Last weekend was our first time traveling post-stay-at-home orders. We drove to Charlotte, NC to see if it may be a place we want to move to in the near future. There are a few things I would recommend checking amid the COVID-19 restrictions: Does the state you are driving or flying into having any travel restrictions or mandatory self-quarantines upon arrival? What are the current business limitations, are restaurants open for indoor or outdoor seating, are retail spaces available for shopping, and are there things you can do to get an understanding of the city if those luxuries are not available? We postponed our trip to Charlotte from Memorial Day Weekend due to the answers to those questions. The state is mask mandated which made me a little more comfortable with being in public places as well as there were no travel restrictions at this time, unlike Chicago. Chicago, IL has a mandatory quarantine in place for anyone coming from hot-spot states the states are evaluated every Tuesday (yay...Florida), so if you are looking to travel near Chicago, please keep that huge factor in mind. Both O'Hare and Midway airports are technically in Chicago so they follow this regulation.
To the positive sides of the trip, Charlotte is a beautiful city that is well taken care of with brick and flowers everywhere. The city has a surprisingly young population with new money being developed in the Midtown area. There is food for days, everything from salmon and swordfish tacos at Cabo Fish Taco to pulled chicken nachos over homemade salt and vinegar chips from The Improper Pig. Traffic is light, people actually know how to drive for the most part, and the shopping is fantastic. I would definitely recommend a weekend getaway especially if you love long scenic drives or NASCAR lol. Personally, in terms of neighborhoods, SouthPark and Uptown are the best NoDa is the close second with tons of local breweries and restaurants that are great for a night on the town. I will definitely be back to explore more of what North Carolina has to offer.
Be sure to check out some of the delicious food below!
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