Showing posts with label places. Show all posts

Independence Day Weekend

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July. I had a good weekend. It was a long weekend because my work place closed the office on Friday for the Holiday. My vote was to close on Monday but I was out numbered. However, having Friday off worked out great for me. 

My husband had to work on Friday so I headed down to Charlotte to spend some time with my daughter since she had the day of too. The plan was to get some bagels for breakfast around the pool at her little apartment. That didn’t work out as planned because it rained. So we had breakfast inside. 


After breakfast she wanted to take me to place on the other side of town called Camp North End where there were shops, art displays and restaurants. Once we got there, most of the shops were closed but we had a good time walking around and looking at the unique setting. 


Afterwards, we grabbed some lunch and the sun finally decided to make an appearance so we run out to the pool. 
We didn’t swim but instead, we sat around and talked about work, boys and fashion as we giggled at the little green lizards running back and forth under our chairs. 


It was a nice day.

Saturday, my husband had the day off so we got up early and went out for breakfast. He wanted to visit a little underground breakfast shop called “The Notary”  in the basement of one of the hotels in town. The food was delicious and the coffee is the best. I highly recommend the grits. 

On Sunday, The fourth of July, I was able to squeeze into my Independence Day dress that mom made me over 25 years ago and headed out to church for a wonderful service. You can always find my church services broadcasted on Facebook at “West Franklin Baptist Church”. 


Later that afternoon me and Nick grilled out steaks and watched random fireworks going off around the neighborhood. It was just enough to enjoy before we called it a day.

Now Back to the work week. 
Did you go anywhere to watch fireworks or did you stay in?







A Walk Down South End

My daughter was on a one week furlough with her job due to Covid-19. They are making each employee take one week off without pay. This was a scary moment for her but she took it as a little vacation and tried to enjoy it the best she could. She spent time around her pool, and took some shopping trips. 

One day during her furlough week, we went to visit her for lunch. It was a beautiful day so we took a walk around South End Charlotte. We walked the Light rail trail. This is a sidewalk that runs along each side of the light rail and it goes from one end of town to the other. There are many restaurants and shops along the trail. You will also see a lot of people jogging or walking their dogs. 


We love walking to places when we visit. We all decided to walk to a nearby place called Eight and Sand Kitchen for lunch. The menu consist of soups, salads and sandwiches. Everything is made fresh and the atmosphere is clean and relaxing. 


This place offers more healthy options so we thought it would be a great place to stop in. We each ordered a sandwich. I chose the Pistachio Pesto Caprese.
 

My daughter got some kind of chicken sandwich and my husband opt for the club sandwich. Everything was delicious. 

After lunch we walk about a mile to a little ice cream shop called Jeni’s Ice Cream. It’s a pretty popular place around the area. They have a variety of unique flavors. 


Just look at all those different flavor combinations! 

I got a half and half single scoop. My flavors of choice was goat cheese red cherries and caramel pecan sticky buns
They scooped it into a fresh made buttercrisp waffle cone that was still warm when they handed it to me. I had to eat my ice cream pretty quick. 


It is alway nice to get out and walk to places without having to fight traffic or find parking spaces. 
Though times are bad right now, we felt safe as everyone we passed was nice and respectful to others. 
No mask required. 


Beach With a Chance of Rain

We enjoyed another long weekend at the beach. The forecast called for rain and storms everyday.
When we arrived on our campsite it was cloudy skies and misty rain.

I started as usual of hanging the close line, putting out the mats and chairs while Nick levels out the camper. Then I get the thumbs up to let out the slide.

Oops, the slide did not come out. We just looked at each other and rolled our eyes. If you have a camper, you know there is always a chance of something going wrong. Nick pulls out the tool bag and crawls underneath to investigate.


He took the slide motor off for a closer look. It seemed to be ok, so he put the motor back in place and the slide finally came out. We think the motor could be weak or just some debris was keeping it from turning. We have a new motor on hand just in case. I love that he thinks ahead like that and is always ready for the unexpected.

We did have rain every day but only in the afternoons. Each morning we woke up to sunshine and blue skies. Nick would go ahead of me on his walks then I would meet up with him after I tidyed up.

Then.....I always make a run for the ocean.


I found some really cool shells. I put them back after I snapped a photo. A couple of them still had hermit crabs inside so I let them live.


I'm really excited to have found a piece of drift wood along the coast. Driftwood is a rare find on these beaches. 


This is pretty much the view each afternoon. It was almost perfect. We did not let the clouds dampen our beach vibes. I love the cool storm breezes. We would sit and watch the black skies move in as long as we could. 


"Life is always better at the beach".


The pineapple bag pictured can be purchased at RiceLovebags
Click the link and get 20% off any items. 
Or use my coupon code: LILIDI_MEO at check out. 
Every purchase made helps feed a family. 



Out For Ice Cream

Sunday, I wanted some ice cream. My husband suggested Sweet Frogs yogurt shop that we often visit. They had some specials going on if I had an account loaded on the phone app. After several attempts, I could not get the app to work. I was so frustrated. That's when my husband suggested we ride down to Cramerton to a little creamery we have only heard about. I was on board in a jiffy.

Cramerton is a small town where I attended middle school at the base of a small mountain. I have not been through there in years. 
We arrived at the small creamery and coffee house called Floyd and Blackies. Walking in was so inviting as there was no crowd and the atmosphere was set for comfort of a cozy coffee house. We made our ice cream choice as we stood in line. They carried my favorite brand, Hershey's Ice Cream, with several different flavors to choose from. 


I would have loved to try them all but choices are not something I'm good with so I went with my typical favorite of Salted Caramel Truffle. Nick had Raspberry Roadrunner. One scoop in a waffle cone hit the spot. 

We decided to go for a walk around the little town while we slurped the melting ice cream from the rim of our cones. The temperature was soaring in the upper 90’s.


Out back was a place to picnic by the muddy river. There was canoe rentals for the brave ones. 


Looking over the trees I saw a foot bridge and suggested we go a little further to see where it lead us. It was a nice little half mile walk to a park called Goat Island Park. A place I have always heard of but never knew where it was. 


Well, we just so happened to accidentally enter into it. There were sand boxes, a play ground and picnic areas for families. Throughout the park was a disk golf course. 


Our ice cream was gone by now and we headed back to the car then rode around more to find some new eating places to try in the future. It was a nice little afternoon outing. 

Uptown

So this past weekend we visited my daughter and walked two miles to the Greek Festival going on nearby. You can read about that here.

After we left the festival she wanted us to see where she worked. Each morning she will get on the monorail and ride into town to work, but since she is only a little over a mile from uptown where she works, we decided to walk. We wanted to get our exercise in and walk off some of those sweets we ate at the festival. 

As we were walking we could see the Bank of America Stadium in the distance. Home of the Carolina Panthers.


It was a nice little walk into the city. The streets were busy and I saw lots of street vendors, beggars and homeless people sleeping on benches. I live in a town full of homeless people, but most are just drug addicts looking for a fix. Here in the big city, they looked really homeless sleeping on benches without shoes. Everything they owned was stuffed in trash bags and used as pillows. It broke my heart. 

I told my husband that we only live 20 minutes from uptown and in 49 years, I have never been on the streets of Charlotte. I have never seen inside any of the buildings. My daughter was exited to show us where she worked so she took us on a tour inside some of the buildings and I was in awe. 


They were as beautiful on the inside as they were on the outside. I would love to show you her offices but for her protection, I’d rather not. They were very modern and looked like something out of a magazine. I could only dream of having an office like hers. 

These little scooters were everywhere. 


You download an app on your phone, scan the code on the scooter and it will charge you 2.00 to ride until you put the kickstand down. Then it’s free game for someone else to grab. So if you take it to a store and park it, most likely it will not be there when you come out. No worries though, you can just use the app to locate the nearest one. They were just all “Grab and go”. I though it was just the funniest thing. 


People were riding them everywhere and they were pretty fast. I could not get Nick to try one. (For the record, neither did I).

I gave this man some money while he played a tune on his guitar. 


As I walked away, I looked back and saw him lay the guitar down, but the playing kept going. Why? Because he wasn’t even playing! It was all on a music box. I was tricked! But he was obviously getting rich from it. I had sucker wrote all over me. 

We spent almost all afternoon exploring uptown and all it had to offer but I still would not want to live there and I still fear for my daughters safety every single day.

Before we headed home, we stopped at the ice cream shop for a snack. 


I order a scoop of blueberry cheese cake and Nick had the Pistachio flavor. My daughter walked next door for a smoothie instead. 

It was a fun day and I walked 10.23 miles and 21,615 steps that day according to my fitbit. 

Indian Dolls- Memories

I remember when I was young, one of the places our family would visit was Cherokee, NC. On the way, we would often pull over for a roadside picnic. Those were the good ole Days.

I loved to visit Cherokee because I loved to see the Indians. You could see some in full suit and head dress walking around. I even had a little Indian dress myself and a pair of moccasins. I think there was dancing chickens and a piano playing chicken but I could have been dreaming.

While we were there, we would always go into the shops. Mom and dad would give us each a couple dollars to buy a souvenir. My big brother would often get at tomahawk or hat. My little Sister liked to pick up a pet rock and I went straight to the Indian dolls and beaded jewelry. I would walk away with one of the other.


I loved the little Indean dolls the best. There was just something about the smell of the leather outfit, tiny shoes, and cotton hair. I have no idea where those dolls are today but I wish I still had one.

My sister drove up to Cherokee a couple weekends ago on a job assignment and revisited a few of the stores.


She was sweet enough to bring me back a souvenir of a tiny beaded Indian doll necklace just like we wore when we were little.


They are still made the same as they were over 40 years ago. Look close, you can even see tiny little feet under her dress.


Not only did my sister bring me back this sweet gift but she also brought back some memories. Now I am trying to get my husband take me back to the Indian town and visit the casinos. I have never been to a casino, and of course touch an Indian. [Grin].