Charlotte Essentials

Locals share Charlotte's best places for your everyday needs

By Allen Norwood, FrontDoor.com | Published: 10/02/2008

Located uptown, the hands-on learning facility, Discovery Place, is a great place to take the kids.

Best Place To Do Something "Outdoorsy"

Olympic kayak hopefuls train at the U.S. National Whitewater Center, but you don't have to be a world-class athlete to have a good time. Take a raft or kayak down the artificial rapids, or sit on the restaurant patio. There's a climbing wall and mountain bike trails through the nearby woods. Parking is $5 per car.

Best Spot To Dance

For country line dancing, Coyote Joe's on Wilkinson Boulevard west of uptown. For South Beach-style Latin, visit LaTorre's Restaurant on Fifth Street uptown after the dinner crowd departs. Young newcomers should check out the late-night clubs clustered on North College Street uptown. Older dancers new to Charlotte should be warned that "shagging" doesn't mean what Austin Powers meant. It's dancing to classic R & B oldies by the Drifters, the Temptations and others. If the DJ spins "Stay" by local legend Maurice Williams, everybody in the joint will claim to have run into him at Harris Teeter that very morning.

Best Location for the Kids

Visit the Discovery Place hands-on science museum or ImaginOn, a collaboration of the public library and Children's Theatre. They're uptown, just a few blocks apart. Park near the southern end of the Lynx Blue Line light-rail line. There's a park-and-ride lot at South Boulevard and I-485. Take the kids uptown on the train.

Best Funky Local Business

For a gift for that special someone, visit the Paper Skyscraper on East Boulevard in the Dilworth neighborhood. Or spring for lunch at Price's Chicken Coop, the take-out fried chicken joint on Camden Road just south of uptown. At Price's, you'll stand in line with bank execs and construction workers. If you're lunching with someone from out of town and really want to show off your intimate knowledge of Charlotte, order the fried gizzards.

Best View of the City

The rooftop patio at the Mint Museum of Art + Craft, 220 N. Tryon St. Or, a couple of blocks away, the top of the parking deck at Seventh Street Station, the northern terminus of the Lynx Blue Line light rail. (Be warned: The security guy is friendly but won't let you take pictures.) If you'd enjoy a hike instead of an elevator ride, Crowders Mountain State Park just west of the city. You can't view the city from the top floors of the bank buildings for security reasons, but if you're planning a special dinner for an anniversary or the like, the nighttime view from Bentley's on 27 is stunning and romantic. The restaurant is on the top floor of the Charlotte Plaza building.

Read More About Charlotte, NC:

• Search Homes for Sale in Charlotte
• Profile of Charlotte
• Five Great Neighborhoods in Charlotte
• Local Life and Lore in Charlotte
• Charlotte: Like No Place Else
• Charlotte: The Hub of NASCAR
• Slideshow: Get to Know Charlotte, NC

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