Let me start first by saying, I LOVE Charlotte, NC! This city and stadium are hands down my favorite in the International League. Charlotte was one of the first cities I ever visited SAL in so it will always be near and dear to my heart. However, it also has SO much to offer. They do a great job of keeping the city clean. There are a lot of young professionals in the downtown area. Plus, people are always out and about doing something in the city. How could you not love it? Tonight I am recapping my short trip to Queen City and highlighting some of our favorite things to do when we visit, some new places we checked out this time, and everything in between.
One thing we do each year I get to visit Charlotte is go to the US Whitewater Center. This huge outdoor place features: the world's largest man-made whitewater rafting river, zip lines, a ropes course, stand-up paddle boarding, kayaking, rock climbing, and so much more! This center is truly a playground for both children and adults who love outdoorsy adventures. This was our third year coming here and each year we have done different activities. This year we chose to do all of the water activities. Living in FL we get to do a lot of kayaking and stand-up paddle boarding. But, we had never done it here before . It was a BEAUTIFUL day when we went and we just really wanted to enjoy ourselves along with some sun. This was a good choice. However, if you are visiting and have never been then my suggestions for must do's are going to be the zip lines for sure. They have trained staff who walk you through how to properly gear up as well as secure you on each zip. I believe there are 4 zips total and they are hands down my favorite activity there. I would also recommend the ropes course. Do not overestimate your level of fitness here. Even the beginner level is a challenge. I felt like I was on that American Ninja Warrior show just trying to make it through! Extremely fun and challenging at the same time. You gotta give it a go.
Charlotte Knights have a lot of local brews at the stadium, which I love! However, at least one game of a series I have to get one of these bad boys. This stadium is one of the only ones I have found that have a drink like this. This is a Mango Lime-a-Rita frozen. Now, it tastes totally different than the malt beverage normally tastes in the can. This frozen beverage is way lighter on your stomach but still sweet and tasty. It is a perfect combination at a hot baseball game! They offer them in: mango, strawberry, raspberry, and original lime flavor.
One would think that because I do not eat meat that there isn't much for me to choose from food wise at a baseball stadium. When you think of stadium food you think of hot dogs and hamburgers. Well, I have made it almost like a game for me to scope out stadiums and see what type of non-meat foods I can find and make as a snack. The Knights stadium does actually offer a black bean burger, which sounded tempting. But, I am a big Mexican food gal and that is probably the easiest food to make vegetarian or even vegan. So that's what I went with! :) Here I had the street tacos, also offered as nachos, but without chicken or steak. I had rice, black beans, lettuce, onion, tomato, and salsa, and voila! A simple and delicious dinner right there at the ballpark.
The kids play area at the stadium is quite large and very impressive! Here they offer the little fans various activities such as a rock climbing wall, a jumbo Homer bounce house, a speed pitch, a large slide, and other little activities for the kids to do. In previous years I have even seen a carousel there! This area of the stadium is always packed with parents and little Knights fans. BB&T ballpark definitely draws a crowd for the whole family!
My favorite thing about Friday night baseball: the fireworks after the game!
We found out that Charlotte has 45 local breweries! Wow.. 45. That is a lot. There was no way that we were going to be able to visit all of them, but we definitely started marking off a few while we were there.
Birdsong Brewing Company is the official beer for the Knights. Therefore, we had to go check them out! I love that SAL and I have very similar tastes in beer because we can each get a flight and sample a little of everything the brewery has to offer. We enjoyed all of the beers that we tasted and the company from our bar tender. We will definitely be back!
The second brewery we checked out was called The Wooden Robot. This place was super neat! One side of the building was the brewery and the other side was a Gastropub for food. We obviously checked out both!
The Wooden Robot had probably the tastiest Brussel sprouts I have ever had in my life. This was SAL's choice, which was surprising because he loves his sprouts with bacon. However, we were both highly pleased with this choice. The Brussel sprouts were flash fried, tossed in an Asian vinaigrette, and topped with fresh parmesan cheese. The picture and description can't even do them justice. You have to try them yourself!
Our other option on the Gastropub side was the veggie flatbread because, pizza. This was also a very delicious and tasty choice. We were very pleased with both the beer and food at the Wooden Robot!
Being a foodie we have certain places in cities that we like to frequent. We also love finding new places to try. Where we stay in Charlotte is conveniently located to both some of our favorite food spots and new places that have been going in as the city is growing.
SAL is a big breakfast guy and found this place, Hazelnuts Creperie, when he first started coming to Charlotte a few years ago. He introduced it to me 2 years ago and it is always a must have when I'm in town now. Each crepe is cooked to order. They have an extensive menu of sweet and savory options, or you can simply build your own. We normally like to get one savory and one sweet and share! Hazelnuts also offers freshly brewed hot and cold coffee to pair with your crepe.
We do love us some Hazelnuts crepes. However, we try to only have it one morning per visit as we eat a bit healthier the other mornings. This trip we waited until my last day in the city to enjoy crepes after a workout. I think my face shows how excited I was to finally have this crepe! Notice there is even a bite already missing!
This visit someone at the gym we went to told us about a new market called the Rhino Market and Deli. This place was fantastic! They had draft beer, bottled beer and wine, healthy snacks galore, and a fresh market. The market had breakfast options, salads, and lunch sandwich options. Yes, they definitely have vegan and vegetarian options, just like my sandwich pictured here. An all fresh and raw veggie sandwich with a hummus base on sourdough bread. We ate here twice while we were in town and were pleased each time.
Also, apparently I'm an impatient eater and can't wait for a picture before trying my food. That or it was right after a workout and I was starving. Either way, oops!
Another new place we tried this visit was a place called B.Good. This place was located right next to the Rhino Market and Deli and conveniently close to where we were staying. B.Good was particularly awesome because everything was local! They get all of their food from North or South Carolina and rotate ingredients depending on the seasons and harvest times. Their saying is, "Food with Roots." If you've been following long, we love to support local. Not only was B.Good a great choice for that, but their food was fantastic. I chose a grilled tofu salad while SAL opted for a burger that day, which he said was delicious as well.
One thing we capitalize on during my visits are off days! These days are rare so when one happens to fall in the schedule while I am in town, we try and make the most out of it. The off day we had in Charlotte ended up being rainy. But, we still had a great time! We started off our day with a workout. Later on in the afternoon we went to check out the Birdsong Brewery and we ended our evening with a little date night at Duckworth's Grill & Tap-house.
This place was awesome! The upstairs of Duckworth's was a little sports bar. They offered a variety of beer and specialty cocktails as well as a bar food menu. Downstairs at Duckworth's was a completely different restaurant scene! The downstairs portion was a speak-easy restaurant and craft cocktails kind of spot. Everything we had from our appetizer to our dessert was phenomenal. The restaurant portion was very dimly lit, so I do not have pictures, but I think that makes it even better.. the suspense of having to go see for yourself!
Staying fit and healthy is something both SAL and I are passionate about. Therefore, finding local gyms are always on the top of our to-do list. During our visit to Charlotte this time we dropped into a crossfit gym called Reebok Crossfit Charlotte-Uptown. This facility was large and very nice! It was located in the city to where we could walk to and from each day. They also offered classes late enough in the day that this teacher on a break could sleep in a bit, but not too late to conflict with baseball game times. It worked out very nicely.
Partner workout with a partner farmers carry for 100 meters each. I surprisingly had less struggles than imagined when we had to switch places! You should have seen the looks on the peoples faces having breakfast across from the gym. Maybe their cheers of encouragement gave me more strength than normal!
A big thanks again to Reebok Crossfit for having us while we were in town!
Another glorious trip to Charlotte, NC is in the books! Let me know if you check some of these places out next time you're in town and what you think about them. Also, feel free to send me some other great things to do or see in Charlotte in case I get a chance to make it back this season!