Top 25 Things to Do in Charlotte, North Carolina
To a, Charlotte, North Carolina may not look like an obvious addition to your record of must-see areas in the United States. Given just a this Southern city, nestled at the rolling hills of the Piedmont plateau, also seems like another quaint, mid-sized city with a small-town charm. However, its surface belies the bustling growing metropolis which Charlotte has been in the last several decades. The Queen City is a must visit, Within this 25 things that you will learn!
Things to See and Do
Camp North End
Where to Drink and Eat
Levine Museum of the New South
Between 2004 and 2014, Charlotte was the fastest growing city in the U.S., bursting in people and becoming a metropolis that’s the proud home of heaps of interesting sites, delicious cuisine, and fascinating attractions which have made Charlotte among the United States’ hidden gems and a holiday destination worthy of even the most experienced travelers. Here are the areas I highly recommend you see during your time at Charlotte, North Carolina’s Queen City.
Breweries and Wineries
U.S. National Whitewater Center
Charlotte, North Carolina is a city with a rich and distinctive history which can be spotted and researched at nearly every turn, and a hub for fun and adventurous activities for people of all ages and experience levels. Below are some of the attractions I highly recommend you check out when you stop by the Queen City.
Charlotte Rail Trail
Camp North End is a 76-acre historical industrial site which used to produce Army missiles and Model Ts and will be home to Charlotte’s largest assemblage of historic buildings, however is currently called a hub for creativity and innovation at Charlotte.
NASCAR Hall of Fame
Haberdish
A Few of the notable landmarks in Camp North End Contain the Entire Water tower, The Mount, the Ford Factory, along with Also the boileryard, which hosts Friday Nights in the Boileryard as well as Morning Airways in the Boileryard about the first Saturdays of Each month between March and October.
Smelly Cat Coffee
A trip to Charlotte Isn’t complete without a deep Dip into the Wealthy and often troubled history of the American South between the end of the Civil War to the present day in the Levine Museum of the New South.
The museum’s award-winning permanent exhibit the”Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers” chronicles the area’s progress throughout the previous 150 decades.
Amélie’s
Coco along with Also the Director
Museum people also have the opportunity to relive a civil rights age sit-in in a lunch counter tops and encounter a range of traveling and changing exhibits that poignantly instruct while being interactive and entertaining. This museum, that is the only museum in the country to focus exclusively on the New South, should not be missed.
7th Street Public Market
The U.S. National Whitewater Center is the world’s premier facility for more than 30 outside activities, such as stand-up paddle boarding, stone climbing, zip lining, mountain biking, kayaking, flatwater kayaking, and some of the best whitewater rafting in the eastern United States. The Center’s Whitewater Race Series invites athletes to compete at sports such as mountain biking, kayaking and trail running, triathlons, and ultra-marathons throughout the year.
Alexander Michaels
Good Foods Montford
As well as its adventure-themed activities, the U.S. National Whitewater Center offers skill development programs like technical education and certification and summer camps for kids and teens. The Center also hosts outside festivals and live songs, including the River Jam concert series, which takes place three times per week through the summer.
Zada Jane’s Corner Café
Charlotte’s Rail Trail at the South End area is a vibrant public Road that winds Throughout the very heart of the city and connects the Sedgefield, Southside Park, Brookhill, Dilworth, Wilmore, South End, and Metropolitan communities.
Price’s Chicken Coop
Midwood Smokehouse
Exploring the Rail Trail is just one of the best techniques to get a feel for what Charlotte is all about. Along the road, cafés, bars, art galleries, museums concerts can be found by you, and also take a seat on a bench and take a break. There are plans in motion to keep on improving the Charlotte Rail Trail, and to turn it in a community of special distances, public art, gardens, and much more.
Dot Dot Dot
The NASCAR Hall of Fame, located in Uptown Charlotte, was constructed between 2007 and 2010, also formally opened on May 11, 2010, to honor the history and legacy of NASCAR, such as motorists who have shown outstanding ability at NASCAR driving, all time excellent team chiefs and owners, broadcasters and other major contributors to the world of NASCAR.
Mert’s Heart and Soul
NoDa Brewing Co..
The high tech hallway, that hosts events for racing and non-racing buffs yearlong, contains about 40,000 square feet of display space, including artifacts, hands on displays plus a 278-seat state-of-the-art theater, Hall of Honor, Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant, Gear Shop, and a broadcast studio. The NASCAR Hall of Fame is a portion of a complex which also comprises the NASCAR Hall of Fame Parking Garage, which contains over 1,000 parking areas, the Crown Ballroom, along with the 19-story NASCAR Plaza Office Tower.
Divine Barrel Brewing
Food civilization is king at the Queen City, where various types of cuisine, such as traditional Southern, low country, Gullah, and Texas- and Carolina-style barbecue are on full screen. Charlotte is not the place to see if you’re looking for a diet, so be ready to pack on a couple of pounds as you take pleasure in the food stylings of those favorites.
Heist Brewery
Together the 3100 block of north Davidson Street in the NoDa arts district, you will discover Haberdish, a Southern kitchen and craft cocktail pub that dives deep to Charlotte’s past by serving Southern cuisine inspired by North Charlotte’s old mill town, which gradually sank into disuse in the 1950s and’60s before it was reinvented and revitalized in the 1980s as the modern day arts district.
Free Range Brewing
Sycamore Brewing
Haberdish offers a distinctly modern twist on classic Southern favorites, even while still remaining true to the ingredients and cooking methods which made the initial dishes so cherished in the first location.
Wooden Robot Brewery
It may share its name with a popular tune from the television series”Friends,” although the inside of Smelly Cat Coffee, located in North Charlotte’s NoDa arts district, is a lot more rustic than the of tv’s most famous fictional java house, Central Perk. Although many people have had a hand in bringing Smelly Cat to fruition since its inception in 1999, 1 thing that has remained the exact same is its concentration on its own regional base of support.
Raffaldini Vineyards and Winery
Shelton Vineyards
This approachable, welcoming coffeehouse roasts their own ethically brewed java, crafts in-season, only source & mix coffees, also contains Nitrogenated Cold Brew Coffee available on tap.
Another popular haunt of sailors in the NoDa arts district is Amélie’s Bakery and Café, located at 2424 North Davidson Street, that serves delicious sandwiches, pastries, breads, yogurt, and coffee in a darkened dining room.
Amélie’s curiously, however nicely, marries French-inspired decoration with Bohemian chic, and includes an eclectic range of mismatched furniture along with offbeat chandeliers. Maybe Amélie’s biggest claim to fame came in 2012, when a number of the bakery’s desserts were showcased at the Hunger Games movie.
At 100 W. Trade Street, you will find Coco along with the Manager, a coffee store that’s as eccentric as it’s innovative. This unconventional addition to Charlotte’s java scene, which is the first separate coffee house in Marriott’s re-branding series, is unique in that, although it serves coffee, pastries, a variety of different types of water, prints, and greeting cards, and additionally, it acts as a space which knowingly promotes connect, community, and cooperation.
Coco and also the Director proves to be a meeting place for local specialists and professionals who wish to satisfy at a setting, which includes. A number of Coco’s other defining features include its own collaborative meeting space, which can be available to all of the coffee shop’s sponsors; three co-lab spaces which are first-come, first-serve; along with board games and semi curated bundles of upward cycled magazines themed about everything from architecture into cooking.
The mission of the 7th Street Public Market is simple: emphasize and observe the food culture of both North and South Carolina while promoting regional and local farmers, food artisans, and entrepreneurs.
This bustling urban food destination in the center of Charlotte’s Center City supplies the local community with refreshing, high quality, and reasonably priced food such as fresh produce, meat, seafood, cheeses, coffee, wines, locally made pizzas, and much more, straight from regional purveyors and local farms, seven days per week. It is among the places you may see in Charlotte should you would like to encourage the local food neighborhood!
In a classic building in the Fourth Ward neighborhood that once put a grocery store that goes back into the late 1800s, you will locate Alexander Michael’s, a homey, comfortable, family-owned restaurant and tavern that anglers call”Al Mike’s.”
Al Mike’s commitment to using only the very finest ingredients is evident in their menu, including mouthwatering dishes like their homemade quinoa burger patties along with their famous spicy crab soup. In addition to their delicious food, Al Mike’s also offers a diverse selection of craft along with beers, a complete bar, and a wine selection that is small.
The motto of Great Food on Montford,”Taste with no borders,” could not be more apt for this small, inviting tapas-style restaurant in the heart of Montford Drive at the Montford neighborhood. The brainchild of chef Bruce Moffett, fantastic Food comes with a small plate, even seasonally-driven menu which constantly evolves and uses only organic and local products.
Good Meals on Montford’s vulnerable bricks, wood ceiling beams, and amazing light fixtures make a cozy atmosphere that’s perfect for any dining experience, also as a James Beard semi-finalist for Best New Restaurant, there is something on the menu for everybody.
In the heart of Plaza Midwood is a glowing, turquoise-colored building that houses Zada Jane’s Corner Café, an eclectic dining area whose inside is equally as brilliant as its exterior. Its walls and art pieces by local designers perfectly exemplify the restaurant special takes on soups, salads, and sandwiches.
Among the Charlotte region’s go-to cafés, Zada Jane’s forte is their breakfast menu, including pancakes, French toast, and omelettes, and can be served daily. It’s clear the Zada Jane’s is serious when it comes to their goal: that nobody leaves hungry or thirsty by offering a variety of seasonal menu additions along with savory throughout the year.
A longtime Charlotte institution as it opened along Camden Road in the South End neighborhood in 1962, Price’s Chicken Coop hasn’t changed much over the outside or the inside at that time.
This takeout area does not deliver, has no customer seats, and is cash-only, and nonetheless, it receives a constant stream of customers throughout the day.
Cost Chicken Coop’s loyal clients from across the Charlotte area do not come for frills; they also come to get a cardboard box of food, such as arguably the city’s finest fried chicken, fries, hush puppies, livers, gizzards, cole slaw, and potato salad, all of which will be reminiscent of these dishes lovingly cooked with a Southern grandma.
Midwood Smokehouse Barbecue, found at the Park Road Shopping Center on Brandywine Road, is strongly rooted at the Marathon Customs of North and South Carolina and Texas.
At Midwood, beef brisket entire hog and grilled meats are dry rubbed and slow cooked on North Carolina hickory wood.
The mouthwatering things on Midwood’s menu comprises a quesadilla stuffed with the choice of smoked brisket, pork, pork, or chicken along with caramelized onions and poblano peppers; pimento cheese chips topped with either chopped pork or beef brisket; a toss and brisket hamburger called The Roadhouse; along with hickory-smoked pulled chicken dressed at a South Carolina mustard sauce. The food in Midwood is top notch, and the cooks made a flavor feeling I won’t soon forget.
To get a more private culinary-driven bar encounter, look no further than Dot Dot Dot, a members-only, first-come first-served speakeasy that offers classic cocktails, an extensive whisky collection, also refreshing, tasty cuisine whose components come straight from local farmers and purveyors. Dot Dot Dot has limited seats, so come early, be patient, and remember to stick to along with the rules of the establishment, also includes a dress code of business or smart casual.
Dot Dot Dot’s award-winning mixologist, Stefan Huebner, is a 25 year veteran of the hospitality industry and has also worked at local haunts including Cosmos Cafe along with Heist Brewery. He began his culinary journey at the age of 16 and worked as butcher and a baker prior to directing his kitchen as chef and earning a culinary diploma. His years of experience could be seen in Dot Dot Dot’s exquisite menu, which includes things such as Ahi lettuce, Prince Edward Island mussels, American beef tartare, vegetable tempura octopus that was Spanish, and ricotta gnudi.
Among Charlotte’s best dining destinations would be a colorful restaurant called Mert’s Heart and Soul, which specializes in soul foods, low-country cuisine, along with Gullah-inspired dishes, and is run from the husband-and-wife group of James and Renee Bazzelle. The restaurant started in 1998, and has now become one of Charlotte’s most well-known restaurants and has received acclaim from food reviewers, people, and even the popular Food Network series”Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.”
Mert’s Heart and Soul’s signature dish is the most unconventional Spirit Roll, an egg roll wrap packed with collard greens cooked with adobo, black-eyed beans, seasoned rice, along with diced grilled chicken. However, the restaurant is also well known for its macaroni, along with its yummy shrimp & grits, Charleston rice and cheese.
Beer and wine tradition in the vicinity of Charlotte are nearly as popular and notable as its food culture, which is saying a lot. With two dozen local breweries, and dozens of wineries in the metro area and the neighboring Yadkin Valley, the Charlotte area is a refuge for local and traveling beer and wine connoisseurs, and also the breweries and wineries listed below are some of the region’s absolute finest. One of those 25 things that these were some of the very best!
Boasting a knowledgeable staff, popular live audio events, along with twenty five beers on tap, it is no surprise that NoDa Brewing Company, that may be found at the arts field of the identical title, is known among Charlotte’s finest. This barroom, which overlooks a local brewery that offers free tours, is noted for tentative staff, its atmosphere, and superior service.
The brewing business hosts diverse and fun events many times per week, that run the gamut from their new Dog Walking app, BYOD; a conduct club which takes participants throughout the NoDa area; and even Harry Potter sleepless nights. NoDa Brewing Company is known for its commitment to the city of its people and Charlotte by employing nearly 50 local residents, artists when possible and hiring neighborhood businesses, and encouraging more than a hundred regional charities.
At Divine Barrel Brewing, among those NoDa arts district popular breweries, you’ll feel the group’s passions for neighborhood; making and sharing quality, unique beers; and wild and sour beers. You’ll discover ten beers on tap all with titles as unique and eye-opening because their flavors, in Divine Barrel area. Once youenjoyed a cold, sterile Willie the Pimp or’ve chosen a few sips of some drama in Traffic, you are going to be certain there is a beer for everyone, and a little bit of everything, in Divine Barrel Brewing.
Behind the scenes, the Divine Barrel’s focus lies in developing and building their own barrel and foeder application, which allows the staff to share their excitement for wood fermented and wood-aged beers using Charlotteans and people from around the planet.
Still another of NoDa’s popular breweries, Heist Brewery concentrates on small pile beer such as traditional IPA’s and Double IPA’s, Belgian Table Beers, Porters, Saisons, along with Imperial Stouts. The brewery also boasts a comprehensive Craft Cocktail program for those who favor the art of mixology, also over 100 whiskeys.
Heist’s tapas-style shared plate menu showcases wood-fired specialties (including chicharrones, barbecued jackfruit tacos, quesadillas, parmesan truffle chips, along with a range of dips and flatbread sandwiches) with the goal of raising the bar of pub food into the next level. The chefs of the brewery produce from local farmers and purveyors to ensure quality and freshness in the foods they serve to their guests and get their meat.
NoDa’s Free Range Brewing is the Lifetime’s work of brothers Jeff and Jason Alexander.
The value of family and community into the Alexander brothers is showcased inside their space’s ability to accommodate a variety of events and parties, and its willingness to welcoming families and guests with small children; there is even a small play area for them to have fun while their families enjoy on-tap beers with names like Holy Cucumbers, Batman! ; Bob’s Pure Intentions; Jenny, Set The Field On Barracuda Bill’s; along with Fire.
Taps at Free Range Brewing are always rotating with fresh items for sponsors to try, and there are always new items for people to experience. On specific days, you may enjoy your favourite beer when jamming out into the live musicians Free Range hosts through their buddies.
After spending the last ten years perfecting their beer recipes, the husband-and-wife duo of Justin and Sarah Brigham set outside to brew beers which bring individuals together. Their dream was realized when they started the Sycamore Brewing, that has used the freshest ingredients imaginable to brew organic, yummy craft beer since its establishment at 2013.
At this 15-barrel brewery you’ll discover classic designs, seasonals, innovative experimental recipes, wine, and cider on tap. When you see with Sycamore Brewing, You Must try their South Girl Lager, that won a bronze medal in the 2015 Great American Beer Festival, and the brewery itself was named North Carolina Ale Brewery of the Year from the New York International Beer Competition.
From the South End neighborhood you’ll discover Wooden Robot Brewery, that was established by childhood friends Dan Wade along with Josh Patton. After traveling about Europe and getting his MSC at Scotland in Brewing and Distilling, president Dan and head brewer brought his enthusiasm into Wooden Robot for farmhouse beers.
The brewery offers seventeen delicious beers with creative names like Good Morning Vietnam, What He Is Having, What She’s Having, also I Funks Wit It, and their enthusiastic and knowledgeable”beertenders” take a cicerone certification to make sure that they share the brewery’s founder’s commitment to preservation and invention.
Raffaldini Vineyards & Winery sits on a 102 acre estate in a picturesque area of the North Carolina countryside Called the Yadkin Valley American Viticultural Area, Together Using All the nearby Blue Ridge Mountains serving as a backdrop.
Along with supplying group tastings of their wines and walking tours of their vineyards, Raffaldini hosts pizza ovens and food trucks, also also supplies a selection of local and imported Italian foods which are hand-selected to balance with their wines.
Six distinct types of grapes are grown within their vineyard, along with the vineyard’s location near the Yadkin River and Blue Ridge Mountains, altitude of 1200 feet, and exceptional soil conditions provide the grapes a specific terroir and helps construct their acidity and sophistication. Raffaldini has also created an Certified Wildlife Habitat which is home to butterflies, birds, frogs, and other wildlife and can be now recognized by the National Wildlife Federation.
Shelton Vineyards, also located in North Carolina’s Yadkin Valley, Has Been Established by brothers Charlie and Ed Shelton in 1999, Also is among the largest vineyards on the east coast of the United States.
The vineyards were pictured by the brothers as a fresh source for an area that had been determined by tobacco farming. Growing season and the region’s climate is comparable to that of some of the most effective wine-growing regions in Europe. All ten varieties of vitis vinifera grapes grown at Shelton use marijuana wood of European source grafted upon Native American rootstocks to make vines which are more resistant to infection.
Shelton Vineyards uses a mixture of French, American and Hungarian oak barrels to offer give flavor and structure to the wine. Shelton’s three-dimensional rooms are temperature controlled, if desired along with the temperature in each area can be corrected. Shelton Vineyards generates over 2000 cases per day, or 52 bottles per second, and therefore are published following a period of bottle aging right into the wine for sale.
I was lucky enough to invest four incredible days researching Charlotte, North Carolina. This was my first time there and it took me a matter of hours to fall in love with the city’s unique food landscape, beer culture and its wine, and needless to say, its own friendly, wonderful folks. Charlotte may not yet be the tourist mecca that additional, larger cities across the United States are, but with its tasteful elegance, wide selection of activities for people of all ages, along with its heartwarming charm, I have no doubt that it will soon be regarded as a must-visit destination which everybody should experience at least once.
Thank you, Queen City, for curing me with this much kindness and love. I can’t wait to come back! If you enjoyed this high 25 things to do in Charlotte article please leave us a comment below!
Enormous thanks to Charlotte’s Got Alot for hosting me!