There are some North Carolina iconic images that I might like to incorporate. Pine is a very iconic NC thing. So maybe a pine cone. Or a pine tree. The shape of the state of NC is also very recognizable to people here. A pine cone is really the main symbol I've been thinking of since day one.
------ Additional Input After Seeing first Round -------
I think I want to try seeing significantly more vintage looking designs. I've altered my stylistic sliders a bit.
I like the look of this logo a lot (even though it is a totally different industry):
http://www.welovegd.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/52014cca64385ee6dafff14564568269.png
Here are some more I like, just stylistically speaking. These are just the direction I want to go in, I'm not saying it's the exact layout I like. I'm just talking about the feel of them:
http://hankwhitedesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Logo-w-Crest.jpg
(Please note: there are NO mountains in my area, although some of these example I say I like may contain mountains. I don't want mountains.)
http://hankwhitedesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Logo-tent.jpg
Here's another one that is much different than these prior examples. It's not really vintage like the other ones, but what I like about this is the layout. I'm hoping to get a logo that is more horizontal like that. I also like how the mark is separated because maybe it could be re-arranged in certain circumstances. Like they might be stacked vertically on an embroidered shirt, and horizontal in the header of a website.
I also tend to like this kind of fat, serif font better than most of the existing examples. I also might end up putting some short tagline in there eventually, and that's easy to do on a horizontal logo.
http://outdoorproducts.com/wp-content/themes/outdoor/images/logo.png