Weekend Trip to Charlotte

As evidenced by my friend map entry our friends have slowly been migrating all over the country.  Thankfully most of them remain in the Southeast.  Alex and Paige have been in Charlotte for a while now.  They moved because she found a job there and they have settled in and have really fallen in love with the city.  After visiting for the second time I can understand why, it’s a very vibrant and artsy city.  I personally don’t think I’m cool enough to live there but we had a blast visiting again.  It has a much smaller feel then Atlanta and is packed with local places that specialize in things they love (food, music/vinyl records, antiques, breweries, etc.).  While we were there we also got to see our first snow of the winter (hopefully the last as well).  It was beautiful and fun to play in but I was glad it didn't stick around for long.  Here are a few places I highly suggest if you ever get the chance to visit:

• The Three Amigo’s - $5 big as your face margarita’s and amazing food – the chicken empanada and the guacamole were my favorites
•  Fuel – yummy lunch spot for pizza, garlic knots, and fountain Cheerwine
• Lunchbox Records – tons of vinyl records to choose from! This trip we picked up the new Mumford & Sons album, Imagine Dragons, and a Shins album
•  Dish – words cannot do justice to this gem for southern soul food, I had the veggie plate and chowed down on some of the best green beans I’ve ever eaten.  Kyle highly recommends the country fried steak.  Seriously eating here is an amazing life decision that you must make for yourself if you are in the area!  (Another perk – its super reasonable)
• VBGB’s – an awesome place to hang out with friends and play games; they even have supersize chess, jenga, and connect 4; note do not play Quelf – it wasn’t nearly as awesome as the box made it sound but everything else was great!
• NODA & Bird Song Breweries – you can’t come to Charlotte and not take in the craft beer scene, my favorite was the Mexicali stout from Bird Song – so spicy and delicious!