South Carolina – Part 2

Saturday, we drove up to the outskirts of Charlotte and went to Ballantyne Village to walk around and explore some of the cute little shops. We visited The Blushing Bakeshop and had some cupcakes. The cupcakes we fluffy and delicious. The frosting is whipped and wasn’t too heavy, which was perfect on a hot Southern afternoon. The girl that worked in the shop was so also sweet and helpful in giving us some good tips about the area.


Me at The Blushing Bakeshop

After Ballantyne Village, we headed off to another part of Charlotte and went to Cantina 1511 for lunch. We heard some great things about this place and wanted to try it. This is seriously up there for some of the best Mexican food that I’ve ever had. Our sever made some recommendations and I’m glad we listened. We shared Queso Fundido as an appetizer and it was so rich, we didn’t come close to finishing it. We also shared the margarita flight that included their top shelf, house and blood orange versions of the cocktail. For lunch, Geof and I both had the Barbacoa de Puerco (basically shredded pork w/rice, pico de gallo, Mexican cheeses, guacamole, and flour tortillas). We also had the most delicious traditional and tomatillo salsa.


Geof and I at Cantina 1511


Margarita flight and Queso Fundido

After lunch, we walked around the shopping area a little bit and then drove down to the Lynx light rail station to catch a train into uptown Charlotte. This is such a convenient way to travel and I only wish we had something like this back home. We were dropped off right at the EpiCentre and this place was so fun. It’s an area filled with restaurants, nightlife and some shopping. There was also a Carolina Panthers game that night so there were a lot of fans out and about. We walked around for awhile and finally settled at Whiskey River for a drink. They had a mechanical bull, so we had to go check it out. Neither of us went for a ride though.


The EpiCentre in Charlotte


Geof on the bull


Pretty sunset on the train ride back

It was getting late, so we headed back to our hotel. We decided to go for a night swim and then befriended one of the workers at our hotel. He was so sweet and we told him about the SafetySuit concert the next night and said he might come because he was a fan of the band. It turns out that he did come to the concert and brought a friend. They were both such nice Southern gentlemen.

Sunday, we slept in pretty late and then spent most of the day relaxing out by the pool. We grabbed a quick lunch and then got ready to head out for the night. We drove up to Winthrop University for the SafetySuit show and met up with some friends we knew from Twitter; Jessica, her sister Ali and their dad. They flew all the way in from Boston for the show and are huge fans of the band. They were all so nice and it was great to meet in person.


Geof and I at the SafetySuit show


Twitter peeps!

They finally opened the doors around 6:30 and we headed into the show. The concert was wonderful and I was so glad that we got to see the band once more before they head back into the studio to finish up their 2nd album. We got to catch up with their sound guy, John who is as nice (and funny) as they come. We waited for the crowd to die down and then got to talk to the SafetySuit boys. It was nice to catch up with all of them and hear about their summer. They recently went to Europe and Africa to play for the troops and I thought that was really special.


Concert time!



Us with Doug, Tate, Jeremy and Dave

After the show, we headed back to the hotel and got ready for the long drive back home the next morning. We had a great few days away and it was nice to visit a city that I’ve never been to before. I can honestly see myself living in the South someday.