Quote:
Originally Posted by ctribucher
If we only have one day to spend in Charlotte (e.g. this Saturday!), what essentials should we see? We're planning on just driving through the area to learn about more about the city. We're debating making the move from Raleigh and there's only so much you can learn online - time to see things first hand! Any great neighborhoods to wander through? Any places to stay away from?
TIA!
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Here's my 2 cents for a car tour of things you just may want to see:
From Raleigh you will take
I85 to Charlotte, but as you approach Charlotte
exit onto I77S. At
exit 9 (not sure but I think it is 9b) you want to exit onto I277/hwy 74. This will swing you around uptown on an elevated highway for a better view of uptown, in particular, Panther Stadium. Very shortly (about a mile at the most) you will
exit onto S. Caldwell to get down into uptown. The main drag in uptown is S. Tryon so to get there from S. Caldwell, go about a block or two and take a
left on 2nd Street. Once on 2nd the third intersection should put you
at S. Tryon, take a right. Some of the streets in uptown are one way, but not all. I would ride S. Tryon down to about 10th street, then turn around and go back to take a
right on Trade St. From there you can explore the 3rd ward area and the west side of uptown. Once you have had enough I would turn around on Trade and head east to see that end of uptown and move on to other parts of town.
As you pass under I277
Trade becomes Elizabeth Ave. You will ride thru part of the Central Piedmont Community College campus and the Elizabeth neighborhood until the street deadends at the entrance to Presbyterian Hospital. Take a
left when you get to that intersection onto Hawthorne. Here you have two choices, depending on what you are interested in... go straight on Hawthorne and you will see one section of homes in Elizabeth, eventually coming to Central Ave. If you take a right on Central Ave. you will be in
Plaza Midwood. To see some of the nicest homes in that neighborhood take a left onto The Plaza from Central Ave. Go about 5 blocks down and take a right on Belvedere to see some awesomely redone "cottages". You could retrace your route to put you back on Hawthorne and once back by the hospital take a left on
5th Street. OR, the second choice would be once you are at that intersection with Elizabeth and take your left on Hawthorne, take your next right onto 5th Street to see another part of the
Elizabeth neighborhood. Take a right on N. Laurel. At the redlight take a slight left and go across the intersection onto Colville Road. Now you are in the
Eastover neighborhood.
Colville will end on Providence Rd, take a right. About 4 blocks up take a left at the intersection of Providence and Queens Road. You are now entering
Myers Park. Follow Queens Road to drive thru Queens College and see many nice homes. At the intersection of Queens and E. Queens take a left onto E. Queens and do the whole loop of Queens (it will eventually become W. Queens). From W. Queens take a right on Radcliffe and you will end up at the intersection of Queens and Selwyn. Take a right on Selwyn. Proceed down Selwyn and take a left at the intersection of Selwyn and Runnymeade (this is a redlight intersection). Proceed down Runnymeade until it dead ends at Sharon Road. Take a right onto Sharon Rd.
You are now entering the
South Park area. At the intersection of Sharon and Colony you may turn right to see more of the homes in the neighborhood, or just go straight and in about two blocks you will see the entrance to South Park Mall. If you like malls and shopping, this one is worth seeing. There are several great places to eat in that area if you are hungry by that time.
Now, this was a lot of info, and I'm not sure you want more so I will quit here. IF you are interested and want my recommendations for what to do after you leave South Park, just let me know
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