Glad to be home
I recently returned to Charlotte after 10 days out of the country – hence the long recent blog gap.
Travel is a passion of mine – I take any excuse to visit friends or family in other cities, and try to plan at least one longer vacation a year.
But I always feel comforted to return to Charlotte. It’s home.
True, it’s difficult here to find food as exciting or historic monuments as interesting as they can be in the world’s larger cities.
But some of the things I can find here that I can't find elsewhere include:
--Our skyline, almost impossibly new, with construction cranes adding more to it daily. And our uptown is considerably cleaner than most.
--The Penguin, The Cajun Queen, Mert’s Heart & Soul, Hawthorne’s NY Pizza and other locally-owned restaurants where I always feel welcome.
--The beautiful scenery of Independence Park, Freedom Park and the other neighborhood parks scattered around the "streetcar suburbs" that ring our uptown.
--Most importantly, the people. Most of my family and many dear friends live here. I also feel more comfortable walking down streets here than many other places, relatively certain that I’ll receive a friendly smile and wave from strangers.
What about you? What makes you glad to return home to Charlotte after you’ve been away?
Travel is a passion of mine – I take any excuse to visit friends or family in other cities, and try to plan at least one longer vacation a year.
But I always feel comforted to return to Charlotte. It’s home.
True, it’s difficult here to find food as exciting or historic monuments as interesting as they can be in the world’s larger cities.
But some of the things I can find here that I can't find elsewhere include:
--Our skyline, almost impossibly new, with construction cranes adding more to it daily. And our uptown is considerably cleaner than most.
--The Penguin, The Cajun Queen, Mert’s Heart & Soul, Hawthorne’s NY Pizza and other locally-owned restaurants where I always feel welcome.
--The beautiful scenery of Independence Park, Freedom Park and the other neighborhood parks scattered around the "streetcar suburbs" that ring our uptown.
--Most importantly, the people. Most of my family and many dear friends live here. I also feel more comfortable walking down streets here than many other places, relatively certain that I’ll receive a friendly smile and wave from strangers.
What about you? What makes you glad to return home to Charlotte after you’ve been away?
posted by Leigh at
3:12 PM
16 Comments:
Miss Dyer its great to have ya back; Since , you'd bin gone a lot a things happened; Earnhardt went to race for Hendricks and the Light rail aint finished yet . Jim Black aint went to jail yet. Billy Grahams wifes has one foot in heaven.
i love comin home to all my fellow hicks yall
Charlotte's home to a bunch of nascar obsessed hicks
Charlotte has been my home since I was born. Yes, a real live Charlotte native. I have moved to other "big" cities in the past 25 years but I always find myself back here. Where the streets are cleaner in Uptown than anywhere else I have been, and I know we don't have the most sophisticated public transit system, but at least we don't have the urine stained. Charlotte is the only "big" city I have ever been in where no matter how ignorant you are or how much we really didn't want you to move here from wherever you may have come from in the first place, we are still raised here by truly classy parents and are taught to smile at you, give you a nod and say,"Bless your heart."
I hope that anyone who lives in Charlotte knows how truly lucky you are. For those of you who moved here and do nothing but complain, remember this... Shut your mouth, enjoy the weather and the lower taxes. Or...GO HOME : )
There are a lot of ill-informed yahoos in Charlote. There are also a lot of sophisticated, well-read and well-informed people. Choose your crowd.
On todays's sfgate.com, Mark Morford bewails the fact that he can't afford to buy real estate in San Francisco, but he doesn't want to live in the 'burbs, let alone another city.
So, take your pick. You can have clean streets, affordable housing (yes, Charlotte has PLENTY of affordable housing), so-so restaurants and the aforementioned yahoos. Or, you can have world-renowned cuisine, filthy streets, completely unaffordable and ridiculously-priced housing and the company of the world's sophisticates.
other cities can provide the same cleanliness and lower cost of living, and btw some of us like a nice cool crisp winter day. try louisville, lexington, indianapolis, columbus. even better how about dallas, phoenix, seattle or denver. nice large cities with all amenities and not trying to be something
Please lady, Charlotte is not utopia. I will take bustling streets full of all kinds of people, culture, and excitement any day over some nice clean, manicured streets. Get a grip.
Truely classy? AHAHHAHHAHA.
Listen sweet cheeks... There is nothing 'classy' about pretending everything is a movie set when you really hate people. I suggest you grow some testicles and learn to speak up for yourself, but I'm sure your too busy in your kitchen with your floral vera bradley apron cooking fried chicken for your husband to think about 'blessing' your own damn heart. Trust me, nobody is lucky to live here and be surrounded by people like you.
I think you need to GO HOME : ) back to the rock you live under, and take your classy parents(whatever that is supposed to mean) with you and I'll be sure to stop by and piss on the tiny pebble you call utopia.
When you talk, all I hear is burngadurngagahdurnascardurngadurnyallbagarndajesusfishonmyhondaburngadurnchurchyall.
Your parents might be "truly classy" but mine are flossy flossy!!!
Oops!! might burp in ya face! A lil unlady like what can I say??!?@$$
Anon at 12:00 p.m. AMEN! from another Charlotte native. Sometimes the truth hurts. We natives don't hate people, we just hate it when people move here and then complain about everything in their fingernails-on-chalkboard accents. Why did you come here in the first place? Charlotte was great, really, until all the complainers came along. Where are my bagels? Where is my Boars Head meat? SHUT UP, ENJOY CHARLOTTE, and GIVE US A BREAK!!!
YOU SHUT UP. Nobody takes a southern accent seriously. Your accent is just as annoying plus you sound stupid.
Hey everyone - let's tone down the name-calling and keep it civil. Otherwise I will begin deleting posts shortly.
Charlotte sucked before. It is a lot better now, but it still sucks. I know I know, Charlotte and its native people are soooo perfect it is like the Virgin Mary gave birth to all of them!! It is just the best place ever!!!!!!
Charlotte is def not the best place in the world.. but it is where a lot of people call home, and I can understand why. the friendly people and southern accents make me feel at home, and I love big cities, I was born and raised in NYC. There is a lot to be proud of, and I am just happy to be a part of it. Not to mention, welcomed. I have found as long as you do not complain, people will welcome you into their "utopia". However, there are some people of certain "classy parents" who make this city unbearable at times. Throw out the arrogant, and you have a pretty awesome group of people!
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