It seems my new job requires me to do a week of training in Charlotte NC. Fly in on a Sunday, out on the next Friday. Will hopefully arrive early on Sunday (around 10AM), and then be in class 9-5 Monday to Thursday, 9-Noon on Friday.
If I get the flights I’d prefer, that would mean leaving around 8PM Friday, the week of April 10th (date of the Sunday). Don’t know yet where I’ll be staying, but it’ll probably be close to work.
Looking for info on the transit system, museums, and good BBQ. Evenings should be free, so stuff open late would be good.
Where is work and will you have a car? Hopefully you’ll be downtown, rather than some place like University City, which, while home to an assortment of high-tech firms, the cultural extent after 7PM appears to be the bar at Chili’s
If you find good BBQ, please let me know. BBQ was actually the big joke a while back with the announcement that Charlotte was hosting the Democratic National Convention, and the locals were asking “We have edible BBQ here?”
I don’t know much about Charlotte except for the banking industry associated with it. I do know that it has topped some lists here as one of the least notable cities of its size in the U.S. and it is pretty big at #17 and bigger than more much more famous ones like Washington D.C., Boston, and Seattle.
I’ve heard that Spoons BBQ, if it’s still open, is a local institution for Eastern NC BBQ. I can’t vouch for it personally, but I knew the owner’s granddaughter, and she told me I should go by and get some whenver I was in town.
From researching the company and the city, it appears I’ll be out in Ballantyne
My BBQ experience stems from “Chicken and Rib Fest” here in Ottawa, so anything would be helpful. No car, so will be confined to the suburbs / exurbs, unfortunately.
It looks like transport into town sucks, so I’ll probably hang at whatever hotel they put me in. Hope it has a pool or a hot tub.
I’ve heard good things about Spoons myself, but haven’t tried it yet. Send me a PM and perhaps we can arrange a get-together. I work about seven minutes away from Ballantyne.
Actually, there are a couple of us who live in the Ballentyne area. While I can’t think of any decent actual BBQ joints nearby, there is a guy who sells pretty decent barbecue from his smoker in the parking lot of the liquor store just over the SC line.
I would love to meet up, but Mrs Magill has sort of your opposite schedule. She’s flying out to Las Vegas for training Sunday and coming back Friday. I would rather not leave the kids alone for an evening. Visits from child protective services would not earn me any brownie points with my wife. At All.
You’ve mentioned Spoons to me before. I’ve not been there. Looking at Google maps, it looks like it’s 10 minutes away from my work. Maybe I’ll hit it up for lunch one day.
I lived for Charlotte for 4 years from 7 to 10th grade. That said, I don’t know much about it in terms of stuff for adults… I liked Carowinds a lot, the amusement park a bit south of the city.
I also remember there being really good cafeteries peppered throughout the city. There was a really good one in I believe…South Park Mall? Near a clothing store.
I lived for Charlotte for 4 years from 7 to 10th grade. That said, I don’t know much about it in terms of stuff for adults… I liked Carowinds a lot, the amusement park a bit south of the city.
I also remember there being really good cafeteries peppered throughout the city. There was a really good one in I believe…South Park Mall? Near a clothing store.
Good info so far, thanks. Finalizing flight and hotel details. Looking forward to 22 degrees C and sunny!
Once I know where I’ll be staying, will post and PM those who’ve expressed interest in grabbing a meal or a tasty beverage.
Those with potential kid issues need not apply (lookin at you, Maus
Mmm, parking lot BBQ - I would like to subscribe to your newsletter, and won’t mention to CPS that you’re feeding the kids charred questionable meat products
I more or less grew up in Charlotte (from 1988, when I was 12, until 2000). I don’t get back there often, but I still have some family there. In my opinion, it’s probably one of the most boring cities of its size in the U.S. One reason may be that until about the 1970s it was a pretty tiny town, and a lot of its growth in recent times has been fueled by the finance industry, so it just hasn’t had time to develop much of a culture, and what culture it does have caters to middle-aged bankers (e.g. golf). The city also annexed most of its suburbs, so it occupies a huge amount of land area, but it is very urban-sprawly and car-centric, and the high-density urban core (what the locals call “Uptown”) is quite small. There’s not much in the way of mass transit, although they recently built a light rail system that some of my family members take to get to work Uptown from the southern nether regions near the SC border. The light rail postdates my time there, so I don’t know much about it. It’s still pretty new, so it doesn’t go many places
That said, there are a few things worth seeing there. The Mint Museum is worth a look-see. Some of the buildings Uptown are interesting (there was a skyscraper that had these big lights at its base you could “play” like a musical instrument by touching them), and Uptown is small enough that you can take much of it in on foot. I lived for a time in the Pineville area (south Charlotte, near the beltway), so I know a couple of barbecue places there that are ok (Sonny’s, McKoy’s), but nothing spectacular.
Even though I lived there in my early twenties, I can’t tell you much about the night-life. When I lived there Uptown got pretty deserted after banking hours, and I lived out in the nether-regions anyway, so “going out after work” usually meant Chillis.
Sorry if I seem to have trouble getting enthusiastic about Charlotte (I have to admit, reading what I’ve written so far about the closest thing I have to a hometown makes me a tad depressed). After spending most of my adult life living not-in-Charlotte, my memories of the place paint it as a relatively soul-less, strip-mall & chain-restaurant dominated, clean but boring city compared to other places I’ve lived.
@ spacemandave: try to get into Elizabeth or NoDa after dark some night next time you’re in town. It’s a little bit more hoppin’ than Chili’s.
Surprised that, living in Pineville, you would mention a mediocre BBQ chain (Sonny’s) and not Spoon’s, which is not quite close and mentioned by every single person here in Charlotte whom I’ve asked about good BBQ. I’ve had Sonny’s. Meh.
