Uptown, Downtown, Center City
by acemj
The most impressive aspect of Charlotte is its clean, best-face-forward downtown district, which is often called by different names. You might hear it referred to as "uptown" because of its physical setting on relatively high ground. Sometimes its referred to as "center city" because of the move to revitalize the area and bring more people into the are to live. And, of course, the more generic term "downtown" gets thrown around at times. The Bank of America Tower (the tallest building of the nouveau-styled skyline) is one of a handful of attractive and cleanly designed buildings. The second-leading banking center in the US (only New York is bigger), Charlotte's downtown is evidence that corporate dollars abound.
Recent efforts to vitalize downtown have brought a number of trendy and sometimes high-priced restaurants and condos.
Your best bets downtown are as follows:
Restaurants. Eat, eat, eat. There are plenty of good ones here.
Discovery Place- nice science museum, IMAX theater.
Public Library- was national library of the year in 1996.
Erricson Stadium- completed in 1997, home of the NFL's Carolina Panthers.
The Mint Museum of Craft & Design- a surprisingly nice offshoot of the larger Mint Museum, which is located 5-8 minutes south of downtown on Randolph Rd (4th Street turns into Randolph) Eating dinners at the Cajun Queen, a restaurant on 7th Street (near the intersection of Pecan in the heart of the Elizabeth neighborhood).
Cajun Queen has excellent steaks, seafood, and New Orleans cuisine.
It is located in a large (or 'big ole' as they say in the South) house that can provide a romantic or a casual atmosphere. Downstairs, there are two or three fireplaces and upstairs the 7th Street Gator Band will keep your toes tapping with their brass and piano ensemble.
But it's the food that will keep you coming.
(entrees range from $10-$30)
Lake Norman boat/jet ski
by saltwaterandsails
It's a bit of trek - but Lake Norman is good fun.
I hired a jet ski and had a burn.
Warning: It is easy to get disoriented as the Lake is a bit featureless - at least for a visitor.
Some nice housing communities if you are looking to buy a BIG HOME.
Looks can be deceiving
by acemj about Tonic
From the outside, Tonic looks like a dive. The very plain, low brick building doesn't look promising on first inspection. However, inside you'll find a cool place. There is a lounge area right when you walk in with comfortable, funky couches and just to the right you can go outside and sit by the sunken fire pits. It's like being at an urban campfire while sitting on designer cushions.
The bar is long and dominates the center of the interior. The dancefloor is a bit tight, but with 50 or 60 people it's not too bad. They often have interesting acts here and there is a fluctuating cover charge depending who is headlining for the evening.
Pub fare
by acemj about Sir Edmond Halley's
Feel like some Bangors and Mash or some Fish-n-Chips? Well, this British pub is a great place to start. The food is excellent, the beer flows from the taps and the crowd is friendly. Ostrich Meatloaf.
I hope they figure it out
by etfromnc about Wild Wing Cafe
I went there because I have a friend who works there, she was working the day that I went, and I was still disappointed. Whooli's has TVs but does not really strike me as a sports bar. Wild Wing Cafe has a name that makes me think of a relatively small place that would specialize in various styles and flavors of wings but it is definitely a sports bar. To be fair, I must admit that I am not a wings aficionado, so perhaps I should not even write this tip. If you want to go somewhere to watch an athletic event on TV (several of which are large screen), eat wings, and drink, this might be a pretty good place to go. The day that I went, I sat at the bar so that I could talk to my friend and noticed that they did sell a ton of wings and mannnny beers. They do have enough TVs that just about any sporting event which is being televised can be made available to you. I wanted something a bit on the light side the day that I visited, so I ordered a chicken quesadilla. It was served hot and tasted better than a lot do in this area but it could have definitely done with less grease. The chicken was a bit on the sparse side and the chopped pepper chunks were unusually large.
Charlotte
St. Mary's Chapel
Scallop with coco and mango
ATA's 1st Flight to CLT, NC
