The NoDa art gallery crawls are on the first and third Fridays each month and is one of the hottest spots to meet new people in Charlotte.

Harris Teeter was founded here, and the original store still stands at Central Avenue and The Plaza in the Plaza-Midwood neighborhood. H-T is widely considered the most upscale of the big chains. Neighborhoods sometimes agree to shopping-center zoning only if the center includes a Harris Teeter. But Trader Joe's has arrived, with two locations, and the cult is growing. (To understand why, try the jasmine rice and the teriyaki chicken.) For helpful advice on wines, visit Reid's Fine Foods uptown.

Best Free Thing To Do

Evangelist Billy Graham was born here, on a dairy farm near what is now Park Road Shopping Center. The new Billy Graham Library is just a few miles away, and admission is free. The Mint Museum of Art in the Eastover neighborhood, and the Mint Museum of Craft + Design uptown offer free admission during certain Tuesday hours. Free outdoor concerts by the Summer Pops at Symphony Park at SouthPark draw lots of families. Or, tour all the public artwork, including moving sculptures and towering Ben Long frescoes (hot dogs from street carts aren't free, but enhance the experience).

Best Place to Meet New People

Check out the art gallery crawls in NoDa or South End. In NoDa, or The Arts District along North Davidson Street, gallery crawls are on the first and third Fridays of each month from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. In South End, on South Boulevard just south of uptown, the crawls are on the first Friday of each month from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The crawls are for fun. If you want to meet the most movers and shakers in one place -- and buff your bod -- visit the Dowd YMCA on Morehead Street.

Best Place for Young Couples

A Panthers game at Bank of America Stadium uptown. If you know the other person really well, paint your face blue. If not, just don something in the blue, black and silver colors of the Carolina Panthers, the NFL team. Get there early to tailgate.

Best Place to Grab a Beer

Thomas Street Tavern -- which is actually on Thomas Avenue in the Plaza-Midwood neighborhood. (Street? Avenue? Hey, it's a place that rocks to its own beat. For instance, the front patio is pet-friendly and the back patio features outdoor Ping-Pong.) The joint has been recognized by Esquire magazine as one of the nation's best -- but you'll like it anyway.

Best Spot for a Late-Night Bite

Sir Edmond Halley's, which claims it's "clandestinely" located in the "elbow" of Park Road Shopping Center. For the uninitiated, it's a little harder to find than that. A newcomer looking for the place without a local guide might decide it's, well, in a more remote spot of the center's anatomy. It's in the basement. Trust the signs and the locals and take the stairs down.

Best Place to Enjoy a Latte

Julia's Coffee, on Wendover Road next to Habitat for Humanity's ReStore. Charlotte's Habitat for Humanity chapter is among the most active in the country, and the late Julia Maulden was its first director. The funky coffee shop bearing her name was an instant hit -- and regulars swear the reading material is the best in town. Or, try one of Dilworth Coffee's dozen shops in the Charlotte area, including one uptown at the Chamber's visitors' center. Blends are named for local landmarks; try the Morehead, as in Morehead Street.

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