Charlotte North Carolina

Her View

Charlotte - Caywood's perspective

Charlotte, NC: a city of growth. We fell in love with Charlotte very quickly. Coming from the historic city of Charleston, it was apparent that Charlotte is very much an up-and-coming city. When we got into Charlotte we decided to see the downtown area via biking. We rode our bikes around the city for a little over an hour, just admiring the modern unique buildings, stopping for a few pictures by the art museum, and walking around the great atmosphere in the Epi Center. Originally Charlotte was not on our list of potential places to move to, but it got added after not even 6 hours in the city.

After biking a while, we met up with a friend James and went to a restaurant called Dish. I actually found Dish on our app that tells us if there are Triple D restaurants in the area. First suggestion for Charlotte and any city in general: Get the free version of the TV Road Map app. This app includes restaurants that have been featured on pretty much all of the Food Network shows. Feliks and I love the Triple D restaurants (Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives) so we are sporadically going to those throughout our US road trip. Dish was amazing. Cheap meals (most under $10) and they are huge portions. Feliks and I split the chicken and dumplings and were miserably full afterwards. They have a ton of fresh, local produce sides to choose from as well. Our friend James got the cajun meatloaf, and we tried that delicious entree too. I would definitely recommend this local lunch or dinner spot to anyone that lives in or plans to visit Charlotte. It was a great find!

We weren't in Charlotte for very long, but we did do one additional thing - a walk through Freedom Park. This is definitely the local outdoor park vs. the tourist US White Water Center. We considered going to the latter, but it was $5 to park vs. Freedom Park being free. Freedom Park was great. In the area we went to (which was a very small part of the park's total area), there was a small pond with lots of ducks and geese, some great walking/running/biking trails, and a little creek along the side. It was really nice just to walk around and get some exercise here before jumping back in the car. I can confidently say we were the only tourists there.

His View

Charlotte - Feliks' perspective

Charlotte - a city that surprised me. The drive up to Charlotte was nothing special, but once the city appeared it was way more than I expected. There were skyscrapers of all different styles. When we drove through downtown, it was busy...not in the traffic sense, but people were doing stuff. There were runners, bikers, walkers, businessmen--a lively atmosphere. We hopped on the bikes and rode around, only to find that my initial judgment was underexaggerated. We came across the Epi Center, which was basically an outdoor mall: three stories tall, with restaurants and bars, some shops, and lots of young people enjoying the amenities. My favorite building was the Charlotte Law School building, which looked like a building wrapped in another building. There were sculptures and monuments all over, great sightseeing, and diverse architecture that made every direction you look interesting.

We went to dinner at Dish and split the chicken and dumplings. Now, I have a thing for chicken and dumplings. One of my best friends Matt makes the best chicken and dumplings. While this wasn't as good, it was the best restaurant chicken and dumplings I have ever had. I highly recommend the meatloaf, as our host James so graciously shared a taste. It was amazing.

The next morning, we enjoyed a walk around Freedom Park, which was tucked away in a residential neighborhood. A nice little lake that you can fish in, great walking paths, and nature-like scenery. Caywood said that there were concerts there at the amphitheater, which looked like it would be a fun and intimate experience.

Overall, I really like Charlotte. It seems like a growing, expanding, younger generation city. It was clean, it was lively, and I would consider moving there. The people were nice. The roads were good, and we barely hit any traffic. Highly recommend a visit. Parking was normal.

Chalk art in Freedom Park	Strolling in Freedom Park
Freedom Park	Freedom Park
Burntshirt Vineyard	Burntshirt Vineyard
Burntshirt Vineyard	South Carolina water tower
	Abandoned casino
Abandoned casino	Epi Center
Epi Center
Downtown Charlotte	Public transportation
Art musem	Downtown Charlotte
Downtown Charlotte	Downtown Charlotte
Downtown Charlotte