Things to do While Visiting Charlotte (Gastonia, Gaston: home, school, moving to)

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by Herewecome

Thank you all! I found it and I checked the weather and it looks like the surprise picnic I had planned won't be happening. Oh well, Charlotte is wonderful and we can find lots of other stuff to do!

Right now they are only calling for periods of light rain, temps around 64. Maybe you'll get to ride thru and at least see the park. Weather in Charlotte can be a funny thing. We often don't get the rain, ice or snow that is originally predicted. Maybe tomorrow will be nicer than predicted?

[Herewecome]

Let's hope for the best!

[NC2STAY]

Here is some more info. I would like to add if I can. I took this info. from an e-mail I sent my family & friends just the other day. My family & I have been here for 4 months now and we love it here!

I thought since I don’t have any pictures to send you just yet, I could update you with some websites to see where I live, shop, eat and have fun! Enjoy! Let me know your thoughts when you are done.



http://www.shopstonecrest.com/ - This is a large outdoor mall called “Stone Crest” and is gorgeous! We come here go to Target, Borders Book Store, the Movies, the Jewel Box, Chick-Fill-A (for fast food), etc., etc. We also come here to listen to music at night, to have ice cream, etc.





http://www.promenadeonprovidence.com/ - This is another large outdoor mall called the “Promenade on Providence” where we go to Linens-N-Things, Kirkland, Home Depot, Staples, etc. In the photo you will see a big fountain… well; the baby fell in there once while we were at a concert on the green, LOL!!! …but all the children jump in the fountain anyway so it wasn’t so bad, except for the fact that Mario didn’t feel like “taking a dip” in at the time.





http://www.ballantynevillage.com/bv/community/home.html - This is another rather large outdoor mall called “Ballantyne Village”. Here you have more places to eat than really eat than shops to shop. We do no come here to often. You will have to click around the site to find photos.





http://www.aacusa.com/arbo.html - This is a very large outdoor mall called “The Arboretum” – there is TONS of shopping here!! Look at the flashing photo’s to the right of the website when you bring it up, look for the beautiful gardens and lake where we like to walk during the summer with Mario. Here we never saw soooo many turtles in one lake!! We also got to get up close to a mama duck and all 6/7 of her babies!!!! It was a sight to see!!!! We also took Mina (our kitten) out for a walk here.





http://www.crosland.com/retail/properties/rea_village/ - This is a small outdoor mall called “Rea Village” where I go have my nails done at “My Bella Spa”, where I get my hair cut at “XS Hair”, were our Internist and the baby’s pediatrician is, at “Meridian Medical”, and where we eat Chinese food, go to Carvel, etc.





http://www.landdesign.com/html/portf...ects/ud_7.html - This is going to be another very large outdoor mall when it is completed. It is called “Blakeney” and is #7 on the website when looking at the artist’s rendering, but when completed it will look like #2 which is what it looks like right now except for the fact that they have not finished some of the construction yet and all of the shops have not been filled by businesses yet. I think this outdoor mall is going to be one of the prettiest and one of the biggest out of all of the outdoor malls I have noted so far… and I am not just saying that because it is the closest in proximity to my home. LOL!!!





http://www.icsc.org/srch/sct/sct0304/page17.php - This website just shows some info. about the malls in NC close to us.





http://www.carolinaplace.com/html/Index2.asp - This is an indoor mall fairly close to us. It is a little further out than Stone Crest. We bought a beautiful painting for out kitchen from here.





http://www.simon.com/mall/default.aspx?ID=788 – Here is just some info. on the “South Park” mall. I couldn’t fin any photos of it on this site. This mall is very upscale I have heard, so obviously I have not gone yet, LOL!!!

I can't fit this all in one post, so check out the next few! :-)

[NC2STAY]

Besides shopping, we have been to the following places so far:

Discovery Place - http://www.discoveryplace.org (704) 372-6261 - Experience "hands-on" exhibits and traveling displays at one of the country's top science museums. Here we made our own movies. We did it where it was just the baby and me and then we did it when my in-laws came down so that movie was with Harry, Ann, Mario, the baby and me! It was too fun!
Museum of the New South - http://museumofthenewsouth.org (704) 333-1887 - Focuses on the Piedmont Carolinas from post-reconstruction to the present.
Mint Museum of Art - (704) 337-2000 - www.themintmuseums.org Charlotte's first art museum operated as the first federal branch of the US Mint from 1837 to the onset of the Civil War.
Mint Museum of Craft + Design - (704) 337-2000 - www.themintmuseums.org This art museum features collections of ceramics, fiber, glass, metal and wood from all over the world.
Paramount's Carowinds Amusement Park - http://www3.paramountparks.com/carowinds (704) 588-2600 - Located on over 100 acres on the NC/SC line, Carowinds offers more than 40 rides and attractions featuring family water and theme-park fun. We have been here about 3, possibly 4, times already.
NC Blumenthal Performing Arts Center - http://www.performingartsctr.org (704) 372-1000 - The Belk Theatre and Booth Playhouse present the best in local, national and international artists including Broadway touring performances.
Spirit Square - (704) 333-4686 - Features arts education activities performances, exhibitions, and events for everyone.
The Light Factory Photography Center - http://www.lightfactory.org - We have seem some pretty weird art in here, as we are not big art patrons and do not understand what we are looking at… LOL!
The Children’s Theatre of Charlotte - http://www.ctcharlotte.org We already have tickets to see several shows this year and next!! Actually, our first show will be this weekend – we will be seeing “The Magician’s Nephew”.
Imaginon – http://www.imaginon.org - it is a hand on library with activities to do with the children, lots of fun!!!
Charlotte Bobcats and Charlotte Sting - (704) 424-9622 - The Charlotte Coliseum provides exciting NBA and WNBA basketball for the whole family – the baby when here with Camp.


We have also been to “Laser Quest”. It is set in a dark "sci-fi" maze, this is laser tag adventure that offers a wide variety of game styles that are tailored to everyone’s specific needs and interests and includes different elements and various skill levels and complexity. It is totally cool, all the kids love it.

PS: We can't wait to try out Ray's Splash Planet!!!

[NC2STAY]

Greener Pastures

Union County, the fastest
growing place in the Carolinas, happily accepts its label as Charlotte's best neighborhood


By Laura Williams-Tracy

Union County is unabashed about calling itself Charlotte’s best neighborhood. While many places shun the term bedroom community, Union has embraced the thousands of new residents crossing the Mecklenburg County line to find higher home values, a smaller and well-respected school system and lower taxes.

The influx has made Union the fastest growing county in North Carolina (and South Carolina, for that matter) and the 24th fastest in the nation. Union’s population grew by 47 percent from 1990 to 2000, and it shows no sign of slowing. By 2019 it’s expected to reach a population of 170,000.

The growth is perhaps most visible in the many large, luxurious houses on the county’s western side, where Charlotte executives and their families have discovered a welcoming community of acre-sized lots and horse farms. Union now has the state’s second-highest median income, second only to Wake County.

A lab technician at Greiner Bio-One manufactures vials to collect blood


The 500-acre Monroe Corporate Center is Union County's largest industrial site


“It’s unbelievable the number of people I see that I don’t know,” says retired state senator Aaron Plyler, 78, who grew up north of the county seat of Monroe and represented the county in the N.C. General Assembly for 28 years. “I remember when the western part of the county wouldn’t grow cotton. Now they are growing houses instead of row crops.”

“We worry about the western part of our county sinking because of the thousands of people moving there from Mecklenburg County,” jokes Wingate University President Dr. Jerry McGee, whose 1,600-student campus is 30 minutes east of the county’s phenomenal residential growth.

But breaking records isn’t new to Union County, and it certainly isn’t entirely defined by its big-city neighbor. Located in the southwest corner of the Piedmont resting on the South Carolina line, Union County also boasts a diverse industrial base.

Its second largest employer, Allvac, a maker of specialty metals for the aerospace and medical industries among others, purchases more electrical energy than any other entity in the Carolinas.

McGee Masonry Group, the county’s third largest non-governmental employer, is the largest masonry contractor in the United States, and the founders’ nephew, Travis McGee, holds a place in Guinness Book of World Record’s as the fastest brick layer, laying 1,494 brick in Dallas in 1996 in just one hour.

On Union’s more rural eastern side, Edwards Wood Products is among the largest pallet makers in the country, turning out some 85,000 wooden shipping pallets each week.

When looked at as a whole, many say there are really three Union Counties. The western portion is made up of communities such as Weddington, Waxhaw and Marvin that attribute their recent growth to spillover from South Charlotte’s luxury homes. Monroe, the county seat in the geographical center of the county, is the center of government and industry. And eastern Union County, including the towns of Marshville and, farther north, Unionville, retains its largely rural appeal and is home to the county’s still thriving agricultural base.

Together, the 14 incorporated towns of Union County offer a combination of country charm and urban convenience promising something for just about everyone.

[NC2STAY]

http://www.visitwaxhaw.com/waxhaw/home_flash.cfm - This is a website to view Waxhaw and its upcoming events.





http://www.waxhaw.com/nav.cfm?CFID=6...TOKEN=12997783 – Now I think this is a website to view Waxhaw as a whole, ya know what I mean. I haven’t really checked both of them out in depth to say whether of not they are the same or different. Maybe you could let me know. LOL!





http://www.townofweddington.org/ - This is a website to view Weddington as we are right on the border of Weddington and much closer to it that the actual town of Waxhaw.





http://www.union.lib.nc.us/history.htm - This is a website will give you small history of Union County and how it came to be.





Oh… and I love when people say or think we have nothing around us. This is a “Mall Directory Sample” of some of the stores/shopping we have access to:
Accessories
Afterthoughts
Carimar
Cato
Claire's Accessories
Claire's Boutique
Coach Store
Hat World
Leather Loft
Lids
Rue 21 Company Store
Sunglass Hut Intl
T-Shirts Plus
The Icing

Anchors
Belk
Blacklion
Dillard's
Goody Department Store
Hecht's
JCPenney
Kohl's
Matthews-Belk Dept. Store
Sears

Apparel - Childrens
Burlington Coat Factory
Carter's Childrenswear
Gap
GapKids
Guess?
Gymboree
Kids "R" Us
Lids
Limited Too
Old Navy
OshKosh B'Gosh
Rave
T-Shirts Plus
The Children's Place

Apparel - Mens
Abercrombie & Fitch
Aeropostale
American Eagle Outfitters
American Outpost
Banana Republic
Benetton
Big Dog Sportswear
Brooks Brothers
Bugle Boy Outlet Store
Burlington Coat Factory
Cato
Eddie Bauer
Gap
Gingiss Formalwear
Goody's Family Clothing
Guess?
Hot Topic
J Crew
Jockey Store
L'eggs/Hanes/Bali/Playtex
Lids
Life Uniform & Shoe Shop
Maurices
Men's Wearhouse
Mitchell's Formal Wear
Old Navy
OshKosh B'Gosh
Pacific Sunwear
Rue 21 Company Store
S & K Famous Brands
Structure
T-Shirts Plus
Tommy Hilfiger
Wilsons the Leather Experts

Apparel - Womens
Abercrombie & Fitch
Aeropostale
American Eagle Outfitters
American Outpost
Ann Taylor
Arden B.
Ashley Stewart
August Max Woman
Banana Republic
bebe
Benetton
Big Dog Sportswear
Body Shop
Brooks Brothers
Bugle Boy Outlet Store
Burlington Coat Factory
Cache
Casual Corner
Cato
Charlotte Russe
Chico's
Coach Store
Dress Barn
Eddie Bauer
Elisabeth
Express
Fashion Bug/Fashion Bug Plus
Gadzooks
Gap
Goody's Family Clothing
Guess?
Hot Topic
J Crew
Jockey Store
L'eggs/Hanes/Bali/Playtex
Lane Bryant
Laura Ashley
lErner New York
Lids
Life Uniform & Shoe Shop
Maurices
Mitchell's Formal Wear
Motherhood Maternity
Mothertime
Northern Reflections
Old Navy
One Price Clothing
OshKosh B'Gosh
Pacific Sunwear
Paul Harris
Petite Sophisticate
Rainbow Apparel
Rave
Rue 21 Company Store
Sizes Unlimited
T-Shirts Plus
Talbots
The Avenue
The Limited
Tommy Hilfiger
Victoria's Secret
Wet Seal
Wilsons the Leather Experts

Books & Magazines
B. Dalton Bookseller
Barnes & Noble
Waldenbooks

Jewelry & Watches
Dakota Watch Company
Friedman's Jewelers
Helzberg's Diamond Shop
Kay Jewelers
Marks & Morgan Jewelers
Piercing Pagoda
Reeds Jewelers
Watch World
Whitehall Co. Jewellers
Zales

Restaurants
Aladdin's Castle
AMC Theaters
Applebee's
Auntie Anne's
Baskin Robbins
Boston Market
Burger King
Cajun Cafe & Grill
Charley's Steakery
Chick-Fil-A
Chili's Grill & Bar
Cinnabon
Dairy Queen
Dunkin Donuts
Freshen's Yogurt
Gloria Jean's Coffee Bean
Godiva Chocolatier
Great American Cookie Co.
Great Steak & Fry Co.
Great Steak & Potato Co.
Manchu Wok
McDonald's
Metabolife
Pizza Hut
Red Lobster
Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory
Sbarro
Steak Escape
Subway
Sweet Factory
Taco Bell
TCBY Treats
Villa Pizza

[friendnc]

Great lists, nc2stay! I bet your hand is tired!!!

[friendnc]

The Renaissance Festival is going on for about a month between Concord and Huntersville. Very fun!!!

**I-85 north to Poplar Tent Rd. exit. Turn left at top of ramp, go several miles and you'll see the enterance on the left.

[a1m1700]

Originally Posted by friendnc

The Renaissance Festival is going on for about a month between Concord and Huntersville. Very fun!!!

**I-85 north to Poplar Tent Rd. exit. Turn left at top of ramp, go several miles and you'll see the enterance on the left.

That's in the location of my new house.

[friendnc]

Specific times for the Renaissance Festival is 10am-5:30pm weekends Oct. 7-Nov. 19

Wow!! We won't be far from each other. I live 5 minutes from the Poplar Tent Rd. exit. Ridge Crossing subdivision on Pitts School Rd.