6 Local Sights You Won’t Want to Miss in Charlotte, NC

Dec 31, 2015

6 Local Sights You Won't Want to Miss in Charlotte, NC Charlotte, North Carolina is a city with a lot of history. European settlers first arrived here over 250 years ago, and the first gold rush of the United States turned it into a major population center in 1802. These days, Charlotte’s population stands north of 800,000, making it the second-largest city of the old South. And between all that history and all those people, you’re sure to find plenty to do when you visit.

Carowinds Amusement and Water Park

At 14523 Carowinds Blvd, right at the edge of the city limits and straddling the North and South Carolina border, Carowinds is the Thrill Capital of the Southeast. This amusement park carries all the latest in thrill rides like the Fury 325 gigacoaster and the two-person slingshot, but it’s also home to that famous Southern hospitality and authentic Carolina cuisine.

Price’s Chicken Coop

Here in Charlotte we eat our chicken Carolina-fried. Located at 1614 Camden Rd, Price’s Chicken Coop is a mainstay of local cuisine. People will come from miles around to eat Price’s Southern-fried chicken, BBQ pork, fish, and shrimp, all of which are cooked to go and served with coleslaw, potato rounds, hushpuppies, and a soft roll.

Blue Ridge Parkway

This unforgettable road winds its way north through all the most beautiful parts of the Appalachian Mountains. It’s admittedly a ways away from Charlotte itself, but you can reach it by taking I-85 west out of the city and then turning north on US-321 for about 72 miles. You’ll hardly feel impatient to get there, though, since US-321 is a scenic highway that crosses north through the western half of the state.

Levine Museum of the New South

Charlotte bills itself as the capital of the New South, and the Levine Museum provides concrete examples and artifacts to show what all that means. The centerpiece exhibit, “Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers,” is all about the post-Civil War transition from slave plantations to industry and free enterprise. It’s not always pleasant, but it is thought-provoking and, ultimately, hopeful. You can find the Levine Museum at 200 E 7th St.

Yiasou Greek Festival

Every year in mid-September, Charlotte celebrates its Greek heritage by holding a massive cultural festival at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral, whose address is 600 East Blvd. Things to do include cathedral tours, live music and dancing, and of course plenty of Greek food to eat.

Historic Brattonsville

You didn’t think Historic Williamsburg was the only one of its kind, did you? Brattonsville is just a hop across the border at 1444 Brattonsville Rd outside McConnells, South Carolina and occupies 775 acres of original and reclaimed plantation land. Here you can see how slaves and slave owners lived in the Antebellum South, and you can sometimes catch a reenactment of the Battle of Huck’s Defeat, a key victory of the Revolutionary War.

People who say that Charlotte doesn’t have any history or culture don’t know Charlotte. Not only are we a beacon for the New South with new attractions and events, we also haven’t lost touch with our Revolutionary history or our love of Southern food.

Image from Pixabay licensed under CC BY 2.0