Union County Real Estate Talk

Find Charlotte NC History at James K. Polk Historic Site

Charlotte NC gets criticized for not saving its historical buildings and sites.  But not all of Charlotte is shiny and new.  The James K. Polk Historic Site is one of those places where you can find some Charlotte NC history.  Fittingly for Charlotte, it's located in the shadow of one of Charlotte's largest malls, Carolina Place Mall. It's a peaceful spot that tells the tale of what life what like in backcountry Mecklenburg County in the early 1800s.

Click on the link below to read more about the birthplace of our eleventh president.

Fun Things to Do in Charlotte NC--Visit the James K. Polk Historic Site

If you prefer, watch this video tour of Polk's birthplace.

Want to know more about real estate and living in Charlotte NC?  Request a free Charlotte NC relocation package.

Copyright 2011.  Carol Fox.  Allen Tate Realtors.  *Find Charlotte NC History at James K. Polk Historic Site*

Christmas Events in Charlotte NC Small Towns--A Video Tour

The Christmas season is underway in Charlotte's small towns.  The activities range from a simple tree lighting to weeks of events between Thanksgiving and New Year.  The earliest event is the annual Union County NC Christmas Parade, which takes place in Monroe NC the Sunday before Thanksgiving.  The Community Center in Matthews NC has productions and concerts all the way until New Year's Eve.

Enjoy this video of some of these small towns all dressed up for Christmas and some of their kick-off Christmas events.

Want to know more about real estate and living in Charlotte's small towns?  Visit www.CarolinaSmallTownLiving.com.

Copyright 2011.  Carol Fox.  Allen Tate Realtors.  *Christmas Events in Charlotte NC Small Towns--A Video Tour*

Fun Things to Do in Charlotte NC—Visit the Carolinas Aviation Museum

We all remember that cold day in January when Flight 1549 from New York to Charlotte landed in the Hudson River after a bird strike.  Did you know that the “Miracle on the Hudson” plane is now on display in Charlotte?  It has found a home at the Carolinas Aviation Museum at the Charlotte-Douglas International Airport.

I recently spent several hours at the museum with visiting family.  The Carolinas Aviation Museum is a collection of aircraft, helicopters and equipment arranged in displays to show the history of aviation.  My World War II veteran father found a display showing the bombsite equipment that he used in the war.  There were also early airplanes and a number of military planes.  Commercial aviation was represented by a Piedmont Airlines DC-3.  Piedmont Airlines was the principal airline serving Charlotte until the late 1980s.

Of course, the centerpiece of the museum is now the “Miracle on the Hudson”.  The plane was transported from New York to Charlotte without its wings and tail.  A group of volunteers is restoring the the plane.  It now has its tail but is still without its wings.  A video of the events of that day with footage of the landing and rescue plus interviews with survivors is fascinating.

If you are interested in aviation, plan to spend a few hours at the Carolinas Aviation Museum.  The Museum is open six days a week.

Want to know more about living in Charlotte NC and its small towns?  Request a free relocation package.

Copyright 2011.  Carol Fox.  Allen Tate Realtors.  *Fun Things to Do in Charlotte NC—Visit the Carolinas Aviation Museum*

Charlotte NC Fall Garden Events

Summer’s heat is almost finished in Charlotte NC.  With cooler temperatures come some of my favorite times and events because fall is for planting in the Carolinas.

Three of Charlotte’s public gardens have special events and plant sales in September and October every year.  Here is a rundown of happenings for those of you who are ready to leave the air conditioning and get outside to dig in the dirt.

Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden

It’s not too late to see the Fields-A-Flutter butterfly exhibit at the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden.  This is a new exhibit showcasing butterflies in an outdoor setting along the Meadowood Walk.  The Meadowood Walk is a series of nature trails that wind through meadows and woodlands to Lake Wylie.  A Caterpillar Crib will host plants where butterflies can be seen emerging and visitors can study butterfly lifecycles up close.  Fields-A-Flutter ends on September 30th.

On October 1 and 2, Stowe will host AutumnFaire, a botanical marketplace for crafts.  Craft items will be made from or based on plants.  Gourd art, candles, pottery, basketry and foodstuffs will be among the featured items for sale.

Winghaven Gardens and Bird Sanctuary

For a garden experience on a smaller scale, check out Winghaven in the heart of Myers Park.  This three-acre garden enclosed by brick walls was created in 1927.  Winghaven’s formal gardens and woodland areas were designed especially to provide a sanctuary for birds. The Winghaven fall plant sale runs from October 5 through October 8.  You can find native plants, unique shrubs, antique roses and herbs at this sale.  The event also has free programs. Topics this year include Attracting Birds to the Garden, Herbs 101, Bulbs for Southern Gardens, and Fabulous Fall Containers.

UNCC Botanical Gardens

The Botanical Gardens at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte also have a fall plant sale.  The UNCC Botanical Gardens is a great place to find a variety of native plants, ferns and perennials.  This plant sale is on October 7 and 8 from 9am until 3pm.

Want to know more about real estate and living in Charlotte NC?  Request a free Charlotte NC relocation package.

Copyright 2011.  Carol Fox.  Allen Tate Realtors.  *Charlotte NC Fall Garden Events*

Fun Things To Do in Charlotte NC—Queens Feast Restaurant Week

Are the hot days of July getting you down?  Can’t get away from Charlotte NC to ride the waves at the beach or chill in the mountains?

Here’s a cool alternative to getting out of town.  Book your reservations at Queens Feast also known as Charlotte Restaurant Week.  From Friday July 15th through Sunday July 24th, a group of participating restaurants offers three course meals for $30.  It’s a great opportunity to eat at that upscale restaurant you’ve always wanted to try.

The Charlotte Restaurant Week website lists almost 100 participating restaurants.  They’re located all over Charlotte from Uptown to Dilworth to Southpark to Ballantyne and Matthews to Lake Norman.  They include some of Charlotte’s finest restaurants and steakhouses.

If you miss the July Queens Feast, there is usually another one in the dead of winter.  My husband and I have eaten at some great restaurants during Queens Feast.  You usually get a three course meal with some choices.  Portions tend to be a bit smaller than from the full price menu but with the three courses, the meal is still very adequate.  And of course, delicious!

Here’s how you can have your own Queens Feast.  Go to www.CharlotteRestaurantWeek.com.  Find the list of participating restaurants.  You can research the menu choices by clicking on each restaurant.  Be sure to make a reservation.  Some of the more popular restaurants get booked early.

Enjoy!

Want to know more about living in Charlotte and its small towns?  Request a free Charlotte NC relocation package.

Copyright 2011.  Carol Fox.  Allen Tate Realtors.  *Fun Things to Do in Charlotte NC—Queens Feast Restaurant Week*

Fourth of July Celebrations in Charlotte NC Small Towns

You can celebrate the Fourth of July in a big way or in a small way in Charlotte NC.  If you want to see big fireworks displays with lots of folks, you can check out the US National Whitewater Center’s three day festival, Carowinds’  Nights of Fire, the Charlotte Speedway or the WBT SkyShow.

Or you can celebrate the Fourth in one of Charlotte’s small towns where the settings are more intimate and the crowds are enthusiastic but smaller.  In these small town events, you can see fireworks, watch a parade, enter a watermelon-eating contest and listen to musical entertainment.

Here is a calendar of small town Fourth of July celebrations in the Charlotte area.

Matthews NC    July 2, 2011

• The Fourth is celebrated in Matthews on Saturday July 2nd.  Gather in front of town hall at 5:30 pm to decorate your bicycles, scooters and wagons with free patriotic items.  Then join the Peoples Parade from Town Hall to Stumptown Park for games and activities from 6:00pm to 7:00pm.  A local band “Too Much Sylvia” will perform a free concert in Stumptown Park at 7pm.

Mint Hill NC     July 3, 2011

• The Queen City Brass Band will perform from 7:30 to 9:00 pm on Sunday July 3rd.  This band is a community band which features brasses and percussion in a patriotic concert.

Monroe NC    July 4, 2011

• Enjoy a free concert by Summer Daze Dance and Show Band at Belk-Tonawanda Park.  Amusement rides start at 4:30pm followed by the concert at 7pm.  Fireworks start at 9:30pm.

Indian Trail NC   July 4, 2011

• Indian Trail’s festivities take place in the morning of July 4th.  A Flag Raising takes place at 9:45am at the Town Hall.  A watermelon eating contest starts at 10:30am followed by the July 4th Parade through downtown Indian Trail at 11:30am.

Waxhaw NC  July 4, 2011

• Waxhaw starts its “Old-Fashioned Hometown Parade” at 10am on Main Street downtown.  Live music begins at 5pm.  Kids activities include a face painter, bouncy, slide and balloon twister. Fireworks start at 9:30pm.

Want to know more about real estate and living in Charlotte’s small towns?  Visit www.CarolinaSmallTownLiving.com.

Copyright 2011.  Carol Fox.  Allen Tate Realtors.  *Fourth of July Celebrations in Charlotte NC Small Towns*

May—The Most Beautiful Month in Charlotte NC

It’s the first of May and time to celebrate Charlotte’s most beautiful month.  May is the month when Charlotte’s famous tree canopy explodes in all its green splendor and the city’s gardens are full of colorful flowers.  May is the month when the average temperatures are near 80 degrees but the summer humidity hasn’t yet arrived.  May is the month when Charlotteans relish spending time outside at home and around the city.

Charlotte’s public and private gardens are on display in May.   On Mothers Day weekend, Daniel Stowe Botanical garden invites the city’s mothers to enjoy its gardens free of charge.  Winghaven and the Elizabeth Lawrence House and Garden in Myers Park offer tours of six private gardens the same weekend.

Many of Charlotte’s small towns sponsor movies and entertainment in their parks in May.  Matthews NC alternates movies and musical entertainment each Saturday evening starting in May at Stumptown Park.  Mint Hill NC hosts movie nights at its town hall.  The Mint Hill Highland Games and the Mint Hill Farmers Market also take place in May.

Other small towns in the Charlotte area sponsor festivals in May.  Waxhaw NC hosts the Waxhaw Food and Drink weekend in conjunction with the town’s Springfest.  The food festival celebrates the town’s agricultural heritage with a farm to table dinner.  Stallings NC will have an Art and Music festival while nearby Indian Trail NC will hold the grand opening of its new Crossing Paths Park with an artisan market, musical entertainment and fireworks.

Want to know more about real estate and living in Charlotte NC and area small towns?  Request a free Charlotte NC relocation package.

Copyright 2011.  Carol Fox.  Allen Tate Realtors.  *May—The Most Beautiful Month in Charlotte NC*

Fun Things to Do in Charlotte NC—NASCAR Hall of Fame

The rumble of the engines and the roar of the crowd.  A jumble of colors flashing by.

If you want to follow sports in Charlotte NC, you must include NASCAR stock car racing.  After all, the sport was born in the North Carolina mountains where moonshiners souped up their cars to outrun the revenuers.  And most of the racing teams are based in the Charlotte region.

The recently completed NASCAR Hall of Fame in uptown Charlotte is the perfect place to enjoy the sport, whether you are new to stock car racing or whether you are a die-hard fan.  On a recent Sunday, I visited the Hall of Fame for a family birthday celebration.  There were racing fans and non-fans in our group.  Everyone had a great time.

The first stop after you enter the Hall is a theater where a movie describes the beginnings of stock car racing and the evolution of the sport to the present day.  When you leave the theater, you see Glory Road, a simulated race track with some of the earliest cars to the most recent.  As you walk along Glory Road, the amount of banking increases and displays show the degree of banking of the various tracks.

The rest of the NASCAR Hall of Fame is interactive.  You are invited to join the NASCAR Hall of Fame Challenge.  Each visitor has a hard card that you register and use to accumulate points toward the challenge.  The challenge includes NASCAR trivia contests, setting up tire pressure and shocks for a race, pre- and post-race inspections to see if your car is within regulation, and a pit challenge where you can jack up a car, change a tire and add fuel.  As you complete activities around the hall, you earn points and compete against other guests. 

At the Race Day Simulator, you get behind the wheel to see if you can be a NASCAR driver.  Spectators can watch your drive around the track.  It wasn’t as easy as it sounds.  We saw some pretty spectacular crashes on the Simulator screen.

The NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte NC is fun for a few hours or a whole day.  It’s located at 400 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd in Charlotte NC.  The Hall of Fame is open daily from 10am to 6pm.

Want to know more about living in Charlotte NC and its small towns?  Request a free Charlotte NC relocation package.

Copyright 2011.  Carol Fox.  Allen Tate Realtors.  *Fun Things to Do in Charlotte NC—NASCAR Hall of Fame*

Fun Things to Do in Charlotte NC—Party on New Year’s Eve

When you think of New Year’s Eve, you think of adult parties and the kids tucked away in their beds.  But if you want to party with your young ones, Charlotte offers some family-friendly options for welcoming the New Year.

First Night Charlotte

Put on your party hat and head for uptown Charlotte NC where the alcohol-free First Night rings in the New Year for young and old alike.  First Night is a community festival that emphasizes the arts and takes place around Charlotte’s cultural  facilities along the Levine Avenue of the Arts. 

First Night actually starts in the afternoon with McDonald’s First Night Kids.  These activities take place between ImaginOn and Discovery Place, both children’s facilities along 7th Street.  Children can sing and dance, listen to storytelling, watch juggling and magic, and see a percussion “petting zoo” of musical instruments.  First Night Kids starts at 3pm and culminates with a “kid’s countdown” from 7 to 7:45 pm.

Adults can enjoy numerous indoor and outdoor performances by regional and national artists.  Performances include dancing, music, visual arts, comedy and cultural performances.

The Countdown to Midnight is Charlotte’s version of the Times Square Ball dropping at midnight.  In Charlotte, the Queen City, a lighted crown will rise to ring in the new year.  A band performance and a hip-hop violinist will perform on stage during the countdown.

Admission cost for First Night Charlotte is $10 for adults and $5 for ages 7 to 12.

The Dazzling Diamond Caper in Matthews

If you don’t want to be part of the crowd in uptown Charlotte, you can participate in a murder mystery at the Matthews Playhouse in downtown Matthews NC.  Diamonds go missing and a dead body turns up during a jewelry heist at the Ritz Carlton in New York City.  The audience forms teams to find a motive, guess the murderer and find the jewels before the end of the play.

There are two performances of this family-friendly play on New Year’s Eve at 7pm and 9pm.  Tickets cost $10.

Want to know more about living in Charlotte and its small towns?  Request a free Charlotte NC relocation package.

Copyright 2010.  Carol Fox.  Allen Tate Realtors.  *Fun Things to Do in Charlotte NC—Party on New Year’s Eve*

Fun Things to Do in Charlotte NC—See the Christmas Lights

You probably won’t have a white Christmas in Charlotte NC.  But you can find some terrific spots in Charlotte to see outdoor Christmas lights.  Some of these displays are spectacular, in fact.  Here are three places that I recommend.

Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden Holiday Lights at the Garden

Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden (DSBG) hosts a holiday lights celebration every year.  Over 600,000 lights illuminate the pathways and fountains in the gardens.  Carriage rides are also available if you prefer a ride through the displays.  A 16-foot Christmas tree with 300 orchids decorates the DSBG Pavilion.  You’ll find Christmas crafts, model train displays and refreshments inside the Pavilion as well.

The Holiday Lights at the Garden continue through December 31, 2010 daily except Christmas day.  Hours are from 5 to 9pm Sunday through Thursday and 5 to 10pm on Friday and Saturday.

Read more:  The Best Christmas Lights Display in Charlotte NC

Christmas Town USA in McAdenville

You won’t have to get out of your car to see holiday lights in McAdenville, a small mill town just west of Charlotte NC.   In McAdenville the whole town decorates their homes for Christmas.  A one mile route through the town is lighted with a half million lights on over 375 trees.  The holiday tradition in this small town goes back 55 years when the owner of Pharr Yarns, the mill that dominated the town, and the McAdenville Men’s Club decorated nine trees.

A lake in the middle of the town is ringed with decorated trees.  The lake’s fountain sends illuminated water into the area every few minutes.  For those who prefer to walk through the town, a historic bell tower chimes Christmas carols.  A Yule Log Parade on December 17th will feature local children pulling a log on a sleigh to the YMCA where they will light the log in the fireplace.

Christmas Town USA in McAdenville is begins at 5:30 each evening through December 26.  Lights stay on until 9:30pm weekdays and until 11pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

Carolina Christmas at Charlotte Motor Speedway

Holiday lights at Charlotte Motor Speedway is the newest of the Christmas displays in Charlotte NC.  Home to NASCAR racing, the Charlotte Motor Speedway boasts that it has the largest animated LED display in the world.  You can take a 2.5 mile ride through the Speedway grounds and see over a million lights.  Other attractions at Carolina Christmas include  Lowe’s Patriotic Alley, a tribute to the armed forces, a synthetic ice skating rink, a live nativity scene with choirs and storytelling, carriage rides, carnival rides and marshmallow roasting at the Johnson Concrete Marshmallow Pits.

Carolina Christmas at Charlotte Motor Speedway is open nightly from 6pm to 10pm through January 2.

Happy Holidays! 

Want to know more about living in Charlotte and its small towns?  Request a free Charlotte NC relocation package.

Copyright 2010.  Carol Fox.  Allen Tate Realtors.  *Fun Things to Do in Charlotte NC—See the Christmas Lights*