1. Cabarrus Antique Designer Showcase
City: Concord, NC
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (704) 596-4643
Address: 4751 Hwy. 49 North
Description: Antiques dealers and shoppers from all over the Southeast attend this event, which recently moved from the Metrolina Expo in Charlotte. This is a three-day show, held Fri through Sun.
2. Rocky River Golf Club
City: Concord, NC
Category: Golf
Telephone: (704) 455-1200
Address: 6900 Speedway Blvd.
Description: Another wonderful daily-fee course perfect for locals and tourists is Rocky River Golf Club at Concord. Rocky River began life in 1997 as a stand-alone municipal course owned by the City of Concord and designed by noted architect Dan Maples of Pinehurst. The course became part of something bigger in 2007 when the city added an 11-story, $65-million Embassy Suites hotel and spa adjacent to the course, creating the Embassy Suites Golf Resort & Spa.Despite the fancy connotation, the golf course remains open to locals, and flows through a picturesque tract of land near Charlotte Motor Speedway. Although the course features great views of the NASCAR speedway, it remains in a mostly undisturbed enclave surrounded by woods, streams and marshes, and the hotel. Rocky River’s front nine has a links style to it, while the back nine weaves its way through a more wooded portion of the property.
3. Carolinas Medical Center—Northeast
City: Concord, NC
Category: Health Care
Telephone: (704) 403-3000
Address: 920 Church St. North
Description: A comprehensive medical center for folks in Concord and the surrounding region, NorthEast has 457 beds. Billed as “miles ahead, not miles away,” the hospital offers trauma and emergency care; comprehensive cardiology services; private labor, delivery, and recovery rooms in the Hayes Family Center; the only accredited community cancer center in north Charlotte; a surgery center; and a pediatric ICU. In 2003 a new outpatient surgery and imaging center was completed. HealthGrades, a health-care information company, rated the Cannon Heart Center as having the best overall cardiology care in Charlotte, Hickory, Concord, and Gastonia. The maternity center also earned the group’s top five-star rating.
4. Macado’S
City: Concord, NC
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (704) 979-3700
Address: 9111 Concord Mills Blvd.
Description: If you’ve ever spent time in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia, you’ve probably run across this hometown chain of eateries based in Roanoke, Va. Tucked into Concord Mills Mall, Macado’s has probably the largest sandwich menu in the Charlotte area, and all the sandwiches are tasty. If you’ve ever had an unusual sandwich combination that you really loved, chances are Macado’s has it, or something similar. There are also flavorful entrées and appetizers. Best of all, you get a lot of good food without spending a lot of dough.
5. Morningside Assisted Living
City: Concord, NC
Category: Retirement
Telephone: (704) 795-1200
Address: 500 Penny Lane Northeast
Description: Part of the Five Star Quality Care chain operating in 27 states, these assisted-living communities also include wings for patients with Alzheimer’s and other memory-loss diseases. Weekly housekeeping, laundry and linen service, inviting common areas, gardens, sunrooms, and wellness programs make Morningside an upscale choice.
6. Concord Mills Mall
City: Concord, NC
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (704) 979-5000
Address: 8111 Concord Mills Blvd.
Description: Located off I-85 at exit 49, and two miles from Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord Mills features more than 200 manufacturer outlets, off-price retailers, and unique specialty shops designed in an oval racetrack layout. Since opening, it has surpassed even the Blue Ridge Parkway as the No. 1 tourist destination in the state.Concord Mills has something for every interest. Deposit Dad at the mammoth Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, where everything from boats to golf clubs are sold. Kids and preteens enjoy the Build-A-Bear Workshop store, where youngsters pick out a bear, help stuff it, choose its clothes and accessories, and register their new friend on the computer. Older teens can head to the 24-screen theater, large food court, or the very cool NASCAR SpeedPark, a racing theme park with several souped-up go-kart tracks and an arcade.Wear your walking shoes and start early. There’s a lot of ground to cover here: Off 5th Saks Fifth Avenue; Bed, Bath & Beyond; Burlington Coat Factory; TJ Maxx; and Books-A-Million for starters. Clotheshorses will enjoy Ann Taylor Loft, Gap Outlet, Polo Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Nautica, Brooks Brothers, Old Navy, Jones New York, the Limited, and Lane Bryant. Popular children’s outlets include Carter’s, Gymboree, The Children’s Place, and Osh Kosh B’Gosh. Teens and ‘tweens have Aeropostale, No Fear, and American Eagle Outfitters. Restaurants include Macado’s, Chili’s, California Pizza Kitchen, and more.The success of Concord Mills and nearby Charlotte Motor Speedway has created a cluster of other retailers, restaurants, and hotels on both sides of I-85’s exit 49, so there are plenty of places to stay and eat while you recharge your batteries and prepare for another round of shopping.
7. Zmax Dragway
City: Concord, NC
Category: Spectator Sports
Telephone: (704) 455-3205
Address: 5555 Concord Parkway South
Description: Charlotte Motor Speedway owner Bruton Smith built the zMax Dragway in 2008 and it is the Taj Mahal of dragstrips. This state-of-the-art facility seats 30,000 and is the only four-lane quarter-mile concrete dragway in the world. There are also 28 luxury suites.The dragstrip debuted in September of 2008 with the NHRA Nationals. In 2009, it hosted the NHRA Carolina Nationals, and it is slated to begin hosting two major events annually in 2010. Daily tickets vary in price from $10 to $55.
8. Charlotte Motor Speedway
City: Concord, NC
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (704) 455-3200
Address: 5555 Concord Parkway South
Description: Charlotte Motor Speedway ranks high among America’s premier NASCAR facilities. This 1.5-mile oval draws huge crowds with 140,000 permanent seats and room for approximately 50,000 more in the infield. Located northeast of Charlotte, just across the Cabarrus County line in Concord, the speedway hosts three of the top events on the NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule.May’s speedweeks include NASCAR’s longest race—the Coca-Cola 600—always held the Sun evening prior to Memorial Day. Eight days prior to the 600 is the exciting NASCAR All-Star Race, a Sat night shootout with $1 million going to the winner. In the fall, the circuit returns to Charlotte Motor Speedway for an October 500-miler that is part of the sport’s 10-race Chase for the Championship, which is essentially NASCAR’s playoffs. The track also hosts races in NASCAR’s junior divisions, the Nationwide Series, and the Camping World Truck Series.Attending a race at Charlotte Motor Speedway is a unique experience, quite different from most major sports events. First of all, fans are allowed to bring in their own coolers, packed with fried chicken, snacks, soft drinks, and, yes, alcoholic beverages. There are only two rules: one, the cooler can be no wider or taller than 14 inches (ushers have 14-inch sticks used to measure every cooler), and two, your alcohol and soft drinks must be in cans. No glass allowed. Folks camp out for days around the track and in the infield, and start the festivities pretty early on race day. If you’ve never attended a race before, here’s a word to the wise: front-row seats are not desirable. If you sit in the first few rows, you can’t see all the way around the track, you get blasted with dirt and rubber from the track, and there’s a good possibility you’ll get hit by a chicken bone or beer can (fans throw both down to the walkway just inside the safety fence). If this doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, Charlotte Motor Speedway also offers luxury suites and five-star dining in the Speedway Club, and it was the first (and only) sports facility to offer year-round living accommodations when it built the Turn One Condominiums in 1984.Folks looking for a first-hand racing experience can get behind the wheel of a real stock car via one of the many professional driving schools that operate at the track. The most popular is the Richard Petty Driving Experience. The rookie experience starts at $449 and includes a few laps by yourself on the speedway, or you can do a ride-along with a professional driver for $109.For a tamer experience, the track offers “Feel the Thrill” tours that give you a close-up look at the garage area, pit road, and victory lane, as well as a lap around the track in a passenger van. Tours offered hourly on non-event days 9:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. Mon through Sat and 1:30 until 3:30 p.m. Sun. Cost is $5 per person.