As much as Kathy & I love to travel, we often talk about the fact that there are a lot of interesting things to do right here in Charlotte. Things that people come from all over the country – and even the world – to experience, and we have never been. So a few weeks ago we decided to try something new – to be tourists in our own town and start checking out some of the things we take for granted.
After a nice breakfast we headed to the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art for an exhibit of photography that includes work by Paul Strand and of contemporary Mexican photographers. The office where I work is directly across the street from the Bechtler, and our bank gives us free admission once a month, but we had never been!
Next we rode the light rail out to visit Doc Porter’s Distillery, where we took a tour and sampled their products. This little distillery is cranking out bourbon, rye whisky, rum, gin, vodka and soon, malt whisky. Nice people and a good story, and well worth the effort to get there.
So a day of photography and booze – how hard is that?!
Nicely done… it is important to support the local sites too.
Hi John. I absolutely agree, although I haven’t been practicing it much. It was good to get around and see what is here.
I’ve thought about doing that from time to time, but haven’t really pulled the trigger, so to speak. I had no idea that there was a distillery in town, but then again, no much of a drinker. I know that there are a couple of breweries around, but that’s about it.
I guess there will be further opportunities for us to take a train excursion when they open up the northern section of the tracks.
Charlotte, like a lot of other towns, boasts a number of distilleries and even more craft breweries. I met the owner of one of the nearby breweries while we were at Doc Porter’s. A visit there will be the focus of an upcoming adventure, once we get through the holiday mayhem!
I think that is a great thing to do (ie. becoming a tourist of your own town). I know living in the Detroit area, there are so many things popping up now it’s hard to keep track. The colder weather though tends to dampen my exploration instincts though.
Something about cold weather tends to dampen my enthusiasm, that’s for sure. Although we don’t know “cold” here like Michigan does! I’m looking forward to exploring more when the weather is more conducive.