SE Roadtrip Day 4: Charlotte, NC 2012

We made it to Monday!  But... not without paying a high price already.  Sunday night while I was at Sarah and Aaron's wedding, Kevin stayed at a hotel and watched James.  While James was running around and playing with the millions of toys we packed, he decided that he preferred our water bottle.  He also decided that today was the day he was going to advance and be able to unscrew the water bottle for the first time.  And he decided he was going crop-dust our electronics. But... let's never talk of this again. Too much sadness.

So Monday morning, we bucked up, and started our day in Charlotte, NC with Sarah and Aaron's wedding breakfast.  It was great to get to spend more time with them, and it was even better that Kevin and James could make it this time. Sarah got to meet James for the first time, and Kevin got to meet Aaron. James is not wedding-friendly, but he was decently good at the wedding, running around banging his head on every table, opening kitchen floor cabinets, and his new favorite game-- darting under people's legs.

Aaron, Sarah, me, James (what is he doing?), and Kevin

Afterwards, we were going to walk around Charlotte a little, but it was raining so we followed the one recommendation we had from Audra and Sarah, the Discovery Place Kids.  James is probably a little young for it, but he enjoys any place he can run around with having to go back in the stroller.

Uptown Charlotte (what they call the downtown area)


My swiss cheese family at the Discovery Children's


James loved the newspaper vacuum


Heat-map family portrait, proof that my nose isalways cold


Catching floating balls


Pointing at the tropical birds


Pointing at the fish


Checking out the ladies of Charlotte


Getting wet in the toddler area

Afterwards, we had our first BBQ of the trip at Mac's Speed Shop, which had a good reviews.  We had pulled pork sandwiches, coleslaw, and the green bean casserole. The pulled pork was decent, but the North Carolina vinegar sauce is not my favorite, and the sauce came on the side. Mix it in guys! No one is trying to be healthy here! I would skip the green bean casserole altogether (but perhaps I've been spoiled by how well Katy makes it?).

I'm from New Jersey, so I realize that some of my unintiated northern friends might not understand what I'm talking about when I say BBQ.  In New Jersey, BBQ refers to food prepared on a BBQ grill in the summer, usually chicken with a dark tangy barbecue sauce.  In the South, it's a completely different cuisine.  BBQ here refers to pulled pork, chopped pork, beef brisket, or a number of other items carefully prepared in a kitchen with different regional sauces.  If you have never tried Southern-style BBQ, go try it, NOW!

Mac's Speed Shop in Charlotte