Mountains in Charlotte
Traveling to see Alexis again, I got to experience more of the culture found in Charlotte. I requested that many fun activities be lined up pre-my arrival to the gold rush city of North Carolina. She made good on the promise and even had outdoor adventures planned.
Saturday, we got up and made our way to one of the NC state parks. Crowder’s Mountain sticks out like a sore thumb on the North Carolina plains but it very impressive. Two mountains make up the state park, Crowders Mountain and the Kings Pinnacle. We ended up going to the Kings Pinnacle. The trailhead led up from the visitor center and snaked its way through the NC forest. Alexis, anxious to see rocks, kept sprinting ahead. The trail wound up the hillside for a couple miles, but me (the packmule) and Alexis finally made it to the top. The rocks were very old and old looking. They appeared like they had rings of a trees. From the top you could see an expanse of trees and the North Carolina state bird, the Turkey Vulture, flying (1). We scrambled around the top some, finding neat windows and large outcroppings. Then we bushwacked down a valley on the side of the hill. We took the ridge back to the visitor center and headed back to Charlotte. We stopped for a snack of frozen yogurt, but during the visit, I was blinded due to the oak allergies. Later there was a good thunderstorm, and we went to a fish burrito store, called Cabo Fish Taco.
The next day we played at the US National Whitewater Center. Alexis tried out her new climbing shoes and practiced bouldering. I setup shop on the boulder wall and made friend with some locals. My condor wingspan (2) and actual climbing technique was a site to behold (3). We also did some adventure ropes course, crossing some of valleys in the trees. Then Trey and Ashley appeared and we went whitewater rafting. Rafting was lots of fun, we had two guides! They took turns guiding and the one liked to lose things (like his rope bag) and fall out. Trey and I went in the front and almost got ran out by another raft while surfing. Afterward, we went to eat at Merts, the place for good soul food. I had a poor boy bbq sandwich with home fries and cornbread. For some reason, Alexis thinks I need more culture, so afterward, we went to see a saucy puppet show, “Avenue Q”, on Charlotte’s Broadway. We sat in seats that gave us an excellent perspective on the show that consisted of muppets singing about the troubles of life in the city on Avenue Q (4). When we left, there was a full brass band playing soul tunes from the 70’s.
The next day was a workday for everyone, but we all got to eat strange burgers at Pinkies. I had a burger with crunchy peanut butter, honey-cilantro slaw and hot sriracha sauce with pimento cheese waffle fries on the side. Then for dinner was FISH and CHIPs and potpies at Big Bens. They had trivia there while we ate, we got 3rd out of 3 teams.
On the last day we toured downtown Charlotte, getting lots of artsy photos. We stopped by a downtown cemetery, Bank of America buildings, business malls, weird cats, the Voltron building, Tiger Woods, a festive skull and disco chickens. After the photoshoot we went to the NC Raptor Center and pretended to be college students (and got away with it). Alexis spotted a skink as soon as we arrived. He was just hanging out. Then we walked through the center seeing all types of fun birds of prey. I really want to capture a baby kite or falcon and raise it as a pet.
Charlotte was a lot of fun again and it was cool to see more sites of the city. Next time I visit, I’ll time it directly in the middle of peak pollen season. Thanks Alexis for the fun trip (5).
(1) probably not true
(2) 6’4”+
(3) actually, very true — Alexis
(4) Look up “the internet is for porn”
(5) She edited the post, who knows what else she snuck in. I only read and type things once, I got stuff to do.
