Charlotte, North Carolina

Downtown Charlotte, NC

Still rainy weather, but isn’t this pretty? ^_^ I love the clouds, we never get nice rain like this in Arizona. ^_^

Crosswalks outside the NASCAR Hall of Fame

The NASCAR Hall of Fame is in downtown Charlotte – aren’t the crosswalks cool?  (See, they’re checkered, like a checkered flag!!)

Old, old race car

We spent hours at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. I watch with T, but he’s the real fan, as he pointed out to me when I said, no, I would not be willing to try out all the pit crew stations to see which one I’d be best at. ^_^ (I have a suspicion I’d really be best at being team mom – baking cookies and putting on bandaids.)

This was my favorite car. Apparently NASCAR got started because bootleggers needed fast cars to escape police during the prohibition! Who knew? Anyway, off to sleep!

Tomorrow: more adventures!

Southern Cooking

Went to Sauceman’s BBQ in Charlotte last night for dinner. I had the Shrimp and Grits, T had a bbq sandwich and fried pickles. (Okay, he didn’t pick those, I urged them on him because it sounded weird and fun.)

Here are some pics:

Shrimp & Grits at Sauceman’s BBQ in Charlotte, NC

I like grits, but these were heavenly! The texture was creamy and delicious. The only thing I didn’t like was that the shrimps were too salty. I liked the cajun spices on them, but there was just too much salt. Thankfully, the cheesy grits helped compensate for the salt. Yum.

Fried Pickles; Sauceman’s BBQ, Charlotte, NC

The fried pickles were good by themselves, if a little harsh. But once they were dipped in the ranch dressing, it was an explosion of flavor. Even T got to like them after he dipped in the ranch dressing.

Sauceman’s BBQ, Charlotte, NC

Sorry for the blurriness of this picture – it was a cell phone. My REAL camera is charged now!! Hopefully any more pictures will be much better.

And yes, it was rainy when we arrived. It is rainy as I type this in our hotel room in Charlotte. We hear the weather will be clearing up a little later in the week.

Until next time!

Stray Thoughts and Random Ramblings about Travel

I am on my back-up computer (i.e., oooolllld  laptop) instead of my regular one because the regular one stopped working. It is out for repairs. In the meantime, I am trying to use this old one, and I keep getting messages that my disk space is low, and no matter how much I uninstall, I keep getting that message. I’ve deleted everything not necessary for the running of the computer, and still it says it has low disk space. *sigh*

I am going to be in the South this week. Beginning Monday I’ll be in various locales including Charlotte, NC, and Columbia, SC. My son is graduating from the Army! Of course, I’m not looking forward to the predations of the TSA, or to the cramped coach seats the airlines give one. Airline travel sure has changed. They only offer meals if you pay for them now. Once I bought a happy meal on the concourse right before I got on the plane, and I wished I’d gotten a lot more french fries to hand to the people giving me evil looks. But honestly, a happy meal was much more tasty than the dry boxes of crackers and processed cheese and candy that the airlines offer.  And of course, one cannot just bring a PB&J from home anymore because the TSA assumes it’s something terrible rather than just lunch.

I’m looking forward to being in the south even though I know it will be dreadfully humid. I am hoping to put my toes in some salt water at some point. I hear Charleston is beautiful, so I was thinking about going there, and also, Savannah, because that is where Paula Deen’s restaurant is!! I would love to taste her food!!

Myrtle Beach

I have been looking at various attractions in the areas I know I’ll be in, and so far I’ve found an aviation museum, the NASCAR Hall of Fame, and the Mint Museum (in Charlotte) and in Columbia, well, the Army base of course, for family day and for the actual graduation, and I read about a local canoe/kayak rental agency that offers tours of the rivers in Columbia. (Imagine, rivers with WATER in them!!!)*

If any of you’all have any suggestions, please comment and let me know them. I’ll have two “free” days, though the last free day will partly be traveling back to Charlotte to catch the plane home.

I will try to  post pictures, but that may have to wait until I have a better computer. (I know, first world problems, right?)  I’m taking this crap-top with me, so I will at least try to blog my adventures, and (of course) Wednesday Poetry!!

* We live in Arizona — rivers generally don’t have water in them here. Except for the Salt river where people go tubing and stuff, but other than that, no water.