A Summary of This Week: Part 3 - Exploring Charlotte

While Tony and Marie were at work (before lunch,) Tony and I got a chance to walk around downtown Charlotte again.  I must say, there are times when I wonder if we should have moved to Charlotte instead of Wilmington.  The city is alive with young business professionals and all kinds of industries.  There are banks everywhere, a downtown mall, museums and cultural events and anything you want in the way of food.

The city of Charlotte has done a wonderful job of blending history with futuristic elements.  It's not uncommon to see an old church next to a tall, shiny, office building with beams jutting out, in the Cleveland Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, I M Pei, fashion. 

Seeing taxi's on every corner reminded me of New York City, but Charlotte is so clean.  The city hums with activity, charm and parks with various themes.   It's a beautiful place, but the longer I was there, I realized that Wilmington fits Tony and I more than Charlotte does.  It hustles and bustles and I know we were looking for a slower pace.  All in all, I think we ended up where we are supposed to be.

Charlotte is 3 hours away, a nice drive for a good visit.  It fits Tony and Marie--it is their city and Charlotte is lucky to have them.

While we were walking around, we found the Wells Fargo Museum.  It's actually the first floor of the Wells Fargo building, but it's free and tells the story of how Wells Fargo came about.  There is an actual Wells Fargo stage coach in the building,  a "strong box" full of "gold,"  examples of old trunks with clothes that people would take on their journey,  examples of gold, silver and other elements, an old telephone and telegraph and pictures from the "old west" showing Wells Fargo stage coach drivers and  various routes in and around Charlotte--for $.06 per mile. 

The museum was the highlight of our downtown exploration...and for free, we couldn't beat the price.

Enjoy some of the sites of the city:

A modern statue stands outside of one of the downtown theatres.

Old meets new--an old restored church next to a geometric office building.

This coach could carry 19 people AND their luggage, not the mention the strong box. 

A stagecoach driver was one of the best things you could be in the old west.

This is an example of the "strong box" filled with gold that the coaches would carry.

This is a real strong box.  Empty, it weighs 24 pounds, filled with gold, it weighs over 100 pounds.

Here's Tony getting ready to board the stage.  Look at how high the wheel is compared to his shoulders. 

Here's me....I'm following the gold!!

This is an example of the precious metals of the day.  You can lift them from below to see what each one weigh.  The gold on the right side weighs the most and is the most difficult to lift.

This is a park in the city, circled with sculptures.  This one has different books from various times in history.  The bottom one is Oedipus Rex. 

Here's Tony with a new date!!

This is directions and distances to all of the "Charlottes" in the world. 

This, unfortunately was what we saw on the way back to Wilmington!!  It was a nice trip.