Things to do this weekend in Charlotte NC

[disneyofcourse]

Hey, we are planning a quick trip to Charlotte this weekend. What are some must see's for those who either live there or have traveled there. We like museums and botanical gardens if those are available. We also love just looking at sites and monuments. Also what are some good places to eat with vegetarian options? (casual attire)

We are planning on staying at one of these hotels just to give ya'll an idea of where we will be. Just please let me know if any of these Hotels are in a shady area. We don't know much about Charlotte.

Doubletree Hotel Charlotte - Gateway Village
895 W Trade St
Gateway Center
Charlotte, NC 28202

Econo Lodge Queen City Drive
3415 Queen City Drive
Charlotte, NC 28208

Hyatt Place Charlotte Airport/Tyvola Rd
2950 Oak Lake Blvd
Charlotte, NC 28208

 

[tar heel]

I think the Doubletree would be a much better location than the other two.

There are two new art museums in Charlotte. The Gant focuses on African-Americans. The Bechtler is an outstanding modern art museum. It has things like Andy Warhol portraits of the Bechtler family and pieces by Picasso. They are across the street from each other. There also are two Mint art museums, one downtown focusing on craft and design (think blown glass, etc.) and a more traditional one just out of town. There also is a fine history museum, the Museum of the New South.

I don't know if you have children with you, but there is a science musuem called Discovery Place.

Charlotte also has a lot of public art and it's fun to walk around and look at it. Some of it is inside buildings (frescos inside Bank of America tower and outlandish sculpture inside the Hearst building -- I have no idea whether you can see them on weekends).

Visit www.blumenthal.org to see what kind of performances are playing this weekend.

 

[dis-happy]

Not really the season for botanical gardens, but Winghaven is very nice in the spring. You could call and see if they are open now. Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens had some winter things going on...maybe check online for that. There's also Latta Plantation.

I'd stay away from the Econo Lodge if it's the one I'm thinking of. (There's also a very nice Residence Inn in Southpark that I can highly recommend though.)

There are a few Indian restaurants around that offer a lot of vegetarian fare. The last one I ate at was on the east side of town, but I can't recall the name, sorry.

Hope you enjoy your trip!

 

[marsha123]

the doubletree is the only one out of the 3 .check out the westin sometimes they have great weekend rates

 

[karibritt01]

If you do have kids, the Children's Museum is very nice. There is also a train museum in Spencer, NC (less than an hour straight up I-85.) You could try www.visitnc.com to find other info on the area.

 

[NCRedding]

There are two Hyatt Places off of Tyvola. They are less than 1/2 mile apart. I've stayed at the other Hyatt Place. The area is not shady, but is in the middle of lots of business buildings, so it is very quiet and deserted during the weekend. There are not a whole lot of restaurants, etc near by (though the HP I stayed at had a Jack n Jill bar/restaurant in the parking lot.

It is a fairly easy drive to Southpark, which has lots of upscale shops and restaurants. There is also a Concord Mills outlet center in Concord that is very busy.

I enjoy Discovery Place with kids. The Blumenthal Performing arts center has plays and concerts some weekends. There may be a Bobcats game in town.

Charlotte is a good time to visit in spring, just wish that the weather would be better for your trip.

 

[disneyofcourse]

Glad I asked this question!

I'll be taking Econo Lodge off the list and will look more into Doubletree which we have actually stayed in other cities.

Also looked up the Discovery place and I think we might just have to go there. We don't have any kids but it might be fun to check out. The Bechtler museum sounds like our kind of place so I think that's a must see.

Thank You for these ideas!