Breezing through Charlotte

Sometime last week, Derek asked if I had any objections to him heading to Charlotte to spend the day with a couple of his college friends. No problem, honey! But...here's a thought: instead of you taking Dad's car all day, effectively stranding him in the house without any means of transportation, why don't I give you a ride, drop you off at G's house, and have myself an excursion in the Queen City?

He agreed to this plan, so we carpooled down, before splitting off for our respective field trips. The boys had decided to spend their 8 hours or so at Carowinds, the nearby amusement park. As for me, I had carefully curated a selection of "potentially interesting activities" to work my way through, until I had to return at the designated pickup time. My first stop was a historic plantation...or at least, that's what they'd like you to believe. It turned out to be nothing more than a restored house--which you couldn't actually go inside, unless you chose to pay the $11 for a guided tour--surrounded by a couple of pretty plants. Yeah, that was a bust...but this is why we have a LIST, people, so we can cut our losses and move right on to the next option!

I figured it was time to proceed further into town, so I GPSed an urban green space I'd thought sounded cool during my pre-visit research phase. Romare Beardon Park turned out to be a cute little oasis in which to hang out. You could walk around and examine the architectural features (like the statue shown above), rest on a bench in the shade and admire the lush flowers, or even catch a break from the heat by splashing in the waterfall wall (also pictured, to the left), which invited people to take advantage of its cool spray.

The little gem also happened to be nestled right next to another attraction...BB&T Ballpark, home of the Charlotte Knights (Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, playing in the International League along with our Durham Bulls). While I wasn't able to get into the stadium, I did a circuit around it to take in the sights--which included banners displayed along the side of the building, depicting famous athletes who made a stop in Charlotte on their way to the Majors. And let me tell ya, folks, there were some big names there...such as the one that caused me to come to a screeching halt as my mouth dropped open and I yelled, "No. WAY!" That would be Cal Ripken, Jr., in case you were wondering. (And if I looked/sounded like a crazy person there for a moment, the locals kindly left me in peace...with my incredulity.)

At this point--have I mentioned the scorching temperatures yet?--I was dripping with sweat, baking in the relentless rays of the sun, starving, and parched. Thus my wandering took on a new purpose: to locate and obtain sustenance in an air-conditioned venue, STAT. It just so happened that my sneakers took me past an establishment I'd seen mentioned (I can't recall exactly where, but probably on a website I visited during my prep work), called (amusingly) Not Just Coffee. Frankly, an iced java sounded soooo perfect right about then, so into the shop I went. One high-quality cup o'joe and Big Spoon Roasters Cherry Cashew bar later, I was rejuvenated enough to continue exploring.

Now, one of the things I really appreciate about this city is that, because it's so walkable, it feels like there are things to see around every corner, even when you're just meandering, without a particular destination in mind. Such as The Green, a cozy enclave I stumbled into when I noticed the bronze sculptures made to resemble stacks of books. For a bibliophile like myself, this acted as a homing beacon, beckoning me nearer, to discover what other treasures might be hidden inside. And...it's just adorable. There are games set into the sidewalk for kids to enjoy, literary notes installed in the cobblestones, enticing you to read them as you follow the paths, and quirky signs pointing you to different author-named towns all over the U.S. Plus, a fish fountain whose spouts alternate in a pattern, so you can pause while waiting for the next plume of water...or simply go in and get wet if you so desire!



Next, I traveled to my one repeat locale of the journey: Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden, which technically lies in Belmont, a suburb about 20 minutes outside of Charlotte. I'd been there once before for a special night-time program when it was all decked out with twinkling lights for the holiday season, but I'd never seen it with, you know, live greenery and whatnot. This time there was also an artistic installment throughout the grounds, consisting of impressively large blooms...made of blown glass. So, besides the bonanza of lovely natural flora, everywhere you turned, there was a larger-than-life, stunningly crafted, brilliantly colored representation of a beautiful flower, sparkling in the sunshine. All I can say is, if you elect to spend time in the Great Outdoors on a sweltering Summer day, you'd be hard pressed to find a more delightful place to do so. 

Finally, I returned to the city to attempt to find an actual meal, and to kill another couple of hours before retrieving my roller-coaster renegade. This time I told Maps I wanted to go to the Spectrum Center (aka the Hornets' basketball arena), because it's right smack in the middle of the action, and after several jaunts to Charlotte in recent years, I feel like I can navigate my way around that area fairly well as a pedestrian. Sure enough, after parking the Subaru I almost immediately found the 2-story open air shopping-palooza called Epicentre, where I was able to score a sandwich at Firehouse Subs (veggie, not gluten-free and definitely not healthy, but when in Rome...or whatever...). Then I just...let my feet take me where they wanted...and window-shopped...and people-watched...until it was time to say goodbye to C-town and navigate our way back northeastward to Chapel Hill.

It was a super-loooong day, y'all. But both Derek and I had a blast with our respective entertainment, so it was well worth it. Bonus: no one got sunburned, or suffered dehydration, or succumbed to heat-exhaustion, so I'm gonna have to call that a big old W-I-N. Now I need to go sit down somewhere...and not move...for quite a while. Can someone bring me a tall, frosty glass of tea? Thankyouverymuch!