I am absolutely itching to travel. It never really goes away, this itch. Fortunately, I was able to relieve it somewhat with a little weekend road trip. Boyfriend and I headed south for a wedding in our old stomping grounds, Charlotte, North Carolina.
The best and worst thing about driving to Charlotte from anywhere west of Charlotte is the time it takes to get there. Driving through the Appalachians is breathtakingly beautiful and arduously slow. Heading out from southern Indiana took us through Brown County, Indiana (beautiful rolling hills, picture-perfect farms, a postcard of Midwestern charm) Kentucky (the beginnings of mountains, Bourbon country, more beautiful rolling hills) , a corner of Tennessee (Branson East, river camping and rafting, even more beautiful rolling hills, seriously cute little towns tucked into the mountains), and a chunk of very western North Carolina (narrow highway twisting and climbing around green mountains). For most of our drive it rained. Spring, amiright?
After our beautiful but pokey drive, we made it to Charlotte, checked into our hotel, and promptly thanked Priceline for providing us with a beautiful view of the city. Then it was off to meet Charlottians past and present. We were walking distance to all of our downtown destinations for the weekend (Seriously, Priceline was killing it.) The wedding we'd come to town for was beautiful despite a cozy (although I'm sure unwelcome) grumble of thunder and afternoon rain shower. We ducked from awning to awning on our way to the reception in a restaurant above the city, Bentley's on 27. Cocktails should always be accompanied by panoramic views. This is my new rule. Walking just a few blocks back to our hotel was a great way to end the evening. We did venture out of downtown for two very good reasons during our stay though. Cabo Fish Taco and Zada Jane's.
Cabo Fish Taco and the wonderful weather are the top two things I miss about living in North Carolina. I can't control the weather, but I can control where I eat lunch. Barbecue Mahi Tacos. This midwestern girl cannot think of any lunch not improved by the addition of barbecue sauce. These tacos are one of my favorite meals and it was so nice to enjoy them with some of our buddies from our Charlotte days. They also made sure we made it to a restaurant we'd never been to when we lived in town. We were missing out, you guys. Zada Jane's was our last Charlotte meal of the weekend and it was a wonderful choice. Awesome giant breakfast on the patio for the win. It will be added to the "When in Charlotte" list for next time.
While I'm still itching for more travel, I loved being in Charlotte for the weekend. It may never be our forever home, but it'll always be fun to go back and remember our couple of years there.
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