My mother was from North Carolina, but I was raised in Northern Virginia. She never served oatmeal, it was always grits... usually mixed with a breakfast meat. My favorite was scrapple. My father was from West Virginia, and if he hadn't wanted scrapple, I would never have known about it. I don't think it is sold in North Carolina.
Grits was served in North Carolina as often as eggs for breakfast.
To this day I don't know why oatmeal is so popular. It tastes slimy to me.