Friday, March 09, 2007

Top 10, part 2

I recently proposed my picks for the top 10 things to do in this region. The folks over at Visit Charlotte, the marketing arm of the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, chipped in with their own “Top 10 reasons to visit Charlotte.” It might give you a few more ideas for getting out and exploring:

1. Southern charm and hospitality, available at places including Mac’s Speed Shop (www.macspeedshop.com), a barbecue restaurant at 2511 South Blvd.

2. Multigenerational fun. The kids like Carowinds theme park on the Carolinas state line (www.carowinds.com), while grown-ups like shopping at SouthPark mall .

3. Cultural opportunities including the Mint Museum of Art at 2730 Randolph Road (www.themintmuseums.org).

4. NASCAR. Lowe’s Motor Speedway also made my list, and the NASCAR Hall of Fame (www.belongshere.com) is to open in Charlotte in ’09 or ’10.

5. Golf. More than 80 courses, including the Ballantyne Resort (www.ballantyneresort.com).

6. Strolling historic neighborhoods, including Plaza-Midwood, Dilworth, Elizabeth, South End, NoDa and Myers Park. These, plus Fourth Ward in uptown, were on my list too (click here).

7. In addition to the U.S. National Whitewater Center (which was also on my list), multiple recreational opportunities at the area’s more than 200 parks (www.parkandrec.com).

8. Pro sports, including the NBA Bobcats (www.bobcatsbasketball.com), the NFL Panthers (www.carolinapanthers.com), minor-league Charlotte Knights baseball (www.charlotteknights.com), Charlotte Eagles soccer (www.charlotteeagles.com) and Charlotte Checkers hockey (www.gocheckers.com).

9. Historic heritage, visible while riding the Gold Rush rubber-wheeled trolleys uptown, and later this year, trolleys on tracks connecting South End and uptown (click here).

10. Balmy weather and plentiful outdoor festivals, including Taste of Charlotte (June 1-3, www.tasteofcharlotte.com).

And if that wasn’t enough, Visit Charlotte has a brochure with “101 Things to Do.” Check out the Visit Charlotte at Main Street shop at 330 S. Tryon St. or click here.

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't necessarily disagree with your list, but I think that if organizations like Visit Charlotte are going to publish these lists, then they should list things that are really native to this area. As an example, anyone can visit cities like Seattle, Chicago, and NYC and go to a pro sports game. As a matter of fact if they visited those cities, they would have a lot more sports teams to choose from than Charlotte. And most major tourism areas are going to have malls, golf courses, and even speedways. But in what other cities can you find places like the Space Needle, Millineum Park or the Apollo Theater? Not too many, and that's what Charlotte should focus on. The US National Whitewater Center is a great one for the list and so would the Daniel Stowe Botannical Garden.

I think the important things to focus on are things that you can do in this area and can't do anywhere else. And that's what Charlotte is going to have to work on...

12:25 PM  

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