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COVID-19 Advice: If you do plan on traveling, please be smart and responsible for yourself and others.  Practice social distancing and wear a mask when deemed necessary.  Be respectful of other's well being and stay safe.

Charlotte, NC

Updated: August 7th, 2020

Below is a list of best places I would visit on a trip to this location. My picks fit my personality and interest. Everyone has a different interest so you may not like everything I listed which is fine.  If you like a place, I recommend saving it to Google Maps for a future trip down the road. I made sure to include the address or GPS to make it easier to find.  You can find out more about me in the "About Me" section to see if we share common interests.

​​In the info below, the yellow cost number is just an estimated amount at the time I checked their website; over time, the amount could change.  With the cost of a hotel room, I'm pricing a queen bed for two people for a night on the weekend, and the amount shown is before taxes.  These figures are just a rough estimate of what places could cost, so if incorrect, I apologize.

Breakfast

- Duck Donuts

1710 Kenilworth Ave #220, Charlotte, NC 28203

They have locations all over the United States. I like the made to order concept, fried the cake-based doughnut on the spot, and add the toppings afterward creating a fresh donut. You can pick a long list of signature creations like Blueberry Lemonade, Chocolate Explosion, or create your own flavor profile. If you want your donut as a dessert, Duck Donuts also make sundaes and milkshakes.

- Reigning Doughnuts

3120 N Davidson St STE 100, Charlotte, NC 28205

Reigning Doughnuts is one of the best donut places in Charlotte.  They have a variety of flavors and a special daily donut, for example, Sunday is the Peanut Butter Banana donut.

Activities

- Carowinds

300 Carowinds Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28273

Carowinds is one of the top theme parks for roller coasters in the world. (rank 5th)  The theme park sits on the border of South Carolina and North Carolina.  Carolina Harbor is a water park that is part of Carowinds.  Some people say it is the best waterpark in North and South Carolina, so bring your swimming trunks along.

Top 3 Rides for Me:
1. Copperhead Strike -The Carolinas' First Double Launch Coaster
2. Fury 325 - The world’s tallest, fastest giga coaster.
3. Intimidator- It is one of the top 10 tallest steel roller coasters in North America

- U.S. National Whitewater Center

5000 Whitewater Center Pkwy, Charlotte, NC 28214

The U.S. National Whitewater Center is an outdoor center that offers 30 different recreational activities, including biking, climbing, and whitewater rafting.  They have the world’s largest manmade, recirculating whitewater river. Each raft is led down the class II-IV whitewater by a professional guide.  The Whitewater Center is also home to the world’s first Deep Water Solo Climbing Complex, which features five walls ranging in height from 20 – 45 feet arched over a 20-foot-deep pool.  The outdoor host’s international competitions in a variety of sports, along with numerous festivals/events regularly.

- NASCAR Hall of Fame

400 E M.L.K. Jr Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28202

The NASCAR Hall of Fame explores the legacies of the racing legends while immersing the excitement, passion, and history of NASCAR through ever-evolving exhibits and over 50 different interactive experiences.  My two favorite experiences were the pit stop challenge and iRacing simulator in full-size racing cars.  The next time I visit, I will do the “Racers Insider” tour, which is the NASCAR Hall of Fame, lunch, and boarding a private motorcoach to visit various race shops and other local racing attractions.

- Levine Museum of the New South

200 E 7th St, Charlotte, NC 28202

The Levine Museum presents a variety of interactive and immersive exhibits covering the history and cultures of the New South from the end of the Civil War in 1865 to today. The centerpiece of Levine Museum is the award-winning exhibit, Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers: Reinventing Charlotte and the Carolina Piedmont in the New South. Spanning 8,000 square feet and including more than 1,000 artifacts, images, video clips, music, and oral histories, the exhibit uses Charlotte and its 13 surrounding counties as a case study to illustrate the profound changes in the South since the Civil War. - Taken from their website

- Discovery Place Science

301 N Tryon St, Charlotte, NC 28202

Lunch/Dinner

- ACE No. 3

1001 Belmont Ave, Charlotte, NC 28205

ACE No. 3 was voted best burger by Charlotte Magazine in 2020.  I would order “The Ace,” which is two patties with American cheese, house-made pickles, onions, comeback sauce, and need to add the bacon.

- Price's Chicken Coop

1614 Camden Rd, Charlotte, NC 28203

Price's Chicken Coop serves the best southern fried chicken in Charlotte.  They will only accept cash.

- South 21 Drive In

3101 E Independence Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28205

A “Jumbo Cheeseburger”, a double cheeseburger with lettuce tomato and fries

- Banh Mi Brothers

230 E W.T. Harris Blvd suite a7, Charlotte, NC 28262

Banh Mi Brothers placed number #93 in the list of top 100 places to eat in 2020 by Yelp.  I would order the Porchetta - Heo Quay, roasted pork belly, cracklings, and a sweet-savory sauce on warm crusty bread.

- Room and Board

3228 N Davidson St, Charlotte, NC 28205

Detroit Style Pizza - Weds is ½ price pizza

Places to Stay

- Kimpton Tryon Park Hotel

303 S Church St, Charlotte, NC 28202

+ The #4 in Best Charlotte Hotels 2020" via U.S. News & World Report
+ Walking distance of popular attractions
+ Cool rooftop bar on the 19th floor
+ A yoga mat in every room, free of charge also complimentary yoga class on the deck on the third Thursday of the month from April - September

The average cost a night on a weekend in August $184

Website

21 and Up Fun

- Triple C Brewing Company

2900 Griffith St, Charlotte, NC 28203

+ Fifteen barrel brewhouse.
+ Won three bronze medals for their 3C IPA, Zest-A-Peel, and Citra Acid Test at the Great American Beer Festival.
+ Try "Zest-A-Peel," a blonde ale (5.2% ABV) brewed with a sprinkle of Citra hops and a heavy dose of orange zest oil.
+ Current Hours (As Dated at Top) : Tues-Weds 4pm-9pm Thurs-Fri 4pm-10pm Sat 12pm-10pm Sun 12pm-8pm

- Birdsong Brewing Co.

1016 N Davidson St, Charlotte, NC 28206

+ Twelve rotating beers on tap inside the taproom
+ Small batch THURSty THURSdays are their favorite rare one-off beers or chance to try a new recipe.
+ FREE brewery tours are available by request
+ Try "MexiCali Stout," a stout (5.8% ABV) brewed with Warm coffee and cinnamon to complement a smooth chocolate flavor in our full-bodied stout.
+ Current Hours (As Dated at Top) : Tues-Fri 3pm-10pm Sat 11amm-10pm Sun 11am-8pm

- NoDa Brewing Company

2921 N Tryon St, Charlotte, NC 28206

+ Fifteen barrel brewhouse.
+ Twenty-Eight rotating beers on tap inside the taproom
+ Free Brewery Tours - Check Online for Times
+ Try "Hop, Drop ‘n Roll," an American IPA (7.2% ABV)
+ Current Hours (As Dated at Top) : Thurs 4pm-9pm Fri 3pm-10pm Sat 12pm-10pm Sun 12pm-7pm

- Wooden Robot Brewery

1440 S Tryon St #110, Charlotte, NC 28203

+ Urban farmhouse brewery
+Seventeen rotating beers on tap inside the taproom
+ Try "Good Morning Vietnam," a blonde ale (5.0% ABV) brewed with locally roasted Ethiopian Coffee from our friends at Enderly Coffee Roasters and rich Madagascar Vanilla Beans.
+ Current Hours (As Dated at Top) : Tues-Thurs 4pm-10pm Fri 4pm-11pm Sat 12pm-11pm Sun 12pm-8pm

Out of Bounds

- GoPro Motorplex

130 Motorplex Dr, Mooresville, NC 28115

GoPro Motorplex may have one of the best go-kart tracks in America.  The outdoor track is 0.7 mile with eleven turns with karts reaching speeds up to 55 mph.  The GoPro Motorplex's sprint karting track is based on the famous and historic Kartdromo Parma circuit in Italy.

- Lazy 5 Ranch

15100 Mooresville Rd, Mooresville, NC 28115

An excellent drive-thru zoo that only takes cash.

Website

 Again these are my picks that fit my personality and interest. If you feel that I left one-off that may interest me or other people, message me on Facebook about the location.  I value a person's opinion and never just discard the information.  Always looking forward to learning about new places to add to my Google Map. ~ Shawn

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