Moving to Charlotte area!!

[CarolinasFinestDetailing]

Hello fellow Autogeekers!!!

My posts have been few and far between since the spring because I decided to make the move to Charlotte. I am going to be a part of Streamline Auto Care. Huge business opportunity. So my question is, what is there fun to do in the area besides the large mall and the Nascar stuff in Charlotte and Mooresville? I have a 2 year old, so I want some family activities. Zoo? Aquariam?

Hope to meet some of you locals soon.

Johnathon

[Docpeanut]

They're building a light rail, that's gonna be fun. Also, great Q to be had. My wife and I head down a few times a year, I can't give any specifics of things to do since I just don't know. It's a beautiful area though

[TRDTACO]

There's the Carolina Zoological probably about 45 mins from Charlotte. It's the best zoo I've ever been to took the g\f and myself about six hours to walk thru it was huge and they do an amazing job there. There's a North America part and an African part. Would do it again in a heartbeat!

[roguerobot]

Discovery Place is tons of fun for kids, and adults. It's a hands on science center, and very well done. Tons of great parks too. Oh, and there is Carowinds if you like amusement parks. Also fun is the U.S. National Whitewater center, where they have kayaking, rafting,ropes, etc.

Enjoy!

[CDot]

Welcome!

There are many, many fun things to do in the Charlotte area. As a plus, the beach is 3 hrs away (I recommend Wilmington over Myrtle Beach) and the Appalachian mountains (Asheville) are 2 hours away.

-Discovery Place is a nature-themed museum Uptown (what we call our downtown) and great for kids. There is also a Discovery Place KIDS in Huntersville, north of Charlotte.
-The Mint Museum Uptown/Mint Museum of Art & Design offer multiple exhibits throughout the year--as does the Bechtler Museum, Harvey B Gantt Center, & the Levine Museum of the New South
-Spirit Square, Booth Playhouse, Belk Theater, and Knight Theater have Broadway and local plays/performances throughout the year.
-Latta Plantation & the US National WhiteWater Center are awesome outdoor centers with whitewater rafting, rope course, rock walls, horseback riding, etc.
-We have 4 nice malls in the area; Concord Mills & NorthLake are in the northern part of the county and SouthPark & Carolina Place are in the southern part. Each mall has it's own "personality/feel" (i.e. Concord Mills is the fun mall that's filled with outlet versions of major retail stores). They also just opened the Charlotte Premium Outlets outdoor mall in the Steele Creek area a year or so ago.
-We have an IKEA here :-)
-There are multiple festivals throughout the year, like "Taste of Charlotte" where many of the local eateries post-up Uptown and offer food.
-Carolina Panthers, Charlotte Knights baseball, Charlotte Hornets, Charlotte Hounds lacrosse, Charlotte Checkers hockey.
-We have lots of trees and a ton of parks.
-We have many great places to eat. If you want some good BBQ I highly recommend Bobbee O's, Midwood Smokehouse, Saucemans, and Bill Spoon's.
-Check out "Charlotte's Got A Lot" Event calendar here: Charlotte NC Travel & Tourism
-Like above, the North Carolina Zoo (which is pretty big, be prepared to walk) is in Asheboro roughly an hour to the east; the South Carolina Riverbanks Zoo is an hour and half south in Columbia.
-Carowinds is on the border of NC/SC at the southern end of Charlotte.
-Hilton Head, Charleston, Savannah (all beautiful) are within a 4 hour-drive. If you get the opportunity you should visit the Outer Banks as well.

[JSou]

Nice! I'll be down there in October for a show our friends are hosting.

Maybe we can link up?

[CarolinasFinestDetailing]

Sounds good JSou. What show?

Thanks all for the recommendations.

[dcjredline]

I will be joining you soon from Upstate NY to NC!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[RedXray]

Born and raised in Charlotte... used to be a nice place until all those Yankees moved down here J/K



The Greek Festival is coming up on the Sep 10th - 13th. The Greek community in Charlotte own most of the better restaurants here and are really awesome cooks/chefs. The Greeks cook about every cuisine from Italian to good ole southern cooking and of course Greek food. A lot of business people and young professionals hit the greek festival each year during lunch hours.

http://yiasoufestival.org

[CDot]

The Greek Festival is coming up on the Sep 10th - 13th. The Greek community in Charlotte own most of the better restaurants here and are really awesome cooks/chefs. The Greeks cook about every cuisine from Italian to good ole southern cooking and of course Greek food. A lot of business people and young professionals hit the greek festival each year during lunch hours.

This is SO true, and so ubiquitous I don't think most people around here really know.