Vibe: If you're craving a few ghost story chills with some warm, gooey s'mores, pack your backpack and sleeping bag and drive down to Lake Wylie, where McDowell Nature Preserve has all the ingredients you'll need for the perfect great outdoors trip. The park has fifty-six campsites to choose from on its rolling, wooded grounds, including seven Rent-a-Tent and thirteen…
Mountain biking at Colonel Francis Beatty Park isn't just for beginners. Of the park's eight-mile, single track mountain bike trail there are intermediate and advanced loops for more experienced bikers. Chris Edwards Vibe: Whoever coined the phrase “like a walk in the park" has probably taken a stroll through this suburban oasis. After entering from Weddington Road, you'll drive down…
Is the afternoon walk up and down the block getting old? Stretch your legs on this University City artery instead. Late summer afternoons and crisp fall mornings turn Mallard Creek, Charlotte's longest greenway, into an enchanted forest (except better, since it's paved and has water fountains). While the dense foliage, smooth asphalt, and babbling stream lure joggers and bikers, kids…
The LYNX has uptown traversing covered, but this collection of short greenways is the start of a major path for Charlotte's on-foot commuters. Developers with Mecklenburg Park and Rec hope that summer 2011 will see the completion of the entire Little Sugar Creek Greenway, a city walking and biking path that will run from just north of uptown at Cordelia…
Mix horticulture and history at Reedy Creek Nature Preserve by hiking out to the Robinson Rock House. The second-oldest rock house in Charlotte represents the crumbling remains of Albert Wallace's sprawling cotton plantation. Historians estimate it was built in the late eighteenth century, and that nearly 100 slaves labored on the farm (you'll also find former quarters throughout the grounds)….
Vibe: With a forty-six-foot open-air climbing spire, the world's largest recirculating whitewater river, and fourteen miles of mountain bike trails, the U.S. National Whitewater Center is, without a doubt, Charlotte's most extreme outdoor rec center. But while you might run into Olympic kayakers, expert climbers taking on one of the largest climbing facilities on the planet, and bikers who look…
Vibe: If your pint-size outdoorsmen are looking to conquer new territory, the Latta Plantation Nature Preserve is your Mecklenburg County destination for keeping the backyard from turning into the newest neighborhood field lab. The lush 1,343-acre nature preserve — the largest in Meck County — is a budding nature nerd's dream come true, offering kids' educational programs on every- thing…
The Ritz-Carlton Lodge at Reynolds Plantation Greensboro, Georgia Getting There To get to the Lodge it's an easy four-hour drive from Charlotte down I-77 to Columbia and then on I-20 West to Greensboro, Georgia. Take it Home Chef Jaco Smith at the Bistro offers a three-hour hands-on customized cooking class on Saturdays during which you can create and cook a…
Mayflower Inn & Spa Washington, CT Getting There Fly direct on US Airways from Charlotte Douglas to Bradley International Airport (BDL) in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. From there it’s an hour-and-fifteen-minute drive to the inn. Alternatively, it’s a two-hour drive from New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA). Take it Home Because its bucolic surroundings spark creativity, the Mayflower offers periodic painting classes…
Blackberry Farm Walland, TN Getting There Fly direct on US Airways from Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) to Knoxville's McGhee Tyson Airport (TYS) and drive twenty-five minutes. Blackberry Farm also offers a car service for $196 roundtrip to and from the airport. Take it Home Sure, you can buy cheese, honey, and homemade preserves galore in the hotel store. But…
Bermuda Getting There Fly three hours and forty minutes from Charlotte to Albany (ALB), with one connection in Washington, D.C. (Flights start at $200.) Then drive two and a half hours to Lake Placid Lodge. Fly one of five weekly, two-hour nonstop flights via US Airways to Bermuda International Airport (BDA) from June to September. During the off-season, plan on…
Lake Placid Lodge Lake Placid, NY Getting There Fly direct on US Airways from Charlotte Douglas to Bradley International Airport (BDL) in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. From there it's an hour-and-fifteen-minute drive to the inn. Alternatively, it's a two-hour drive from New York's LaGuardia Airport (LGA). Take it Home Since it's nearly impossible to bottle up silence, go with some sweet…
Woodlands Inn Summerville, SC Getting There It's an easy three-hour-plus ride from Charlotte to Woodlands Inn in Summerville. Take I-77 South then I-26 East to Exit 199-A at Summerville. From there it's a ten-minute drive. Take it Home A small bowl of peanut butter M&Ms greets guests in their rooms. Go ahead, try and avoid them. Better yet, indulge. Grab…
KEY: S:F: Average number of students per faculty member. %FA: Percentage of students receiving financial aid. SAT: 2009 total SAT averages. AP: Number of advanced placement courses offered. –: Information not provided by school. *: Reporting the middle 50% range. **: CUCA was established in 2009, the result of a merger between Garr Christian Academy and Resurrection Christian School. SAT…
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In a city that's just discovering how to give deeply, Leon and Sandra Levine are showing the way By Ken Garfield Illustration by Kyle T. Webster Leon and Sandra Levine. This is what leaps to mind: the couple that has supported too many charities to count, using the wealth they earned from a lifetime of doing business with everyday folks…
That's what some have called Scott Provancher, the new head of the Arts & Science Council. The cultural community hopes he has a few big hits in him By Melissa Hankins Provancher is only thirty-three, but he exudes confidence and isn't afraid to take risks. He's been skydiving 800 times. Chris Edwards The clock hanging over Scott Provancher's head revealed…
Will one of these proposals be the next great idea that shakes up how charities work in this city? That's up to you By Richard Thurmond Last summer, this magazine partnered with other local media outlets in an effort called Charlotte Mission Possible (CMP). You've probably heard about it, but if not, there's plenty of information at www.charlottemagazine.com. One of…
We asked Tom Hanchett, staff historian at Levine Museum of the New South, to chart how Charlotte has grown both up and out. How We've Become More Suburban How We've Become More Urban 1950-64 Lake Norman is created. Other lakes built by Duke Power include Mountain Island and Lake Wylie. 1955-56 Park Road Shopping Center and the domed Coliseum…
Surprisingly, the 'burbs are not a wasteland for singles By Jarvis Holliday "I love living in Ballantyne — I like the south Charlotte area," says twenty-five-year-old Davida Jackson (pictured). Not a surprising statement, until you learn that Jackson is single. Yet she doesn't mind living in the land of minivans. The Indianapolis native moved to Charlotte in October 2008 from…
By Mark Peres When I was young, I received good advice: marry a girl who is smart, kind, and sexy. If any element was missing, the relationship wouldn't last very long. I dated women who were very intelligent, but who weren't particularly caring or sensual. I dated women who were good-hearted, but not very bright. And I dated women who…
When Daune Gardner was elected mayor of Waxhaw in 2007, she became the political leader of one of the fastest-growing towns in Union County, which was one of the fastest-growing counties in the country. There seemed no end in sight to the flow of newcomers flocking there, and at the time it was predicted that Waxhaw's population of 8,000 would…
You’re probably aware by now that the BLT in BLT Steak doesn’t actually stand for the beloved sandwich. It’s Bistro Laurent Tourondel—as in the name of the dynamic French-trained chef and New York restaurateur whose latest venture can be found just off the lobby of the new Ritz-Carlton at the corner of College and Trade streets. I caught up with…
