We got up early, for us, at about 8:00 AM and hooked the Invader to Charlotte so we could go back to Golden Gait Trailer where the mechanics took the awning off the side of the Invader. They were very efficient and were all done in less than an hour. They sealed all the screw holes and the hole for the electrical connection and sent us on our way. We think we will return about 5/1/15 to get the new awning installed.
In another hour we were back at the Speedway park and set up for a short stay. We contacted my niece, Sarah, who drove from her place in Charlotte to where we were camped and she brought along her boyfriend, Eric, and Max the Dog.
We all piled into Charlotte the vehicle for a tour of Charlotte, the North Carolina city. The city is a gorgeous place with what seemed like a vibrant downtown area despite the locals calling it “uptown.” Sarah works at a private college called Queen’s which is a beautiful place with quite substantial red brick buildings. If the buildings were the reason someone would teach here, you would never leave. The area surrounding Queen’s is also quite stunning with tons of houses with wonderful architecture. The streets are gently curved and the trees hang over the road so it seemed we spent most of our time driving in dappled shade, which was great. Charlotte, the city, is quite striking and it is plainly evident why people choose to live here.
After some cruising around, Eric and Sarah took us to a craft brewery called Sugar Creek where they fortunately had great porter. It was a bustling place with both inside and outside seating, some outside beanbag games for the semi-drunks to play and a good crowd. We got the porters plus a flight of their beers and all but one were okay with me. If I lived around here, I would spend most of my time at this brewery. They serve great products.
From the brewery we cruised around a bit more to Sarah’s apartment to drop off her cool pooch, Max, and to scope out a house she was considering purchasing in an area under pending urban renewal or gentrification or whatever is the currently PC term for revitalization of areas scheduled for upgrades. She may be right – where she is considering seems to be low-crime, has bike trails, greenways and pending light rail. We continued on to a tip-top barbecue restaurant called Midwood which had about the best ribs I have ever eaten and also a good bar. The wait was short, the staff was great, the porter was cold and the food was excellent. The prices were also great – so good I picked up the tab.
We finished up the day with a drive back to the Invader where, unfortunately, Sarah and Eric took off to get back to their lives. Shortly thereafter, it started to rain and it is definitely open for business.