Queen City

Last Saturday we went to Charlotte for the day. It's only a three hour drive and there were a few festivals going on so we decided to make a day trip out of it. The first thing that we did was going to the Taste of Charlotte festival. Easily one of the coolest things I've done, I don't know why more cities don't do this. Charleston has one but it's in September so we will miss it. So basically, you go and buy these tokens that look just like this

and then you walk through a bunch of tents. Some tents are companies or do things like face painting, but most of them are food. There are all kinds of different restaurants that come out for this, and so for a few tokens you can try what they have to offer. There was also a bunch of free sampling going on, so we were happy kids. We tried crab cakes, pizza, thai peanut chicken, tikki masala, ice cream, the most delicious macaroni and cheese I've ever had, a shrimp po boy sandwhich, and more. It was so fun to try so many different types of food, and for pretty cheap! Live concerts were going on, there was a guy doing escape tricks, and a girl on a trapeze. What more could you want?

After the food fest, we went to the University of North Carolina Charlotte campus. I know it's weird, but I read online that they have some really cool botanical gardens. So we went to check them out, and they were really pretty! The campus isn't bad either.

 

By this time we were feelin a little worn out. So we decided to go find a park and just chill. We ended up at this really cool park with paddle boating and fountains, and a whole lot of geese. Now I have a fear of geese ever since a goose at my grandpa's farm chased after me and tried to bite me. So I was feeling a little bit uncomfortable next to these beasts, which only got worse after this family next to me started feeding them. They came over in swarms and would get really close to me expecting me to feed them. It was very disconcerting. Anyways, we hung out here for a while and then went and got some dinner at a delicious Greek place because let's face it, that's about the only thing we hadn't eaten earlier. After dinner it was time for us to go back uptown for the Shakespeare festival. They were doing The Taming of the Shrew set in Arizona. It was strange sounding, but we decided to go for it anyways, and I was actually very impressed. It was hilarious and clever but still kept up the main points of the play and still felt very "Shakespearesque".  The play was outside in a little park right downtown called The Green. There were a whole bunch of signs and sculptures around, it was pretty cool.

After the play it was pretty late and time for us to start our drive home. We walked right past the NASCAR headquarters and hall of fame to get to our car so we looked for a little bit. Rusty loves anything with checkered flags, so he was so excited to see these crosswalks!

When we were pretty close to the car, something TERRIBLE happened. I have heard a lot about Palmetto bugs (they are supposed to be like cockroaches) but I still haven't seen any. Well, my lucky streak ended right there on that sidewalk. One came rushing out of the grass at me, then two, then three, then four. It was a mad dash all around, and those things are freaking fast and I tell you what, they were CHARGING me. I'm not even kidding. They run right at you! And they are FAST. And BIG. It was terrifying, and ended with me literally running and screaming down the sidewalk because I was so scared of them. Rusty had to carry me to the car, which was difficult for all of his laughing. All in all, Charlotte is a beautiful city with friendly people, awesome food, and awful attack bugs.