The US National Whitewater center

If you’re like us, you have on spouse who wants to go whitewater rafting and you have one spouse that doesn’t want to die in a river because they played Oregon Trail too much as a kid. We found the perfect way to get some experience doing this and not end up in an 8-bit watery grave. The US National Whitewater Center is the largest man-made recirculating whitewater river in the world and is used for training in a number of whitewater sports. There is a beginners track and an intermediary track with 8 people to a raft plus a guide. This alone was well worth the low cost of $60 per person for a day pass. There is also a high ropes course, ziplining, mountain biking, and rock climbing. Not a bad way to spend most of a Friday while working up an appetite. They do have restaurants and bars onsite if you want to make an entire day of it.

Ass Clown Brewing Company - A little north of Charlotte, this was our first stop on the way to dinner. It’s a little hole in the wall in one of Charlotte’s many commercial cookie cutter mixed use complexes. The beer was great with Taste Receptor and Partly Cloudy with a Chance of Fun being our two favorites. The atmosphere was chill and we might have caught the staff on a busy day, nothing we wouldn’t hold against them.
Eleven Lakes Brewing - Our next stop was just a few minutes away with a more lively scene in the form of live music, a food truck, and cornhole. As nice as the ambiance was, the beer was even better, our favorites were Northern Aggression NEIPA, River Otter Red, East Coast Haze, and LKN IPA.

Armored Cow Brewing - We arrived at Armored Cow Brewing after our trip to the US Whitewater Center. They had a craft market being setup in the parking lot along with food trucks for a fun filled weekend. The beers were good with Bang-Bang IPA and Sun Spun Lager getting high marks from us.
NoDa Brewing - Our second stop of the day was a brewery with a lot of beer options and an outdoor area you could spend an entire afternoon at. There wasn’t a single beer that stood out above the rest, but we did enjoy Nitro Vanilla CAVU, Double Radio Haze, and Radio Haze.

Birdsong Brewing Co - This was our last stop of the day before a pretty epic slate tomorrow, so we took it easy. Birdsong is very welcoming of dogs, which makes for some entertainment. The beers were ok, we particularly liked Higher Ground IPA and Paradise City Session IPA.
Lower Left Brewing Co - This was our first stop of the light rail beer tour, our hotel was along the Blue Line and we took it south to the Scaleybark exit and walked about a mile south. The venue is in what looks like an old auto repair shop, the beers were excellent with all four of our choices getting high marks, Cosmic Jellyfish, Stupid Man Suit, Juicy Mc Juiceface and Force Lightning. They also had some table games that we’re going to try to recreate on our own.

Brewers at 4001 Yancey - This beer hall had a number of breweries all under one roof with plenty of seating in and out as well as yard games galore. We did a full flight of their Hazy IPAs and found a few that we loved, Clt Brew’d Hazy Daze IPA from Southern Tier Brewing Company, Party Favor IPA from McMenamins, Summer Hazy Love and Cloud Walker Hazy Juicy IPA both from Victory Brewing Company.
The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery & Biergarten - A quick stop here because they weren’t doing beer flights. The inside has the look of a German beer hall and the outside has a stage for live music, games, a playground for kids (and maybe drunk adults).
Protagonist Beer - This was our final brewery off the Scaleybark stop. The pizza looked and smelled good, but we didn’t partake. The beer wasn’t as good, but we were only doing four tasters per stop, so we might have just made some poor choices here. The outside games looked fun and the atmosphere had day drinking written all over it.

Triple C Brewing Co - This was our first stop off the New Bern light rail station in a fun little area with a number of breweries in a short area. All four of our selections were outstanding, we tried the Piedmont Pines, Thirsty Jukebox, with 3C IPA and Baby Maker being the best of the bunch.
Wooden Robot Brewery - Our last stop of the day was a fun little indoor/outdoor venue with a solid bar setup and a food window for bar apps. The beers were top notch with Consider the Source, Space Magic, and Good Morning Vietnam being our favorites.

Suffolk Punch Brewing - Sunday morning before our flight we stopped in for brunch, which had been well advertised during our research. The chicken biscuit was excellent, the French toast was good but a little light on substance based on the cost. Beer wise, we enjoyed the Hyde in the Haze, A Patchwork Orange, and the Melted Dreamsicle Orange Lager. There are two churches on this street, so if you’re thinking of brunch on Sunday then come early or come by light rail. We arrived as soon as they opened, and by the time we got our breakfast, there was a line down the hall.
Lenny Boy Brewing Co - This was our last stop of the trip and it was a fun little stop with both some solid beers, and an interesting Plant Room that can be toured while enjoying a drink. Our two favorites were Czech Please and Send It, which we enjoyed on their outside patio before taking a walk through the Plant Room to get a few ideas for our backyard.

Miranda really enjoyed the art scene in Charlotte, whether it was the murals along the rail line, the beer labels, the scary clowns or the homage to famous fictional and non-fictional people.

We don’t really have much to say about the food with the exception of Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar. This place was awesome with amazing burgers, good hand cut fries, and some good looking shakes that we did not save room for. This place helped to redeem what had been a poor experience the previous night. We love BBQ and we did our research on Carolina BBQ, but it still wasn’t enough to prepare us for how strange the sauce and presentation was. Some of this might have been on us too, the beer scene was so exciting that we didn’t really put a lot of work into where we were going to eat. Downtown Charlotte is like a lot of other metropolitan centers that are buzzing during the week and seemingly dead on the weekend when there’s not a game, concert, or event. We found a number of the restaurants around our hotel closed early, in hindsight, we should have looked for Saturday dinner near the pubs rather than settling for a pizza delivered to our room.

Certainly not one of our longer trips, but well worth the hour and a half flight, and this wont’ be the last time we visit Charlotte. We didn’t do anything on Lake Norman, we barely scratched the surface of the venues downtown, and Charlotte also offers the easiest access to the Great Smokey Mountains, so we will certainly be back.