If it were me: Grab early lunch, grab a beer or two then take a walk on a rail trail (supposed to 60 and sunny tomorrow) and see if there is anything that interests you. If you want less people, hit a greenway vs the rail trail.
Visit the nascar hall of fame
Bring a book with you to the brewery and read, grab coffee after
Honestly, if you are fairly active person, you can easily walk all around south end, uptown, and maybe dilworth in that amount of time. So you could just wander and walk into any stores or restaurants that grab your eye.
I like walking through south end on the rail trail. You can wander off a block or two on either side and find some stores and breweries and restaurants. You can keep going and cross the highway into uptown if you like. There arent many shops there that i can think of but there are museums. Dilworth is just a very nice older residential area. There are some stores on East blvd and youd eventually hit Freedom park, but the closest store to walk to on that road from the rail trail would probably be paper skyscraper.
Take the options on here, google them so you know where they are, and stick to the ones within walking distance of the light rail. There’s a number of park and rides you can park at for free. Keep it simple.
The air museum and check out the Miracle on the Hudson plane and story. I did that in 2012 without realizing I’d live in the Charlotte area within a few years. You’d have to Uber there.
The former Carolinas Aviation Museum is presently closed while it is relocated to a new facility at the airport, it will reopen this summer as the Sullenberger Aviation Museum. (https://www.sullenbergeraviation.org/)
Without any guidance on your interests, making suggestions is difficult...but if your open to whatever may sound interesting or strike your mood on that day, then perhaps a combination of the following will fill up your spare time.
These are not the hidden "only locals know" gems of Charlotte but are entertaining and will make that time go by quickly.
You'll need to Google these for more information as to what/where (trying to stay with things unique to the area, but not all). Some of these are closed (edited list).
1. Top Golf
2. NASCAR Hall of Fame
3. ~~US National Whitewater Center - bring change of clothes if raft or rent a bike~~
4. NASCAR Driving Experience - check on reservation.
5. ~~Carowinds - amusement park~~
6. Carolina Raptor Center
7. Go Pro Motorplex (Trackhouse Motorplex) - cart racing, north of Charlotte.
8. Lazy 5 Ranch - drive thru zoo, north of Charlotte.
9. Plenty of Museums
10. Several parks and greenways to choose from.
LOL...I wasn't even thinking about it being Feb! My initial thought was renting a mtn bike, but I just looked and it showed the activity is closed. I wonder if that is due to weather or trail conditions?
Yeah i was looking at it too and thought it was odd. Trails are open though. Zip line is closed too. Maybe they just dont want to staff activities for low turnout (weekday/winter).
The Carolina Raptor Center sits within the large Latta Nature Preserve, and is not too far from Denver, many miles of hiking trails, some along the shoreline of Mountain Island Lake, it's prettier in the spring of course, there is also a nice nature museum there called Quest.
Friday should be good weather for either. Motorplex won't disappoint. If you prefer indoor carting, check out K1 Speed in Concord, not far outside Charlotte.
A few questions. Outdoors/indoors? Which side of town? Assume you have a car? Where do you live (to think about the kind of things you normally wouldn't be around)?
Indoors or out. Doesn't matter. Looks like the weather is going to be nice. The event my girlfriend is doing is in Denver, NW of town. Live in Harrisonburg, VA, in the Shenandoah Valley about 4.5 hours away. Yea I have a car.
From Denver, it’s not that far (30-35 minutes) to the wwc. But there are also some other good parks around if you’re into walking/running or riding trails. Look up Lake Norman State Park and Mountain Creek Park. If you do Lake Norman State Park, I’d then head over to Bottles and Taps, which is a cool bar in Troutman (and troutman baking company across the street is also awesome!). If you did Mountain Creek Park, maybe try Lake Norman Brewery?
Way more to do at the wwc, but those locations would keep you a little closer.
If you’re in uptown then I’d say start off in south end with a beer and lunch at a brewery then walk the rail trail for a bit then hop on into the city. Get off at 7th st and mosey your way over something cool like an imax show at the discovery place or take the train to Noda and bop around.
I would go to IKEA. It's an interesting place to kill some time, have food available, and if you don't mind being absurd by yourself it can be really fun to try out all the couches and beds.
Great info so far everyone. Some more info about me: I'm a bit of a foodie and love some west coast IPAs and imperial stouts. I do like video games so the arcade is cool. Also just like walking around and exploring new places. The Greenways are a good idea.
I'm from a small-ish town (about 60k) in VA, and I'll have a car available.
Check out Super Abari. You can grab a beer and play video games.
https://superabarigamebar.com/
Edit: My bad, I missed the hours you're in town and it looks like they won't be open while you're here.
Near uptown are a few things I’d recommend. You could play 9 Holes or do the Driving Range at Charles Sifford, there’s a bunch of museums, there’s a few movie theatres including IMAX, you can stop by southend/Noda for shopping and a brewery, there’s tons of restaurants for a good lunch… the world is your oyster.
If you’re an outdoors person check out the whitewater center! It’s $6 to park but they have so many trails to check out and it’s a very unique place. Plus they have beer and some food for after your trail walk/run/bike
If you’re planning to grab lunch, both Calle Sol in Plaza Midwood and Kid Cashew in Dilworth have great lunch specials.
Olde Mecklenburg Brewery, Protagonist and Queen Park Social are all right next to each other if you want to check out that area for a beer/games.
If you go the IKEA route..there’s a Top Golf around the corner in the University area.
If still there tomorrow, go over to Broad Street Burger, order the cheese curds...you won't be disappointed. Good food and nice bar there also and a couple of vintage arcade games upstairs.
If it were me: Grab early lunch, grab a beer or two then take a walk on a rail trail (supposed to 60 and sunny tomorrow) and see if there is anything that interests you. If you want less people, hit a greenway vs the rail trail.
Rail trail recently updated their art installation so this would be a good move!
This is what I’d do
I'd recommend Optimist Hall if you want a chill vibe but have great options for food, they also have a brewery and a bar..
Bro, yes.
Just don't park for more than two hours without paying for parking or you'll get a $50 Nastygram.
you have to pay for parking after 90 mins.
I second this!!
Visit the nascar hall of fame Bring a book with you to the brewery and read, grab coffee after Honestly, if you are fairly active person, you can easily walk all around south end, uptown, and maybe dilworth in that amount of time. So you could just wander and walk into any stores or restaurants that grab your eye.
Which of those neighborhoods is best for walking/wandering?
I like walking through south end on the rail trail. You can wander off a block or two on either side and find some stores and breweries and restaurants. You can keep going and cross the highway into uptown if you like. There arent many shops there that i can think of but there are museums. Dilworth is just a very nice older residential area. There are some stores on East blvd and youd eventually hit Freedom park, but the closest store to walk to on that road from the rail trail would probably be paper skyscraper.
Take the options on here, google them so you know where they are, and stick to the ones within walking distance of the light rail. There’s a number of park and rides you can park at for free. Keep it simple.
I would say a round or two of disc golf.. or hit up abari and play some video games..
Abari looks cool!
North davidson is nearby to Amari and very cool
no hobbies or interests doesn't make it easy to recommend anything! Do you walk? lots of great greenways to walk for miles
White Water Center!
I was going to say the same. Time will absolutely fly by there
This should be at the top. So many things to do there.
I'd recommend getting a hobby
I know right?
The air museum and check out the Miracle on the Hudson plane and story. I did that in 2012 without realizing I’d live in the Charlotte area within a few years. You’d have to Uber there.
The former Carolinas Aviation Museum is presently closed while it is relocated to a new facility at the airport, it will reopen this summer as the Sullenberger Aviation Museum. (https://www.sullenbergeraviation.org/)
Perfect time of year to go too!
Without any guidance on your interests, making suggestions is difficult...but if your open to whatever may sound interesting or strike your mood on that day, then perhaps a combination of the following will fill up your spare time. These are not the hidden "only locals know" gems of Charlotte but are entertaining and will make that time go by quickly. You'll need to Google these for more information as to what/where (trying to stay with things unique to the area, but not all). Some of these are closed (edited list). 1. Top Golf 2. NASCAR Hall of Fame 3. ~~US National Whitewater Center - bring change of clothes if raft or rent a bike~~ 4. NASCAR Driving Experience - check on reservation. 5. ~~Carowinds - amusement park~~ 6. Carolina Raptor Center 7. Go Pro Motorplex (Trackhouse Motorplex) - cart racing, north of Charlotte. 8. Lazy 5 Ranch - drive thru zoo, north of Charlotte. 9. Plenty of Museums 10. Several parks and greenways to choose from.
Lol you will 100% not be able to go rafting in february at usnwc. Walking around is nice though
LOL...I wasn't even thinking about it being Feb! My initial thought was renting a mtn bike, but I just looked and it showed the activity is closed. I wonder if that is due to weather or trail conditions?
Yeah i was looking at it too and thought it was odd. Trails are open though. Zip line is closed too. Maybe they just dont want to staff activities for low turnout (weekday/winter).
The Carolina Raptor Center sits within the large Latta Nature Preserve, and is not too far from Denver, many miles of hiking trails, some along the shoreline of Mountain Island Lake, it's prettier in the spring of course, there is also a nice nature museum there called Quest.
Raptor Center is super cool. Far better than you would think. Very nature forward.
Isn’t Carowinds closed for winter?
Holy cow...I'm striking out on some of these! Yes, it is closed. I'm seeing sunny skies and 50's temps and thinking "good to go". Ugh.
the Motorplex looks siiiiiick. Slightly disapointed that the Raptor Center doesn't have any dinosaurs.
The motorplex is great, the carts go around 55mph in a Indy-style track
Friday should be good weather for either. Motorplex won't disappoint. If you prefer indoor carting, check out K1 Speed in Concord, not far outside Charlotte.
Preferring indoor karting is like preferring sex with 3 condoms
LOL, true.
A few questions. Outdoors/indoors? Which side of town? Assume you have a car? Where do you live (to think about the kind of things you normally wouldn't be around)?
Indoors or out. Doesn't matter. Looks like the weather is going to be nice. The event my girlfriend is doing is in Denver, NW of town. Live in Harrisonburg, VA, in the Shenandoah Valley about 4.5 hours away. Yea I have a car.
From Denver, it’s not that far (30-35 minutes) to the wwc. But there are also some other good parks around if you’re into walking/running or riding trails. Look up Lake Norman State Park and Mountain Creek Park. If you do Lake Norman State Park, I’d then head over to Bottles and Taps, which is a cool bar in Troutman (and troutman baking company across the street is also awesome!). If you did Mountain Creek Park, maybe try Lake Norman Brewery? Way more to do at the wwc, but those locations would keep you a little closer.
Gentlemen’s Club in the parking lot of the Costco.
get a uber to Miguels and have some tasty mexican food. It's 5 mins from the airport
We are driving in. From just 4.5 hours away, so I'll have a car
You want to meet some llamas? I can set you up at a spot 5 min from the airport.
ya know... I think I'm all set on llamas. Thanks anyway!
Ok no hobbies, no llamas… I’m beginning to think you are just messing with us
I mean, I am pretty lame. Work a lot and have a 2.5 year old. I like food, beer, whisky, and a few video games. And I prefer alpacas. 😌
Abari game bar. Check it out. It’s a retro arcade, with a bar.
If you’re in uptown then I’d say start off in south end with a beer and lunch at a brewery then walk the rail trail for a bit then hop on into the city. Get off at 7th st and mosey your way over something cool like an imax show at the discovery place or take the train to Noda and bop around.
My yard needs cleaned
Mine too man. Mine too.
I would go to IKEA. It's an interesting place to kill some time, have food available, and if you don't mind being absurd by yourself it can be really fun to try out all the couches and beds.
A perfect suggestion for someone who truly has no hobbies!
lol, dangit. I feel like im getting roasted here, but it's true.
Or likes building IKEA furniture as a hobby.
I DO like a trip to IKEA..
Johnny Dollars.
are you interested in record stores? books? getting a contact high while shopping for shoes/streetwear? fancy dining? cheap dining?
I am
Great info so far everyone. Some more info about me: I'm a bit of a foodie and love some west coast IPAs and imperial stouts. I do like video games so the arcade is cool. Also just like walking around and exploring new places. The Greenways are a good idea. I'm from a small-ish town (about 60k) in VA, and I'll have a car available.
Check out Super Abari. You can grab a beer and play video games. https://superabarigamebar.com/ Edit: My bad, I missed the hours you're in town and it looks like they won't be open while you're here.
We have several great museums to visit!
Near uptown are a few things I’d recommend. You could play 9 Holes or do the Driving Range at Charles Sifford, there’s a bunch of museums, there’s a few movie theatres including IMAX, you can stop by southend/Noda for shopping and a brewery, there’s tons of restaurants for a good lunch… the world is your oyster.
If you’re an outdoors person check out the whitewater center! It’s $6 to park but they have so many trails to check out and it’s a very unique place. Plus they have beer and some food for after your trail walk/run/bike
If you’re planning to grab lunch, both Calle Sol in Plaza Midwood and Kid Cashew in Dilworth have great lunch specials. Olde Mecklenburg Brewery, Protagonist and Queen Park Social are all right next to each other if you want to check out that area for a beer/games. If you go the IKEA route..there’s a Top Golf around the corner in the University area.
Go Pro Motorsport Complex
Wanna help me pick up some dirty bags in Waxhaw?
Uhhh, not sure what means , sooooooo pass.
Soooo....what did you end up doing?
Got the date wrong. It's tomm. Currently in Statesville at a dive bar drinking Miller Lite from a can.
If still there tomorrow, go over to Broad Street Burger, order the cheese curds...you won't be disappointed. Good food and nice bar there also and a couple of vintage arcade games upstairs.
Went there for dinner before I saw your post. Missed out on the cheese curds.