivision out in town is in district for the school. It has consistently received high marks, but with the new common core learning all of the schools are experiencing a transition period. I on the other hand have a kinder at Havelock elementary. I was very hesitant to send her there due to all the reviews and chatter among school aged parents, but I am very glad that I chose to give it a shot. The school as a whole is definitely on the upswing. We just got a new principle who is amazing. She is a very present principle and extremely approachable and willing to resolve any issue without hesitation. With my daughter being in kinder, I am still new to the school process and am learning new things everyday, but I have no complaints whatsoever and have been extremely pleased (as well as my daughter) with the school as a whole.

As far as cheer, not only is there a program here on base, but there are two cheer gyms in the area. One is here in Havelock and one is in Morehead city. The both offer cheer and tumbling classes, as well as a competition team starting as young as 5 years old.

The commissary is good, but I am sure it is going to be much smaller than in Cali and it is definitely smaller than the one in Camp Lejeune (1hr away), but still offers a good amount of stuff. As I am sure you know, just try to avoid it on payday. I actually have found that shopping on the off weeks of pay day offers way better sales and more variety.

If you have any questions feel free to PM me. I do a lot of volunteering with the programs here on base and can get you in touch with any resources that you might need =) 

You ladies are so helpful! Thank you so much. I was told we would rate a 4bdrm but I would even take a 3bdrm just so we could get there sooner! LOL I have read that AWE is a year round school, I am not sure how much I like that. We do like to travel in the summer, do you have a choice to send them to a different school such as Havelock or Gurganus? My, my the choices! :) 

I went to Gurganus and filled out transfer paperwork for her to go there when we moved out of zone. It was worth the dropping off and arrangements to pick my kid up. Really, really good school. Not year round.