Christmas in Charlotte is nice, partly because in the last few years I (Ok, and my wife..maybe, mostly my wife) have incorporated a few traditions to bring out my festive side. I usually hit one place a week, starting the week after Thanksgiving. So, breakout the eggnog and the ugly sweaters, let me tell you about my Christmas in Charlotte.

Old Mecklenburg Brewery Christmas Market

Nothing makes me merrier than having a couple of pints of beer and a few pounds of sausage. The Old Mecklenburg Brewery Christmas combines the Christmas feeling, with a nice buzz. Come here at Christmas and you will witness the most efficient beer station in the states. It is runs like an assembly line, which is perfect given the crowds. The atmosphere is magical, albeit with an unusual number of dogs and babies for a brewery..

The market itself is always fun, with local venders selling a variety of goods. There are many artists, jewelry makers, and people selling honey for $3000/ounce (slight exaggeration). Most of the venders have just the right mix of indie local goods and overpriced specialty items that the Hipster/Bankers eat up. Somehow it works for me, but I am usually only a spectator. There are also fire pits, mulled wine, and other things to get you in the spirit. After walking around, grab a seat inside-if you can, and order some of the best sausage in the area. The Old Mecklenburg Brewery Christmas market is a great way to start the season.

Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden

My favorite thing to do when celebrating Christmas in Charlotte is the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden. This, of course, is best enjoyed in the cold and at night. The display is one of the better exhibits of Christmas lights I have seen. The Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden is not close, located in Gaston County (not really Charlotte), but well worth the drive. A benefit of having the location so far away is that none of my friends can see me looking like an 8 year old when I am enjoying the lights and the Christmas music. The decorations are spectacular, and the entire area is set up to make you feel as if someone shoved a candy cane in your ….hot chocolate..  Get your mind out of the gutter this is a Christmas post!

Besides delicious hot chocolate, beer and wine can also be purchased, along with popcorn and other snacks. If the lights weren’t festive enough they have other activities, like a horse and carriage ride, and a full band/choir playing/singing Christmas music. In the last couple of years, they even had a Santa that was so realistic he had me helping little old ladies across the street (to show I was being good). The thing I love most about the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden at Christmas is how peaceful it is at every turn. Yes, it can get crowded, but there are major stretches where I don’t see a soul. Combined with the cold, Christmas music, and the lights it is one of the more peaceful and festive Christmas experiences in the city.

Holiday Home Tour

We have done this for the past two years, and it is another great way to get into the season. It entails walking through people’s very nice, historic homes that are (usually) decorated. The tour takes place in Charlotte’s Fourth Ward. While waiting to get into the homes, you can enjoy a neighborhood that is geared toward Christmas. There is music playing, people handing out cookies, etc.  The homes vary in decorative extravagance, but really given the location, all are envy worthy. Some homes have a better story, some are decorated nicer than others, but all are worth seeing. There is the bonus of getting a thimble full of liquor or a small piece of chocolate at the end of each tour. Just don’t wear high heels, I think those are frowned upon..

Finish your night off with the Uptown Christmas Market, which is in walking distance.  By walking distance, I mean about ten minutes away. It is a lot like Old Meck with shops and things, except there is no brewery. There is however, beer and mulled wine, if you are so inclined. Walking around uptown is also a nice experience. The light displays Charlotte puts up are usually pretty good at getting me in the Christmas spirt. During the day they also have a place to ice skate, copying every major city in the US…

McAdenville

I went to McAdenville for the first time a couple of days ago, and I can see the appeal.. If your idea of fun is sitting in traffic for a couple of hours while looking at pretty good lights, then have at it.. To me it was like a brighter, more colorful version of my morning commute..minus a bit of the swearing. It is still fun, even while watching the parents drive through the lights and seeing the glow of the kids IPads and iphones in the back seat…

The town was mentioned on MSN as one of the countries quaintest Christmas towns. Therefore, I feel like I had to add it to my list.  Enough people have mentioned it to me, to where I got the gist of what was going on before I even got into my car. Of course, there is no there is no beer or mulled wine to be had, due to driving. One tip, leave about 20 minutes before the lights are set to come one, around sunset. Keep circling until dark if need be. The traffic is significantly less, although still bad, if you leave immediately before sunset. If you get there at the wrong time instead of spending Christmas in Charlotte, you will fell like you are spending New Years in McAdenville..

Christmas in Charlotte

That is the extent of my Christmas in Charlotte. It isn’t Washington DC, New York City or even Detroit for that matter, but it does offer enough to make my heart grow three sizes too big. If only for a month and a half.. After that I go back to being the scrooge of Charlotte. If you are in Charlotte for Christmas, I wish you cold weather and a festive season.

The post Christmas in Charlotte appeared first on Man in Flight.

Let me first address the obvious question many will ask. With all these bad things in Charlotte, NC why are you still there? My simple answer to this is “We are working on leaving”.  I am not just a disgruntled northerner that just wants to bash the south. It is I see the worst aspects of the north permeating the area, while the good things never made it down. The list below mentions the “top ten things I hate about Charlotte” but I can probably go on for at least 30.

Traffic in Charlotte, NC is awful

The city is growing by leaps and bounds, yet somehow very little is being done to alleviate the traffic problem. I used to think the Long Island Expressway was terrible, now I am on 77 and at times I feel like I can walk to work faster. The side streets are even worse, with countless cheap condos being slapped up the roads rarely grow in size. Somehow the roads simultaneously stay the same and yet they are always under construction. By construction I of course mean 5 miles of cones, followed by two fat guys staring at a hole while eating a sandwich. By the time anything actually gets completed, our population has doubled and we need to start over.

Crime in Charlotte is spinning out of control

Who knew that Charlotte was more dangerous than New York on a per capita basis? Our murder rate is 49 so far this year, double that of last year. In terms of population that is higher than many cities in the country. I had the pleasure of being a victim of crime twice last year (car break ins). It is funny that people leave for safer havens only to be confronted with a worse situation.

If you must visit Charlotte I recommend you stay at the Westin Charlotte. It is close to Uptown, so there are bars to drown your troubles. Check out the reviews and prices on TripAdvisor on the attached link!

The Food in Charlotte is Atrocious

Probably the number one thing I hate about Charlotte, NC is the food. I run another site, Eatitcharlotte.com, which is a food blog reviewing local restaurants. Charlotte is not known for anything food wise. We are a southern city, yet our BBQ is terrible. We don’t have seafood like Seattle or pizza like New York. What you do get are ton of chains. Any half way decent place clones themselves until their fifth franchise is just a muddled down version of the first.  Our ethnic food is also a joke, there are no decent Chinese or Indian restaurants to speak of and that goes double for Italian restaurants. When something new opens it is a fusion restaurant that copies the latest gimmick that is running around the country. I am counting the days before we get our first Croughnut. Food wise the city has no identity.One positive thing I can say is that the food is better than Myrtle Beach and that is not saying much.

The Weather

This is ironic because one of the reasons I left New York was due to the terrible weather. I never thought I would miss snow until I spent a July in Charlotte. The heat is terrible and it gets incredibly expensive due an enormous A/C bill. I also feel like the winter should be cold. Nothing puts me in the Christmas spirit more than a brisk 80 degree December day. Well at least we don’t have tornadoes or hurricanes…oh wait! Charlotte was hit with a major hurricane some years ago which did extensive damage, so it does happen. As for Tornadoes, take a look at my home below. I lived through one, meaning I was inside my home when a tornado ripped the roof off. That was about as much fun as playing dodge ball with hand grenades.

Charlotte’s City Government is a Joke

So, we have terrible traffic, high crime what do we need to spend money on? Let’s send a couple of hundred million dollars to the billionaire owner of the Panthers. Who needs new school books when we can have a shiny new soccer stadium? The things the city government spends OUR money on borders on lunacy. A trolley that goes literally 2 miles which has done nothing to revitalize. The Charlotte government builds little trains while people spend their lives in traffic. I guess you don’t need a car to get to the rock that the city government lives under. What is even funnier is that our former mayor was arrested for bribery. Nice to know there is good mix of corruption and incompetence . The city government is one of the major things I hate about Charlotte NC, because it affects so many other areas.

Charlotte is a Cultural Wasteland

I have seen first grade walls with finger paintings thrown across them that have better art work then what is in Charlotte museums. One day my wife and I literally visited all the museums Uptown in an afternoon. The experience was atrocious. Very few well-known artists or historic pieces. It is like they held an open call to furnish the museum and only two people showed up. At least we were spending our money wisely when they decided to build the Nascar Hall of Fame. Who needs a Van Gogh when you could see a wrecked car?

Charlotte’s Local News Is Awful

One of the main things I hate about Charlotte, NC is the local news. I get the fact that most local news is bad, but we take the cake. I have been on the news twice and can honestly say that these reporters need some training. Charlotte news is like the mother of a fat kid who always gets picked last for sports, posting on Facebook. No matter how bad it is they are cheerleaders for the town. Everything in the city needs recognition, no matter how small or mundane. They feel the need to talk things up to avoid the truth coming out. Someone needs to tell the local news that if Charlotte wants to be a world class city it should act like one. Instead it depends on the news to boost its self esteem.

Prices are increasing in Charlotte, NC

I have listed seven things I hate about Charlotte, NC and I feel like I have just gotten started. One thing that surprises me is just how expensive it is getting here. I was promised a cheaper standard of living; compared to New York and San Francisco it is cheaper ….in some areas. It is hardly as cheap as it used to be, people realized that droves of Northerners brought their check books and started charging accordingly.  Drink prices in particular have gotten out of control. I have paid $20 a drink at a sub-par establishment because I wanted to taste alcohol in my cocktail. Home prices are slowly creeping to become on par with New York as well. Our taxes are still cheaper (although we paid $500+ for a car tax). Unfortunately, given the generosity of the Charlotte city government it won’t be long until we are on par with New York here also.

Charlotte is not Walkable

One thing I like about a bigger city is you can walk from one neighborhood to another. I easily walk several miles in other places and hardly realize I have switched neighborhoods. Charlotte on the other hand, is broken up into sections.  Each area is so spread out that you need a car (and to find parking) in each. Even if you did want to walk from one section to another, it wouldn’t be recommended due to crime or a road system set up to stop pedestrians. The result is I either need to go to the same two bars/restaurants or I need get in my car to find someplace decent (and fight for parking).

Charlotte is Boring

Finally, I hate that Charlotte lacks Energy. Every city I go to has a “feel” or “energy” of its own. My relationship with Charlotte is like that couple who got married at 18 and realize they never had anything in common. The city is boring, there are very few interesting to do or see. It is a city that is just going through the motions. Every event or festival (I’m looking at you Greek Festival)  is all hat and no saddle,. Meaning it is over-hyped and it under delivers. I am sleeping just writing about this.

I am not sure if this list is a vent or a warning. If you have never been to Charlotte, put it last on you list, behind Aleppo. If you are planning on moving here…come on down! I will always need someone to rent out my condos when I leave. 

Read My Follow Up Post 5 More Reasons I Hate Charlotte

The post Top Ten Things I Hate About Charlotte, NC appeared first on Man in Flight.