Exploring the Charlotte Rail Trail
I’m starting to get a little jealous of my husband’s travel writing and blogging “career.” I mean, can you really call getting paid to travel and write a career? He seems to think so…
While he was off eating his way through Spain, France, and Belgium, I sat at home three months pregnant. While he spent what felt like the entire summer drinking beer in Asheville, I watched idly in the midst of my second trimester. Now that the baby is born, he continues with “work” trips to the Huntsville Space and Rocket Center, the Jax Ale Trail, and his upcoming brewery tour to Ireland.
I realize that Baby Gourmand and I can’t accompany him wherever his assignments may lead him (stupid press trips), that doesn’t mean we can’t have awesome adventures together when he’s home. There is so much to explore here in Charlotte that we sadly haven’t discovered in our nine years at Charlotteans. Thus, we plan to make a concerted effort to start exploring the city we call home with weekly adventures. While most of these adventures will be toddler friendly, we’ll also toss in a few adult events because mommy and daddy need a little alone time every once in a while.
Our first adventure was to explore the Charlotte Rail Trail.
I had been reading a lot about the Charlotte Rail Trail in the Charlotte Agenda (where my husband also claims to “work”). The 4.5 mile paved walking trail follows the light rail system from the 7th Street Station to the New Bern Station. While the overall project, which promises fun art spaces and pocket parks, isn’t complete yet, it’s still worth checking out for the many cool businesses located on or near the walk.
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We started our tour of the Charlotte Rail Trail at Price’s Chicken Coop.
Can you believe we’ve never eaten at Price’s before? Bryan waited in line while I stood outside with Baby G in the stroller. We took our box of fried goodness and sat on the steps of the building next door (the pocket park slated to be built near Price’s isn’t opened yet).
The chicken was everything Charlotteans have raved about. It was crisp, moist, and oozing with flavor. Even better were the tater rounds. They were an explosion of fluffy potato flavor! I could have eaten an entire box of just the tater rounds…
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From Price’s we walked south towards Good Bottle Company.
Bryan kept saying that the walk would balance out the calories from the chicken. What it didn’t balance out was a “refreshing beer” at our next stop, Good Bottle Co. Hmm… Sounds like he was forgetting about those calories in his calculations. Who’s counting though? It was the weekend after all.
As much as the trail leads through the heart of Charlotte, the walk was quite peaceful. It was fun to see the many changes since we lived Uptown seven years ago. As we pushed the stroller and watched a younger Charlotte brewery hop, I admit that I was a little jealous of how much more there was to do. Deacon’s smile always changes that though.
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Good Bottle Company was mad crazy.
The patio had a band and was filled with people. We almost didn’t stop since we didn’t want to be “that couple” dragging their baby where they shouldn’t, but it was hot and we needed a break from the sun. Luckily, the inside was pretty empty and chill, so we ordered a round of beer and found a quiet spot in the corner.
Deacon of course was all smiles. I swear he’s the happiest baby I’ve ever seen, but I’m biased. Some of the “younger” crowd on the patio kept trying to catch his attention through the window and wave at him.
After our beers, we walked back north to Price’s where we left our car. It was a fun way to spend a few hours. Given that there’s so much else to explore along the Charlotte Rail Trial like the Trolley Museum and Atherton Market, I’m sure this isn’t the last you’ll be reading about the Charlotte Rail Trail here.
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