Charlotte

[the...@hotmail.com]

Hello, all. I'm headed to Charlotte this weekend for a wedding--staying
in the University area, I think. I haven't been there in, like, 10
years so the big question is: anybody got any tips for daytime
sightseeing-type things to do while I'm there?

If it helps, I'm more World's Largest Ball of Tin Foil than whatever is
on the Chamber of Commerce-approved list of sights. Also worth noting
that I'll have my kids with me so bar recommendations will go sadly
unused.

Help me dispel my own continuing perception of Charlotte as The City of
Lending Institutions, won't you?

Many thanks,
GAVIN

[Jeff Hart]

the ruins of "heritage usa" may be right up your alley. just over the
border in fort mill.
it's creepy and fun for the kids all at the same time!

http://www.pbase.com/kappasigmapi/heritage_usa

[grady]

The downtown/arts-and-crafts branch of the Mint Museum has some crazy
glass sculpture, and the main branch is opening the traveling exhibit of
American stuff from the Corcoran: http://www.themintmuseums.org/

The Corcoran stuff includes Frederic Church's utterly mindblowing "Niagara":

http://www.themintmuseums.org/exhibit_artwork.php?item_id=378

It's like 7 1/2 feet long. It was at the NCMA ~10 years ago & slew all
those who gazed upon it, though I can't find the a.m.c-h discussion that
I vaguely recall us having about it.

Not exactly ball-of-twine material, but a few notches above
chamber-of-commerce.

Beyond that, I think there's a Country Doctor Museum in Mint Hill;
always good for a larf.

Otherwise, you can just drive around Downtown Charlotte and marvel at
how much it resembles the interior of a mall.

Ross

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[Chris Clark]

Well, Saturday and Sunday look to be amazing days weather wise, so at the
risk of veering a bit towards the Chamber and away from the tin foil I
suggest you check out these places:

http://www.lattaplantation.org/

http://www.carolinaraptorcenter.org/

They are both basically at the same location, and although not in the
University area, they are north of uptown, so it would be easy for you to
get there. In addition, there are also some nice easy hiking trails there
too that wind along Mountain Island Lake.

Also depending on how old your kids are, you might want to check out this:

http://www.lightfactory.org/

Enjoy!

Many thanks,
GAVIN

-- ch-scene: the list that mirrors alt.music.chapel-hill --

[grady]

Ooh ooh, and speaking of outdoors, the freaking huge/insane/terrifying
National Whitewater Center is now open: Artificial whitewater for the
flatlanders! http://www.usnwc.org/

None of this is particularly "ironic Gen-X indie-rocker"/"giant ball of
foil" material, but Charlotte's weird busted faux-normalcy is so
overpowering that it's best to just go with/marvel at it.

Ross

[James Hepler]

I second Jeff's idea. That place is a shutterbug's
wet dream.

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[Chris Clark]

Ooh ooh, and speaking of freaking huge/insane/terrifying, again depending on
the age of the kids, there's always Scarowinds, if you like that sort of
thing (that sort of thing being a Halloween-themed amusement park).

http://www2.paramountparks.com/carowinds/scarowinds/halloween.html

[Heather Russell]

It's not in Charlotte but nearby in Huntersville, but the Carolina
Renaissance Festival is going on that weekend (and through November).

I've never been but I hear they have permanent year-round structures and
that it's supposed to be pretty nice.

http://www.royalfaires.com/carolina/

- Heather

-----Original Message-----
From: ch-scene...@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:ch-scene...@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of grady
Sent: Wednesday, October 04, 2006 11:09 AM
To: RTP-area local music and culture

[Jeff Hart]

you'd think by now there would be a superchunk rollercoaster ride or
s.c.o.t.s hillbilly car ride at carowinds. or a ryan adams or clay
aiken dunking booth.

[the...@hotmail.com]

All I can say is WOW. Many thanks, great input from all of you. Must
say the PTL Heritageland thing is the most on-the-mark for me. Will
have to mull over how to pitch it to my kids. (Could, for instance, be
a great place to play hide-and-seek.)

I knew one off-topic post on here would get me more than a thousand
googlies. And, of course, thanks to Jeff for the Superchunk and SCOTS
references, which immediately rendered it ON-topic.

Cheers,
GAVIN

[Katherine Carpenter]

Yeah, thanks for the Heritage link from me too. I'm from Gastonia and even
my friends that are still there didn't know that nothing was being done with
it. My contractor friend heard that there have been several offers to buy
that were deemed too low. I guess leaving it like this is better than a
lowball offer? It looks from the pictures like pretty soon the whole place
will have to be razed.
kc

----Original Message Follows----
From: the...@hotmail.com
Reply-To: RTP-area local music and culture <ch-s...@lists.ibiblio.org>
To: ch-s...@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: Charlotte
Date: 4 Oct 2006 14:31:39 -0700

Cheers,
GAVIN

-- ch-scene: the list that mirrors alt.music.chapel-hill --

[mi...@mysterycircuits.com]

Wow... Heritage USA. I used to go there when I was a kid before all the
scandals, and then I got to do some AV work there 10 years ago when it
was the Radisson Grand Resort. Very very creepy place indeed. I can't
wait to check out those pictures Jeff posted.

My Charlotte recommendation would be to check out the Arthur Ganson
exhibit at the McColl Center. It's running through November 4th. I
haven't been to this Charlotte showing yet, but my wife and I saw his
machines about 3 years ago at the MIT Museum in Cambridge. He builds
these amazing kinetic sculptures that do so much with a single motor.
Really inspiring stuff. Here's his website:
http://www.arthurganson.com/

Here's the link to the McColl Center in Charlotte:

http://www.mccollcenter.org/nav.cfm?cat=18&subcat=69&subsub=0&action=detail&id=167&backaction=search

-Mike Walters
www.mysterycircuits.com