Charlotte

I know it's been a while since I have blogged. My apologies. People have been encouraging me to and I have been really struggling with what to write about. But I guess I have been inspired by my mom, who has been writing her daily blog about the sabbatical she and my dad are taking. You can read it here: http://pwetselaar.blogspot.com/

But not yet! Read mine first.

I'm taking just a few days off work to be here. And I'm all about cities, I'd love to live in one someday. We explored downtown Charlotte (side story: my friend Mark who is from here got mad at me when I called it downtown. I guess it's Uptown). I love traffic and stoplights, and professional businessmen, and bridal parties, and joggers, and construction workers, and trains, and cafes, and loud music from people's cars. I love the busyness of cities and Charlotte did not disappoint. Oh I'm proud to say I found 18 cents on the ground the whole day. That's not important, but thanks Charlotte.

I was reminded of how my parents talk to anyone. "It's so cute how your kid is holding onto his blanket." "Ma'am, which way is North?" "We're not actually Panthers fans, can you tell us about the stadium?" "We're trying to take a picture so it looks like we're holding the window washers up!" "What kind of dog is that?" All of these were spoken to random strangers.

We enjoyed delicious burgers in Green's Lunch. I think if you're ever in Charlotte you should go there. And as was recommended to me, we relaxed with some coffee at Amelie's, a cute little cafe. Charlotte's "uptown" city streets has, four? five? more? fountains. Everywhere. I've never seen a city so crazy about fountains on every corner. Misty fountains, waterfall fountains, fountains you can stand under, fountains you can put your feet in, fountains that look like buildings. I mean, fountains are nice. There were just a lot.

After confirming with my dad that the Panthers were, in fact, a football team, we joined the crowd of people waiting to get into the stadium. For free! But first we got more free things: free beaded necklaces (blue for the Panthers) a free pink bear (for breast cancer awareness of all things) and a free temporary tattoo I put on Dad's arm later. Go Panthers!

The stadium was....big! I've always hoped to be in a football stadium some day and I finally was in one! Oh wait, have I even explained why we were there? Well we just stumbled up on it; it was something for fan appreciation and we got to watch the team practice. Woo. Hoo. I just found out that Charlotte even had an NFL football team.

Don't get me wrong, I had fun, I just hardly watched them practice. I spent my time looking at the roster and deciding who the cutest guy on the team was. The answer is #88, Greg Olsen. Oh and I was people watching. Little kids are the cutest in football jerseys or little cheerleader uniforms. Ha! But kids' sized jerseys cost about $40 in the gift shops ($70 for adult sizes!!). No thanks. And I kept my eyes glued to the big screen, waiting to be on camera so I could frantically wave. Anyone would have thought I was really a Panthers fan. Alas, it never happened.

We left before the rush of die-hard fans. Who wants to deal with stadium traffic? I took my parents to Sonic for the first time (shakes half off after 8:00!) and we enjoyed them in our cozy little hotel room while watching Say Yes to the Dress on TLC. "Dad you made us watch football all day, let us watch this." I think one time he said something about someone looking like a cotton ball in their dress.

And now I will be headed back to school and work in the morning, maybe after stopping in Asheville with my ride. My parents are heading out of Charlotte as well.

Forgive me for not writing more often. I really do enjoy it and hopefully soon I will write a blog about what a great summer I have been having. I needed that encouragement from my mom today to write about Charlotte, just as she was. And it's a great city, it deserves being written about.

So long Charlotte, it's time to go back to my mountain.