“Find a way to travel alongside others. Experiences are like stories, best valued when shared.” -Old Sean
Easterly Pickup
After spending a day in New Orleans, I began making the long trip to Charlotte, North Carolina.
Since I’m already running a bit behind schedule, I opted to take a five hour nap outside of a Culvers halfway through.
Charlotte isn’t exactly a work destination, but it’s the best launching point I have for my itinerary along the East Coast. I have a personal reason for visiting as well.
In 2018, a great friend did me a good favor by carting back a few things I couldn’t afford to lug around Europe (spare laptop, camera, two ties and a toy car gift). This helped me get a lot of valuables out of China without breaking my back in Europe.
I’m doubly grateful for the gesture, because it means I have an excuse to visit for a couple of days. Naturally, after a somewhat extended drive, I spent my first day just resting.
However, I had fun joining my friend around town for most of the second day. Thanks to the darkest of magics, coffee, I was able to stay on my feet with eyes partially open all day.
A Physical Meal
When I first arrived to Charlotte, it took me a moment to get my bearings. I’ve been in the city a few times for road trips in my youth, and in my head, it’s a smallish-city. But in reality, Charlotte is a large metropolitan with a fairly sizable array of activities.
During my first night, I had my fill of crab soup, giant brownie towers and other assorted foods at Eddies Place Restaurant. A waiter there, a brilliant physics university student nominally named Waffle, had the oddest and most compelling assortment of learning tools to accent our meal.
Over the course of dinner, I was entertained by a reverse-rotating piece of plastic, a tiny, metal randomizing-ball machine measuring bell curves, a water bottle filled with two equally clear liquids of differing densities, a musical bowl that sang while making water jump and an air cup pressure puzzle challenge.
It was a good time.
Town Day
That night, we returned home to my friend’s house for an art-night. I spent the first hour of the evening lounging while watching visitors paint, sift through paperwork and play with clay.
When I was finally asked to display my artistic tendencies, I created several green dinosaurs which received a moderate amount of praise.
If the crowd knew my true lack of artistic talent, I’m sure they would’ve been much more impressed by the minor miracle.
The following morning, I spent the rest of my Charlotte time at the Discovery Science Center‘s giant bug exhibit. Afterwards, we settled in for a movie and I called it a relaxing night.
Currently, I’m getting prepped to head out to Washington DC tomorrow morning.
It’s going to be a seven hour trip starting at 5 AM. Ironically, the thing I’m dreading most at the moment is how I’m going to find parking.
Anyway, until then,
Best regards and excellent trails,
Old Sean
Written January 11th, 2019
Read more about visiting Charlotte and seeing the world by visiting Leftfade Trails Destination Info.
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Skog Å Kust DrySåk
When wandering around areas where rain dominates for half the year, I highly recommend Skog Å Kust DrySåk. I use this as my day bag for trekking, swimming and electronic device protection
