Charming Charlotte

I opted to be a little less adventurous in Charlotte. I got here Sunday night after spending the day in Alexandria doing laundry, watching chick flicks and writing. I sort of played house all day before hitting the road. It was nice. When I got to Charlotte, I was all too content to maintain the same pace. So, Monday morning, I woke up had breakfast, watched some morning shows: Live with Kelly and Michael, The View – did you know Katie Couric has her own daytime show now? It was ABCs “Day of Helping” so they were raising money for Hurricane Sandy relief. It was a perfect fall day here, crisp and colorful. My parents lost the oak in our backyard to the storm and the sight of the trees made me homesick and sad for what Sandy may have done to our home and my fellow Jerseyans homes. Luckily, my sister and her baby were over at my parents, where they have power back (after six days without it), so I was able to have a nice Skype chat with the four of them. All this prompted me to write a piece about New Jersey and the Shore, which I assure will be along shortly, however my perfectionist ways make it tough to get these things posted quickly and something about Jersey I’d like to be as close to perfect as is possible. It’s funny; these little entries are beginning to feel a little like diary excerpts except that I know people will be reading, so how honest do I really want to be? I suppose we will see.

In Charlotte, I stayed with a friend that I met through my work with Jack Daniel’s. She works from home now, so she took me for a mini tour of the city. We went to lunch in the Elizabeth neighborhood. It was adorable. She showed me this really cool looking bar called Kennedy’s and told me about Chilly Willy, the most famous homeless man in all of Charlotte. That afternoon we went for a run around her neighborhood. In the town where I live now, we have Greenways for biking and running. In Valentine, the sidewalks are wide and paved and perfect for a run around the block. The weather and our pace were both perfect; it was an ideal run.

Later that evening, we went to Happy Hour for drinks with some people she works with. She works for Anheuser-Busch so there was a lot of business talk. I had little to contribute but I still enjoyed listening. Working at a Microbrewery and doing work with Brown-Forman liquor brands, I have a rough understanding of the things they were discussing. I’ve always been intrigued by brand building and marketing, so hearing about it from a beer standpoint was pretty neat. My friend, her co-worker and I decided to make the night a full on girls’ night. We left the bar after a couple bottles of wine and returned home. We donned our warm PJs, set the iPod on shuffle and popped open a couple more bottles of wine. By the end of the night, the conversation was slurred but no less interesting and fruitful. We agreed the next morning that it was a fantastic girls’ night – one of the best.

Something I’m glad to see is that everyone I’ve stayed with so far has fully stocked liquor cabinets. It’s not essential to being an adult or calling the place you live “home,” but I like it. So far on this trip, three of the best nights I’ve had haven’t been out at a bar, they’ve been staying in with friends. Maybe the liquor cabinet is representative of the company you keep. These people don’t have to go to a bar, they know everyone they need to know to enjoy themselves and feel whole? Not to say they limit themselves from meeting new people, of course. 

Tuesday morning – well, afternoon – was definitely a struggle. I don’t know what we were thinking, I guess we thought we were 21 again? The hangover was quick to remind us that we are not. My friend, Chandler, drove me around uptown of the Queen City. It was small, like my current city’s downtown, but charming and so clean. She showed me the Bank of America Stadium, where the Carolina Panthers play. We went to see the largest houses I’ve ever seen in my life in Myer’s Park. It’s a long road with old, historic, gigantic houses. Finally, we went shopping at her friend’s store. 

I found an amazing BCBG sweater and some shorts and I even bought jewelry. I’m not much for jewelry; I never buy it because I don’t think I’ll ever wear it. Then when I get dressed and need to accessorize, I’m, what some like to call, S.O.L. I found three pieces of jewelry: a ring, earrings and a bracelet, that I never would have bought for myself before but decided that for the price and the adventure of it all, I would go for it.

All in all, I didn’t see much of Charlotte like I did DC but somehow I’m still sad to leave. Chandler was so generous to open her home to me and it’s been so comfortable and I’ve been pretty productive here. I’ve enjoyed Charlotte because it’s not too much unlike my current city. Also, I was with like-minded, interesting people who were quick to embrace me and make me feel at ease… could’ve also been the liquor cabinet, but I’m fairly certain it was not.

At the end of the day I’d have to give Charlotte the tally mark!

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