36 Hours in the Queen City of North Carolina

As season ticket holders, we try to go to one away Atlanta United game per season. So far we've been to games in New York/Newark, Cincinnati, Seattle, Montreal, Salt Lake City, San Jose, and Chicago. This season, our schedule has been a little hectic so we settled on a close match in nearby Charlotte, North Carolina over Labor Day weekend. This was a quick trip, we left on a Friday afternoon and returned on Sunday afternoon. We had all day on Saturday in Charlotte to explore before the 7:30 pm kick-off time. To add to the fun, David's work-friend Suraiya and her husband Jacob joined us for the match! They're Charlotte FC fans (which we didn't hold against them).

On our way to Charlotte, we took the scenic route to see some small towns and counties we haven't visited before. This added about an hour and a half to the trip, but overall Charlotte isn't a long trip from Atlanta.

An 1826 farmhouse house near Honea Path, South Carolina. 

Ware Shoals on the Saluda River in South Carolina.

Before rolling into Charlotte around the time it got dark, we ran into a massive thunderstorm. Luckily traffic wasn't bad, because it was pouring buckets. We checked-in at our hotel near Uptown Charlotte, and wanted to walk around but that was out of the question with the weather. Instead we drove to the nearby Optimist Food Hall for a late dinner. It was a little hard to get there, as roads around uptown were flooded and some were even closed due to the rain. The food hall itself was pretty nice, it was similar to some we have in Atlanta: a trendy urban food hall in a former industrial building. In this case it was a textile mill that was once the largest producer of gingham fabric (there was a big fabric industry in Charlotte in the early 20th century). There were several familiar names in the hall (Honeysuckle Gelato, Bottiwalla, etc) as there is a lot of overlap in regional food concepts between Charlotte and Atlanta. We got some BBQ, dumplings, an empanada, and a half pastrami sandwich to try out. Everything was good and we'd recommend this place overall. We went back to the hotel after dinner to rest up for the full day of exploring Charlotte on Saturday before the game.

Inside the Optimist Hall.

Food time!

David with his very expensive half sandwich.

The rain let up a bit by the time we were leaving.

The next morning Paul snuck off before David got up for some coffee at Summit Coffee, a short drive away in the Plaza Midwood neighborhood. After, we decided to go down to the South End to walk along the Rail Trail and see some of that neighborhood. This area is just south of Uptown, and is rapidly developing along the light rail line. There were, again, many similar restaurants and concepts that we see in Atlanta (like Superica), and a fun farmer's market along the trail. 

Morning coffee break!

Choo Choo!

South End reminded us of West Midtown in Atlanta.

A little market.

After wandering around in the hot sun for an hour or so, we decided to go grab some lunch at an Italian place called Little Mama's in the South Park neighborhood. This is a bit of an urban area popping up around a suburban style mall, south of the city. Pretty similar to some places in metro Atlanta. The food and service here were good, definitely an Italian-American red sauce joint, but they make some of their own cheese and pasta fresh.

After lunch we headed off to the Mint Museum Randolph location to check out their collection of mostly ceramics (and some paintings) from around the world. A pretty small museum, overall, it still housed some nice exhibits and is worth a short visit if you're into this sort of thing.

Lunch at Little Mama's.

Ummmm - what's going on in this vase!?

A cool pineapple teapot.

Neat art.

The artist has definitely seen a dog and cat before.

Likewise, those are totally the proportions of human children.

From the Mint Museum Randolph, we headed back to the hotel for a break from the heat. We then had enough time to walk around Uptown to the other Mint Museum (more modern building and modern art) since our ticket was good for both locations. This is definitely worth a stop if you're into modern art, it had some neat exhibits in an expansive space. We then took a lyft and met up with Suraiya and Jacob at Growler's Pourhouse in the  NODA neighborhood. This was another cute neighborhood with lots of lively folks wandering around and what seemed like a flea market in the main commercial drag.

We walked by the NASCAR hall of fame, which has been somewhat of a failure in terms of visitor numbers.

Uptown Charlotte is sorta like a mix between Midtown and Buckhead Atlanta.

Exhibit at the mint museum.

They had a roller coaster carved out of marble!

Civil rights painting.

The NODA neighborhood.

From Growler's, we caught a ride with Suraiya and Jacob to the Bank of America stadium back in Uptown to watch the Atlanta/Charlotte match. The stadium is also next door to a small baseball field and there was a game going on there too (minor league), so the area was very busy and lively.

Heading into the stadium.

Lots of blue, but there were also plenty of Atlanta people around!

Huddle before the game.

The main Atlanta fan section.

We had great seats for this game, and the stadium felt a bit more intimate than the massive Mercedes Benz in Atlanta - even though it's a similar size, the lack of a dome and the uncovered empty upper decks caused this effect. Overall it was a great experience and Atlanta pulled out a surprise upset win! I think our only complaint would be that it was pretty hot at the start of the game. Most people around us were very sweaty and we got a bit dehydrated because we're dumb and didn't buy any water. After the game, we said our farewells to our friends and started the trek back to the hotel. On the way, we passed a Whole Foods and ran in for bevies and a sweet treat to take back to the hotel. A good end to a fun day in Charlotte!

We also walked by the ACC headquarters.

And caught the end of the Notre Dame season opener win on TV at the hotel.

The next morning we slept in a bit, then started the trek back to Atlanta. We (again) took a more scenic route through some rural South Carolina and Georgia cities. We stopped for lunch in Thomson at a fun pizza/Italian place called Fernanda's Grill and Pizzeria (not sure why we did double Italian this weekend). We also stopped in Covington to walk around a bit in their cute downtown.

Paul with a huge plate of zeppole!

Thomson has painted guitars around downtown.

We stopped by what is supposedly the oldest surviving stone house in Georgia.

Big mural in downtown Covington.

We've been to Charlotte a few times now. It's a fun town with a lot of potential. It has a small, fairly urban core and lots of development seeming to improve its urbanity overall, especially along its light rail line. Overall, it does feel less diverse and colorful than Atlanta. There is so much overlap in architectural style, developers, food concepts and overall vibe between the two cities in some places, but Charlotte lacks Atlanta's civil rights history and hiphop culture. We'll definitely be back, and are looking forward to hanging out in more neighborhoods in this rapidly growing southern "little sister" of Atlanta.

Memorial Day in the Smokies

Memorial day snuck up on us this year, but we made last minute plans to drive up to Tennessee and spend a couple of days in the Smoky Mountains. We found a small cabin near Pigeon Forge on AirBnB that was somehow still available. We drove up on Saturday morning, with the intention of stopping in Gatlinburg on the way. However, the town was absolutely packed. To be expected for a holiday Saturday, but it was beyond what we thought it would be. Parking lots were 100% full with gridlock traffic on the streets. Instead we drove up to Pigeon Forge and picked up a couple of alpine coaster credits at Rowdy Bear's Smoky Mountain SnowPark and Skyland Ranch. After settling in at our cabin, we went for dinner at Applewood Farmhouse. The food was bland, but it was atmospheric. We've had a lot of not-so-great food over the years in the Pigeon Forge area. The dining scene could use an upgrade!

Our cabin had a hot tub on the porch and overlooked a lush forest.

The inside of our cabin.

Paul hasn't found a mascot he doesn't love.

The unique go-cart coaster at Rowdy Bear, with the suspended coaster above.

Riding the Wild Stallion at Skyland Ranch.

Dinner time!

Hanging out by the river while we waited for our table.

The fried chicken and greens were good. Everything else was bland. David looks thrilled. Use some spices, people!

Saturday evening it rained through the night. We had been watching the forecast and it looked like Sunday might be a bit of a washout as well. But in the morning the radar looked a better than expected, and it seemed like it wouldn't rain until the afternoon. So we made this our Dollywood day! It worked out really well - although it was a bit chilly, the rain held off and the mere threat of rain kept most of the crowds away. We went straight to the brand new coaster, Big Bear Mountain, which was having some troubles and didn't open up until about an hour later. But we got on the first train of the day. It's a fun family thrill coaster and a great addition to Dollywood. We managed to ride every coaster in the park by early afternoon.

An empty Big Bear Mountain train testing in the morning.

Wheeeee!

Dollywood has a fantastic setting in the mountains.

An installation for the food and flowers festival.

It was cloudy but the rain held off.

Paul waiting to ride the drop tower.

From Dollywood we drove to a new area of Pigeon Forge called the Mountain Mile, which is essentially just a nice strip mall. We had a late lunch / early dinner at Junction 35, which had over-the-top drinks. Paul's smoky margarita came in a literal jar of smoke. We also had "Tennessee poutine!" Even though we were full, we had to get ice cream. A google search showed mostly bad chain options, but one local store stood out - Cruze Farm. This small Knoxville-based chain had decent soft serve, although they didn't have vanilla, which is bizarre.

The Mountain Mile.

Paul at lunch/dinner.

Soft serve time! David was not a fan of their "sweet cream" vanilla replacement.

Pigeon Forge is... a bit of a mess. It's essentially just miles and miles of car-centric strip malls and overpriced tourist attractions, and the target clientele is very conservative. We saw a pizzeria that was promoting an "FJB" pizza, and a store literally named "The Trump Store." The traffic is horrendous - it feels much worse than Atlanta. The redeeming factors are that the surrounding nature is beautiful, there are dozens of coaster credits (a big plus for Paul), and Dollywood is a legitimately great attraction.

Monday morning, Memorial Day, we checked out of our cabin and drove to the Cade's Cove area of Smoky Mountains National Park, which was about an hour drive away. We left early to try to beat the crowds, because the scenic drive in Cade's Cove is a one-way, one lane loop, and we'd heard (and seen videos) that it gets extremely crowded. It wasn't too crowded by the time we got there, then shortly into the loop we hit a big backup. As we slowly crept forward in the car, we saw some rangers ahead, and realized the traffic jam was caused by a bear sighting! The bear was slowly munching its way through a field. We watched for a while, then continued on our way. The loop passes through lush meadows, and past a few historic buildings. We stopped at the visitor center to check out some of the buildings and read about the park.

After the pit stop, instead of going all the way around the loop, we continued south on Forge Creek Road, a well-maintained dirt road, to head toward Atlanta. This is a very lightly travelled road, and was a nice break from the loop. Not too far down the road we saw another bear, this time only about 40 feet or so off the road. We turned the car off and just watched in silence for a while, which was nice. The bear ignored us and slowly ate its way through the clearing.

Great morning views in Cade's Cove.

That's a bear! It was pretty far away but we could see it clearly.

Looking back at the bear jam.

A historic church building.

Nice views on an overcast spring morning.

An old mill building.

Maybe Andy Dufresne's box is buried under this tree.

A black bear!

If not friend, why friend shaped? 

We continued down the road, to the turnoff to Parson Branch Road, which would take us south to a state highway and back toward Atlanta. Unfortunately, there was a sign warning that the road was an 8 mile unimproved dirt road, and 4-wheel drive was recommended. Thanks Google Maps! At this point it would have taken at least 45 minutes (probably longer, due to traffic on the loop road) to backtrack and drive to Atlanta via the more western route, so we decided to risk it. It turned out to be OK - we scraped the bottom of the car once or twice and had to drive through several streams, but we made it. Turns out the road, originally constructed in 1838, reopened last year after a six year closure. Whatever upgrades they made must have helped us out.

Not great, but our Hyundai Ioniq can do this for eight miles. Right?

We drove over dozens of streams, which luckily were paved.

Emerging off the rough dirt road, we were on a state highway known as "The Tail of the Dragon." It's a winding mountain route that is popular with motorcycles. It was a nice scenic drive. A bit down the road we saw a small parking area and an information sign. We pulled over and saw it was a short hiking trail to Yellow Creek Falls, so we took an impromptu hike! It was a nice quick stop to break up the drive. Continuing down the road, we went through Robbinsville, the only city in the area. We had lunch at Lynn's Place before we kept driving toward Atlanta.

Paul at the waterfall.

A little friend we made on the hike.

Overview of the falls.

Passing cabins on a lake.

Corn nuggets at Lynn's place! The menu said "basically fried cream corn."

After driving in to Georgia, we stopped in Blue Ridge, a cute little mountain tourist town. Downtown has a number of shops and restaurants, as well as the station for the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway, which is a four hour round-trip tourist train to another tourist town on the Tennessee border. We stopped in a couple of shops, including Mountain Man Comics.

A classic car in downtown.

The scenic railway leaving downtown.

Downtown is cute.

Yoda and R2D2 in Mountain Man Comics.

We made it back to Atlanta by late afternoon. We still have to get back to the Pigeon Forge area again to pickup some more of the remaining and new alpine coaster credits, and I'm sure we'll be back to Dollywood soon enough!