Get Your Charlotte Info Here

[The Sheriff]

Phoenix to Charlotte one way for $170. Flying to DC right after the game to see family for $148 (and then driving to Pitt for the Winter Classic at 1 PM on the 1st). Go Bulls! Go Caps!

[usf97]

It has expanded since I have been up there but I would highly recommend checking our Ri Ra's Irish Pub.

Great bar.....and usually they have good live music.

http://www.rira.com/rira/charlotte.html#

[Triple B]

General/Hotels

BOA stadium is in uptown as it is know by locals. This is really "downtown". So any hotel that says uptown location you are good to go. Everything there is walking distance to the stadium. So you can probably avoid the rental car and pay the $25 each way for a cab. There should be plenty of hotels available as there are a ton in uptown and the banks will be closed so not much business travel for that week. Most of the hotel are pretty new. Actually the Omni, Hilton and Marriott are the oldest chain hotels there. There are some really nice old boutique hotels there also. The new Ritz is really nice.

Jay, just wanted to verify ... A taxi from the airport to BOA Stadium and back would be about $25 each way?

[2000bull]

It has expanded since I have been up there but I would highly recommend checking our Ri Ra's Irish Pub.

Great bar.....and usually they have good live music.

http://www.rira.com/rira/charlotte.html#

pretty funny, I put the same link on another thread 

would we consider those the good ol'days? 

[EduBull]

So I have been traveling to Charlotte since 2003. I have conservatively made 200 trips there.

My condolences.

Sorry, but I hate Charlotte.  I lived there for years.  It's among the most bland and generic cities I know of.  And that "uptown" thing - Jesus how ******* stupid!  It's like some group of backwoods rednecks designed a cookie-cutter city with nothing unique, then went out of their way to come up with idiotic marketing slogans (i.e. "uptown" instead of downtown) to prove it is a real bah God big city.  Find any Charlotte Chamber of Commerce type advertisement and I guarantee it will contain some variation of the phrase "Charlotte is a big city."

OK now that that's off my chest, let me hip you sports fans to a couple of Charlotte's less advertised but more unique cultural offerings.  First is the Double Door Inn, which is near downtown (I absolutely refuse to call something "uptown" when there is no corresponding "downtown") so would be easy to get to if you're staying there.  This is an old hole-in-the-wall rhythm and blues bar (been open as long as I can remember) where you can still hear authentic blues music.  As a teenager I deposited, over many weekends, several gallons of beer vomit in the parking lot behind the bar. There used to be an old pool hall next door with the meanest old man you've ever met running it.  We'd stumble in there and he'd fix an icy stare on us until we left.

The other is the Paper Doll Lounge.  It's difficult to describe the historical significance of this place.  Been open since (I think) at least the '60's.  Now, Charlotte (well North Carolina in general) is a religiously conservative place with a strong alcohol taboo (which has relaxed over the years), and it wasn't all that long ago that you could not buy booze in any bar or restaurant (so technically there really weren't any bars).  What was allowed was "brown bagging," where you took your own bottle into the place in a brown paper bag.  To make a long story short, this prevented many normal bar/nightclub type places from opening.  But there was the Paper Doll - a topless (no full nude strip joints allowed) bar, and for several years perhaps the largest nightclub in the city.  On weekend nights it was THE place to go - couples on dates would be there.  Brown bagging it to the Paper Doll was truly a unique Charlotte experience. 

OK so now I'm feeling a little nostalgia and think that a weekend in Charlotte wouldn't be so bad after all.  Just keep the bible thumpers and stock car racing idiots away from me. 

[jaym]

General/Hotels

BOA stadium is in uptown as it is know by locals. This is really "downtown". So any hotel that says uptown location you are good to go. Everything there is walking distance to the stadium. So you can probably avoid the rental car and pay the $25 each way for a cab. There should be plenty of hotels available as there are a ton in uptown and the banks will be closed so not much business travel for that week. Most of the hotel are pretty new. Actually the Omni, Hilton and Marriott are the oldest chain hotels there. There are some really nice old boutique hotels there also. The new Ritz is really nice.

Jay, just wanted to verify ... A taxi from the airport to BOA Stadium and back would be about $25 each way?

Triple, yes that is correct. The cab cannot charge more than this as there is a set rate negotiated with the taxi authority. I took a taxi both ways last week and this was the case.

Hopefully there are not game day shenanigans.

[jaym]

So I have been traveling to Charlotte since 2003. I have conservatively made 200 trips there.

My condolences.

EduBull you are right back in 2003 - 2004 is was not a great place. There were very few good restaurants downtown. The thing that was hard for me was all of the smoking in the restaurants and hotels. But it is the home of tobacco.

I will say that the talent in CLT on average is among the best in the country.

[Triple B]

General/Hotels

BOA stadium is in uptown as it is know by locals. This is really "downtown". So any hotel that says uptown location you are good to go. Everything there is walking distance to the stadium. So you can probably avoid the rental car and pay the $25 each way for a cab. There should be plenty of hotels available as there are a ton in uptown and the banks will be closed so not much business travel for that week. Most of the hotel are pretty new. Actually the Omni, Hilton and Marriott are the oldest chain hotels there. There are some really nice old boutique hotels there also. The new Ritz is really nice.

Jay, just wanted to verify ... A taxi from the airport to BOA Stadium and back would be about $25 each way?

Triple, yes that is correct. The cab cannot charge more than this as there is a set rate negotiated with the taxi authority. I took a taxi both ways last week and this was the case.

Hopefully there are not game day shenanigans.

Thanks, jay .... We went ahead and rented a car for around $60. It gives us more freedom and we'll be able to show the colors with flags and magnets.

[jaym]

Ok, so I have been slacking on the food department. I have my personal preferences since I travel there on an expense account.

Charlotte is a steak town and there are plenty of those type of restaurants. The interesting thing is that there is a Johnson and Wales culinary school downtown and that brings a lot of creativity to Charlotte.

I am a big fan of a place called Blue, Mediterranean type of dishes, my normal favorite is the Duo of Wild Boar. Luce and Aria have good Italian. Bonterra is in an old church with a good wine room. I am a sucker for charcuterie and good cheese though.

Red's BBQ used to have the BBQ truck down town on Wednesday's and Fridays. Not sure of Fridays still. Here is the location. Good Carolina style 'Q.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=35.226621,-80.843904&num=1&sll=35.193866,-80.793396&sspn=0.319469,0.131434&ie=UTF8&ll=35.22636,-80.84363&spn=0.001052,0.001725&z=19

Price's Chicken Coop for LEGIT southern fried chicken.

1614 Camden Road

Charlotte, NC 28203

(704) 333-9866

http://www.priceschickencoop.com/

Charlotte Magazine recently gave their top 100 dishes. If you see one you like give it a try.

http://www.charlottemagazine.com/Charlotte-Magazine/Food-Drink/

Top 100

http://www.charlottemagazine.com/Charlotte-Magazine/December-2010/100-Best-Dishes/

[jaym]

General/Hotels

BOA stadium is in uptown as it is know by locals. This is really "downtown". So any hotel that says uptown location you are good to go. Everything there is walking distance to the stadium. So you can probably avoid the rental car and pay the $25 each way for a cab. There should be plenty of hotels available as there are a ton in uptown and the banks will be closed so not much business travel for that week. Most of the hotel are pretty new. Actually the Omni, Hilton and Marriott are the oldest chain hotels there. There are some really nice old boutique hotels there also. The new Ritz is really nice.

Jay, just wanted to verify ... A taxi from the airport to BOA Stadium and back would be about $25 each way?

Triple, yes that is correct. The cab cannot charge more than this as there is a set rate negotiated with the taxi authority. I took a taxi both ways last week and this was the case.

Hopefully there are not game day shenanigans.

Thanks, jay .... We went ahead and rented a car for around $60. It gives us more freedom and we'll be able to show the colors with flags and magnets.

That is not a bad way to go. If I see you at the airport representing the shield I will pay you $20 to bring me to the game.