Charlotte,
North Carolina calls itself the Queen City, as it was named after
royalty, though not the one you think. Charlotte was named after
Princess Charlotte of Mecklenberg-Strelitz, when she was the Queen
Consort of Great Britain and Ireland. Though not the state capital,
(which is Raleigh,) it is the most populous city in North Carolina.
It is a major metropolitan area, with professional sports teams, and
big business.
Charlotte
has around 2.5 million people, it is the 17th most
populous city in the country. It was mentioned in Spanish historical
documents as having been settled in 1567.
This is before the
beginning of the United States, the citizens at the time were part of
the Catawba tribe. The biggest population of Catawba in the area
ended up being around 18000, but after Europeans arrived, the number
fell all the way to just 110.
When
settled by Europeans, the area was filled with Scottish and Irish
folks. The city is now 40% white, 35% black, 13% Latino, with a whole
bunch of others with smaller percentages.
I
ended up spending two weeks in Charlotte, North Carolina. I took it
pretty easy most days, not even going into the city center.
On some
days I laid out at one of the two pools in John's neighborhood. On
some days I went to the gym in his neighborhood.
One
day I went for a walk to 'the church that Jimmy built.' One of the
founders of the Calvary Church was actually Frank Graham, the father
of Jimmy Graham, a well known pastor. It's a big church, one that has
a couple thousand people show up for a regular Sunday service. I just
wanted to get close to the outside of the church, which is unique.
The church is surrounded by a large flat lawn, with healthy green
grass. I didn't go in, but I should have.
One
day we walked around downtown Charlotte, which is a curious mix of
older, smaller buildings, and tall and shiny skyscrapers. There are
quite a few photogenic places in the city, I wanted to come back and
wander more but it didn't happen during this visit.
John
likes to play pick up basketball so I went with him a few times to
watch while he played. One of those days I walked around the rest of
the park while he played. Creativity did not extend to those who
named the park, as it is named after the street on which it is
located, called Park Road. So yes, the park is called Park Road Park.
Sigh.
One
day we went to a minor league baseball game in the city center, the
Charlotte Knights are a 3A team, in the farm system of the White Sox.
They were playing against the Indianapolis Indians that day, leading
to divided loyalties for me and John. Both of us are from Indiana, so
we wanted to support Indianapolis, but he now lives in Charlotte, so
shouldn't he support the local team?
The
stadium has a fantastic view of downtown, and good ticket prices.
It's a great place to come with family and/or friends for an
afternoon or evening.
I used
a travel app one day to find a couple pieces of art worth seeing
around the city. One was a head sculpture by David Czerny, the Czech
artist. I have no idea why this sculpture is in Charlotte, it sits in
a business complex near the edge of the city. This head looks just
like the one in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic.
We
also visited a bunch of bronze bulls laying around the lawn of
another business area.
It was a hot sunny day, so climbing on the
bulls was out of the question, they'd soaked up the heat and were hot
hot hot.
I'll
definitely be coming back to Charlotte.
No comments:
Post a Comment