Charlotte, North Carolina

Despite Charlotte only being a 3 hour train-ride/car ride away from Raleigh, I have yet to visit Charlotte before. In addition to the convenience for me, Charlotte is located 4 hours from my Aunt Bev. We recently figured out that it's been 7 years since we've spent any time just the two of us and we were definitely overdue for a visit.


I left work at 4:00 PM and took the short 5 minute walk to the Amtrak station in downtown Raleigh. The weather was perfect for a walk and the Raleigh Anamazement convention was going on at the Convention Center, so my walk was also peppered with many a teen and elderly in various costumes. It was interesting to say the least.


My train was scheduled to leave Raleigh at 5:16 PM and arrive in Charlotte at 8:44 PM - this did not happen. Due to unknown delays, I didn't leave downtown Raleigh until 6:06 PM and was not deposited into Charlotte until closer to 10:00 PM. The train dubbed "The Carolinian" was nice enough though. Plenty of over-head luggage space, clean, seats, a relatively clean restroom. All in all it was far superior to driving, even with the added hour of travel.


I took an Uber from the Charlotte Amtrak station to our hotel and it was utterly insane. Unbeknownst to myself, every Memorial Day weekend Charlotte hosts a NASCAR race that is attended by people around the country - and people pay through the nose to attend.


We stayed at the Embassy Suites Uptown hotel and it was absolutely the fanciest hotel I've been to in a long time. The rooms were lush and modern, and every morning there was a complimentary hot breakfast (including a made-to-order omelette bar) and every evening there was a complimentary social with light snacks and alcoholic drinks. SCORE RIGHT? However, this hotel has no on-site parking and charge $28/day to valet. Kinda a bummer.

Day 1

After waking up and perusing the breakfast area, we decided to go out for breakfast to a spot I read about online called Amelie's French Bakery, we visited the Uptown location at 380 S. College St.

Décor: this restaurant is a feast for the eyes with everything from crystal chandeliers to copper pots and pans to trash cans disguised as flower pots. It's funky and modern yet still somehow chic and upscale. The space is also massive with a coffee/wine bar, downstairs event spaces for rent and a few tables set up with view into the bakery to see what goes on behind the scenes.

Food appearance: all the pastries in the pastry case looked divine. I could've stood there all day just drooling over the tea cakes, danishes, macarons and other delicious delights. Their hot food, which was cooked to order, was equally tantalizing.

Macarons: Strawberry Chiffon (left) and Caramel Buttercream (Right)
Create-Your-Own Sandwich: Baguette, Gruyere Cheese, Portabello Mushroom and Mixed Greens

Food taste: it was so difficult to narrow down my meal with all the delectable treats in sight. I finally settled on a caramel buttercream and a strawberry chiffon macaron to-go (they were both amazing! Perfect textures and flavors. They were also the biggest I've ever seen in my life). For my breakfast I ordered one of their create-your-own breakfast sandwiches. For a reasonable price, you can select 3 items plus egg to be sandwiched in a baguette, croissant, multi-grain bread or a gluten free option.

I chose portabello mushrooms, mixed greens and Gruyere cheese to be housed in a baguette. This was phenomenal. The mushrooms were marinated and hot, the cheese was melty and flavorful and the baguette was expertly baked. Excuse me while I drool over the nirvana that was this breakfast sandwich.


Service: the staff were all helpful and willing to answer any questions we had about menu items or what was in the pastry case. Wonderful customer service if you ask me!


Cleanliness: the restaurant had several team members circuiting through to clean up tables and take out any trash, etc. Very organized.


Stop by Amelie's for a pastry or a breakfast sandwich immediately!

After watching the bakers do their thing for a few minutes, we set out for our next adventure: The Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden.

The Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden is located at 6500 South New Hope Rd, Belmont, NC 28012 and has a variety of activities to delight kids and those young at heart. We originally decided to go here because Aunt Bev heard that there was a corpse flower that was in bloom, apparently they only do this every 3 years. However, that was actually happening at the UNC Charlotte botanical gardens and not the Daniel Stowe. Admission is $12.95 for adults and $6.95 for children under 12.

After walking through their main administration building you are greeted by a lush green grass patch and cement wrap-around walkways that lead you to the many unique and beautiful flora at the gardens. One could easily spend a sunny afternoon sitting among the flowers and reading a book.

Additionally, the Garden offers a butterfly house where visitors can get up-close and personal with butterflies and caterpillars (is there anything more magical than having a butterfly land on you?), a Pollinator put-put course, a number of statues and fountains and even an outdoor wine and beer garden.

We lucked out that the weather cooperated with us despite the looming dark clouds overhead. There also happened to be an Italian ice cart serving up some truly delicious and refreshing Strawberry Lemonade Italian ice.

By the time we left the Botanical Garden, after first indulging in a glass of white wine at the outdoor wine garden and listening to a local musician strum a few chords on his guitar, it was 2:30 PM and we were pretty much starving. Knowing our next stop was Ikea, we decided to see what was along our route and ran into a cute little cottage café called Seven Oaks Café. However unfortunately for us, this restaurant definitely did not have their stuff together.

The view from our second table

I wonder what the food was like?

Upon entering the small foyer, we were seen by what appeared to be all of the front-of-house staff working but were not seated until several minutes later. After being shown to a 2-top table in the center of a 4 ft-wide hallway, we were told to take our time with the menu and that our server would return with waters shortly.

After moving from the hallway table to a table in the main dining room, we were again ignored for several minutes while other servers ran around like unorganized chickens.

We ended up leaving and therefore I cannot give an accurate review. I certainly hope this restaurant gets their act together because the menu sounded appetizing and the small cottage setting was beautiful and picturesque.

Just hanging out in shark-heaven.

We decided to just carry on and go forward to Ikea. I don't know why but Ikea is fascinating! They have everything you'd ever want and it's all so affordable! We settled on some Ikea pizza and cinnamon rolls for lunch (because we didn't realize that the GOOD food was on the second floor). Ikea pizza wasn't bad, but certainly not as good as Costco pizza.

Ikea pizza and cinnamon buns

After wandering around and browsing we moved our party to Burlington Coat Factory, TJ Maxx and Walmart. No luck purchasing anything in those places either so we returned to our hotel to indulge in the complimentary happy hour.

2 free Manhattans later, we walked across the street to "Charlotte's #1 rooftop restaurant" Fahrenheit - 222 South Caldwell St, Charlotte, NC 28202.

If you look at this restaurant's website and their extensive wine menu, you'd think this was quite the swanky place. But you'd be wrong.

Décor: The views overlooking Charlotte's skyline are spectacular. The restaurant is rather small which adds to the exclusive atmosphere. Everything is dark woods, rich leathers and plush chairs. There are also several floor-to-ceiling windows that open to allow easy access to the patio and fire pits. However the fire pits outside give off a constant odor of propane.

Food appearance: I will admit that I was expecting much more from a chef with so many accolades. We ordered some bread to start (served in a paper-lined basket), Buttery Spiced NC Shrimp (served in a cast-iron crock with bread), and the Carolina "Nachos" (state fair food, at best).

Buttery Spiced NC Shrimp

Carolina "Nachos"

Food taste: the bread was warm, yeasty and served with a delicious chive butter.

The Buttery Spiced NC Shrimp had an almost curry-like flavor and was bar-none my favorite thing we ate at Fahrenheit. It was smoky, spicy, earthy and just downright delicious! The shrimp were plump and succulent and soaked up so much of the sauce. The shrimp were also served with thick slices of buttered and griddled Texas toast. All in all, a big hole-in-one!

The last dish, which I was frankly disappointed in totally was the Charlotte "Nachos". These were ribbon fries coated in pimento cheese "Fondue" and topped with scallions and bacon (which we asked to leave off). After sending the first order back because there were giant slices of bacon on top, we got our order of "Nachos" and they just weren't what I was expecting from a restaurant charging $15 for drinks. The ribbon fries were greasy and soggy. The sauce wasn't very flavorful and the entire dish was in desperate need of both salt and heat. Aunt Bev loved them but I felt they definitely were one-note.

Service: the bar area and outside patio are all seat-yourself so take that into consideration when choosing to visit this establishment. After being greeted by the hosts and informed of this arrangement, we took a lap around the patio and decided to head inside rather than fight for a table on the patio.

After being seated for several minutes an overloaded cocktail waitress came and grabbed us a few menus. After ordering our drinks and food she disappeared for several minutes. Our food arrived and I had to flag down a manager for plates and silverware.

I don't think our server was being lazy or anything, just overworked. The "reserved" section of the restaurant was virtually empty yet 3 cocktail waitresses and 2 bartenders were left running around like chickens to serve the 50+ people on the patio and 20 or so people in the non-reserved seating inside.

Also after I indicated to the food runner that our "Nachos" were supposed to be bacon-free she gave out an exasperated sigh and shot me a look ugly enough to make me lose my appetite.

Cleanliness: the restaurant appears to have a high turnover - at least the non-reserved sections and as such everything runs like a machine.

I would recommend a trip to Fahrenheit for their cocktails and their views. I however wouldn't recommend the food. At least nothing other than the Buttery Spiced NC Shrimp, and even that I believe was pretty over-priced.

A delicious bourbon and blood orange cocktail from Fahrenheit

Killer views

Day 2

After enjoying the magnificent hotel breakfast, we went out to explore Charlotte! One of my favorite things about our hotel was how close to everything it was. We were about a 5 minute walk from a number of restaurants and bars and maybe 10 minutes from museums!

We saw beautiful buildings, quaint parks, families walking together, the Bank of America Stadium where the Carolina Panthers play, the Spectrum Center where the Charlotte Hornets play and even a minor-league baseball stadium! Who knew Charlotte was so sports-centric?

After wandering around the city for a few hours, we retired to our hotel for some rose on the 2nd floor sundeck and relaxation before heading out again. As I mentioned before, this weekend was a huge draw to the Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race. Do I sound like I know what I'm talking about? Conveniently located across from our hotel was the NASCAR Hall of Fame and when in Rome, right?

The Hall of Fame, located at 400 E M.L.K. Jr. Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28202 was much more fun that I would've ever guessed it being. There are full-size cars, interactive exhibits, activities for kids and even a NASCAR simulator where you can strap in and race against your friends (or total strangers) in a race! The simulator was a total highlight for me. I was so immersed that whenever I hit the wall (which happened more than I'd care to admit) I would jolt and curse. Both Aunt Bev and I had our hearts racing long after we left the simulated car.

2018 better watch out for the most fire album drop

Tickets for the Hall are $25 for adults with an additional fee for the simulator. However ask about discounts, nowhere online does it mention AAA discounts but our ticket salesman said my simulator purchase was free if I were a member.

After another 2 Manhattans at the hotel bar, we were off to dinner!

Essex is located at 101 S Tryon St, Ste 14, Charlotte, NC 28280 and had my favorite food of the entire trip!

Décor: a beautiful covered outdoor patio, large indoor dining area and huge bar are what this eatery bring to the table. The indoor dining room has rustic hard wood tables, tufted chairs and interesting light fixtures while the outdoor patio is all wood and natural lighting.

We really liked their patio chairs

Food appearance: this is a tapas bar, although I wouldn't say that anything on the menu is "small". There is a mixture of different styles of cooking and techniques applied and everything that came out was a work of art.

Left: Fatoush, Right: Bang Bang Grouper, Not Pictured: Coconut Curry Shrimp

Food taste: we ordered the Fatoush (a fresh Mediterranean-style salad), Bang Bang Grouper (light and crisp chunks of fried grouper in a flavorful sauce) and Coconut Curry Shrimp.

The Fatoush was a great fresh addition to the heaviness of the other dishes. The vegetables were crisp and the feta cheese and Greek dressing added the perfect balance of salt and citrus.

The Bang Bang Grouper was out of this world! Giant chunks of fried grouper that were light, crisp and airy. They were easily my favorite thing. Plus THE SAUCE. Imagine the best bang bang sauce you've ever had, now forget it because this sauce is going to be better. It was smoky, spicy, vinegary, sweet and umami-y.

I think the Coconut Curry Shrimp were Aunt Bev's favorite, and certainly a close second for me. The curry was bright and fresh, the shrimp juicy and great and the mushrooms were just so darn cute!

Of course we had to get dessert because a meal this fantastic is just begging to end with something sweet. We shared a slice of the White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake, and if you're not drooling or licking your screen right now I just have no idea what's wrong with you.

Service: our server was friendly, knowledgeable and eager.

Cleanliness: everything was clean and organized.

Please go to Essex and eat all the fantastic food that I wanted to try but didn't have the stomach to! Did I mention they even have a sushi menu?!

Day 3

After another hotel breakfast, we made yet another stop at Amelie's for pastries and reminiscing, it was back on the Amtrak to Raleigh. Luckily this time I was able to leave on time and returned back home without incident.

Macarons: Café au Lait (front), Mixed Berry (back)
Raspberry Tea Cake

I'd love to go back to Charlotte to do more exploring and indulge in one of their many breweries! Maybe I can convince Nate to take me back if I entice him with a trip to Bank of America Stadium!

Enjoy your week, readers and as always, thanks for reading!