Shopping in Charlotte

There's a great little area in Charlotte called NoDa (North Davidson Street). This little arts district, the SoHo of Charlotte,  has all kinds of boutique shops as well as adorable bars and cafes. 

Known for hand made jewelry, hats, clothing, as well as earthly home decor and gifts, NoDa is the perfect destination for all your gift giving needs... and chances are you'll end up with a little something for yourself as well. The eclectic food options range from gourmet crepes to fish tacos to classic cajun and creole cooking.  Warm up with a gingerbread latte at the Smelly Cat Coffehouse, which is probably worth going to for the name alone.  Pick up a "C'mon Get Smelly" t-shirt...  you can pretty much guarantee no one back home will have one like it!

NoDa hosts a free Gallery Crawl every 1st and 3rd Friday of the month. You can browse the neighborhood's swanky galleries while enjoying smooth music played by local street musicians. 

Visit the popular watering holes, meander through the fine collection of galleries, shop in the boutiques or bring your pets to the doggie bar (where humans are welcome as well)!  If you are looking for a marketplace for fun, beautiful and unique items,  NoDa is a great destination.

Good Eats: Charlotte, NC

Charlotte has many great restaurants... something for pretty much any taste.  Before dinner on Saturday, we went to a new Scottish bar called Molly MacPhersons in uptown Charlotte.

A beautiful bar which feels cozy despite it's size, Molly MacPhersons has a menu with traditional pub fare as well as some fun Scottish additions such as neeps and tatties and scotch eggs. The highlight for me was the very impressive scotch list and beer menu, which had a over 20 Scottish beers as well as dozens of other interesting imports.  After a highland scotch or two, we walked around the block to an excellent steak and seafood place called LaVecchia’s.  The food was great, and the oceanic decor was really fun.

If you are into something more casual,  Dandelion Market might be the place for you.  Kyle claims they have "ridiculously good grilled cheese sandwiches" and the bartenders remind her of nice “local” NYC bartenders (i.e., if they like you, they will let you know what days they work and remember your drink order).  They also have a great craft beer list.

For fine dining, the multiple award-winning and highly acclaimed  Zebra restaurant boasts organic, free range, local and sustainable fare.  We didn't make it there on this trip, but it's definitely at the top of the list for the next time I'm in Charlotte.

All in all, when it comes to food, Charlotte has something for almost every taste and occasion. Have you been?  Send me your recommendations and I'll be sure to check it out next time I'm there!

Apple Picking!

Apple Picking!
Visiting my sister Kyle in Charlotte was awesome for many reasons (see yesterday's post) but another great thing about getting out of the city is that you can do fun country stuff... like apple picking!  On
Saturday, Kyle and Jamie (her husband) and I went over the border to York, SC to the Windy Hill Orchard & Cider Mill apple festival.

It was really fun.  Besides the apples and pumpkins, there was also hay rides, a bbq stand shaped like a gun, apple butter and cider making demonstrations, and a blacksmith.  Jamie and I headed straight for the hard cider (yum!).  I bought a handmade iron candlestick from the blacksmith. We all shared a pulled pork sammie and listened to some banjo music from a live band. And of course, we picked apples.  We bought hard cider and apples to take home....but the highlight?  WASSAIL!!!  While Kyle and I were cooking dinner (and dessert, more on that in a minute) we heated the wassail on the stove. Jamie and I drank it with spiced rum. OMG.

For the record, wassail is a spiced cider meant to be consumed hot. If you don't have the good fortune of having an apple orchard nearby, there is a recipe (and brief wassail history) at Kate Hopkins charming blog, Accidental Hedonist.

When we got home, we had to figure out what to do with 10 lbs of apples.  So one thing we did was make a very tasty apple crumble pie (recipe at the end of the post).

We didn't have time to make our own crust, so we just got the pre-made refrigerated kind, which worked out great.  Two crusts come in the package, and we just needed one for the pie, so we used a small cookie cutter and cut pieces of the other crust to put on the top for decoration.  Isn't it pretty?

This is the season to enjoy apple orchards, pumpkins, cooking yummy autumnal food, and drinking wassail... you may be lucky enough to not even have to travel to do this!

Recipe

• 1 (9 inch) pie shell
• 6 cups thinly sliced apples
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice (optional)
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Place sliced apples in a large bowl. Sprinkle with lemon juice if desired. In a small bowl, mix together white sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Sprinkle mixture over apples. Toss until apples are evenly coated.  Spoon mixture into crust.
3. In a small bowl mix together 1/2 cup flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter or margarine until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle mixture over apple filling. Cover top loosely with aluminum foil.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 25 to 30 minutes, until top is golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Weekend Trips: Charlotte, NC

Of course we would love to dash off abroad at every opportunity, but it's just not always practical... and besides, you might find you have some very good reasons to travel within the good old USA.  Like visiting family! Last weekend I went to Charlotte, NC to see my sister who is six months pregnant.  We got up to all kinds of hijinks, which I'll get to later this week.  But the #1 travel tip I learned from last weekend? Go visit your family! I hadn't seen my sister since she moved from NYC to Charlotte in March, and not to be all mushy here, but family is important, and, especially if you live in a city like I do, six months goes by in the blink of an eye.  Other great things about visiting your pregnant sister in Charlotte:
1. It's less than a 2 hour flight from NYC.
2. Someone actually picks you up at the airport
3. Free place to stay (dog included)
4. Fun activities like apple picking and outlet shopping
5. You don't really have to pack because you can just wear the clothes she can't fit into anymore

Charlotte
Charlotte is a great city, and there are several reasonably priced flight to and from New York daily.  A long weekend would be ideal, but (if you have a day job like me) you can leave after work on Friday, come back on an early flight Monday and still have two full days there without missing work.   Charlotte, believe it or not, is actually the 18th largest city in the US (based on population), and besides it's rich historical past, it has some great restaurants and is home to a number of notable universities.  Apparently the Charlottians were quite plucky during the revolutionary war. The city earned it's nickname "The Hornet's Nest" when residents drove out British commander General Cornwallis (who had occupied the city).  He wrote that Charlotte was "a hornet's nest of rebellion," and the name stuck.  See all the crazy things you learn when you travel?  Even more reason to go visit your family, no matter where they live, you are bound to learn something cool.

If you can't stand your family, go visit a friend instead! The fact is, we never take enough time to travel and see the people who are important to us. Trust me, going across the river to New Jersey or Connecticut is like a outrageous expedition for us Manhattanites.  So the thought of taking an entire weekend and getting on a plane to somewhere where people actually have drivers licenses and supermarkets is like a ridiculous proposition.  But just do it. Go. You will be glad you did.