Downtown Charlotte NC

So the day after the North Carolina Renaissance Faire we decided to check out down town Charlotte. We planned to go to the Children's Discovery Museum while we were there. We checked out of the hotel at 10 and headed downtown. There was no parking very close to the museum so we parked a few blocks away at the Marriott hotel parking garage for $5. Watch for the cost of parking because we passed many lots that was $10 and $15 parking for the day!

It was a Sunday so they didn't open until noon. So we had some time to walk around and look at the "Big City". We are from a very little country town so this was a big city to us.

 

I don't know the names of these buildings but they are MANY stories high and so SHINY!

The tallest one is the Bank of America Corporate Center-60 stories high.

Here are some more shiny things.

This one was in the front of a bank.

Here is a beautiful Door, I believe it was to the SunTrust Bank. It had so many pictures embossed into it. Look at all the symbols.

  Plaque and Crest

Next was the Il Grande Disco

Why all the Golden stuff?Here is a little history of the city:

Charlotte was founded in 1768 during the reign of King George III of England. To win favor of the crown, the city was named in honor of his wife Queen Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in Germany. This statue honors Queen Charlotte, the namesake for the “Queen City".

In the center of town was four statues each standing about 25 feet tall, representing elements that have contributed to the growth of the city: commerce, transportation, industry and the future. History says the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence was read by Thomas Polk on the courthouse steps at Trade and Tryon on May 20, 1775.(Here are three of them)

 

Here is a site with a little more history of the town. I will make a second post for the Random pics and Museum.

North Carolina Renaissance Faire

Renaissance....

It's that time of year again. There is a cool crisp breeze. Crunchy leaves falling from trees. Apples and pumpkins. Hay rides and corn mazes. Bonfires and Renaissance Faires. Pumpkin flavored everything.
This is the time of year that I love to bake. It warms the house with delicious scents and fills the bellies of all who enter.

We took the weekend off and headed to North Carolina. It was Renaissance time! We have been planning to go for years and finally got a chance. It was worth the wait. We had a great time. There were so many beautiful costumes and people were friendly.

The first encounter after we walked in the gates was Twig the fairy. She was so happy to see us! As we were happy to see her. We have been following her on Facebook for years now and finally got to meet her in person.

You can find her here.

As we walked around listening to the music and talking to the people we heard someone heckling us. It was this guy.

He was insulting people as they walked by. But at the other end of the fence was a big bucket of nice squishy tomatoes to throw at him. People lined up to pelt the rude dude!

Then we stopped to take in some tunes by Jennifer Mayer playing in the Jamila Lotus skeleton house band, Band of Eternal Souls.

This band plays for Jamila Lotus Dance Carnivale where we saw belly dancing with fire!

After a bit of fiery dancing we ran into the GreenMan. He was quite tall!

We also saw various shows on different stages. There was the FairHaven Theatre, Palace Stage, The Haven,CasaFortuna Stage, Rialto Stage, Dutch Door Stage and Sherwood Stage. There were storytellers, comedians,belly dancers, sword swallowing, hypnotists, juggling and acrobats.

Here is Moonie tight rope walking while juggling with fire.

After a long day of walking around we grabbed some grub. They were offering a variety of ales and drinks. Foods were bread bowls filled with chili or soup. Fish and Chips, sweet potato fries, scotch eggs and pizza. Of course we got a turkey leg- who doesn't get a turkey leg at the Renaissance Faire? We sat and ate while we watched the live jousting show at the Queen's Arena.

We sat in the section for the Blue and Silver Knight-I can't remember his name. He supposedly had rabies-not sure why, maybe in the forest too long?

We saw so much and had such a great time! We will definitely try to make it a yearly event if possible :)

Goodbye my friends-until next year!