Nicole and I took our first couple's trip last week to the fine, squeaky clean city of Charlotte. It wasn't meant to be just us -- all you folks who refused to go really missed out -- but I'm glad that's how it turned out.
We flew out Wednesday morning and returned Saturday afternoon, a little more haunted, a little closer and of course, with a Saints victory.
Charlotte was a fun city, though it's nothing spectacular. The people were friendly, and there were plenty of solid food options in walking distance. They had a few nice parks, with some nice scenery. I enjoyed our time there for sure.
Our hotel was in uptown Chatlotte and attached to the Epicenter, which has a bowling alley, movie theatre, bars and restaurants -- both fancy and fast food. It also hosted Buzzfest on Wednesday before the first Hornets home game in Charlotte since the team moved to New Orleans.
Let's take a look at some photos.
I wore my Pelicans shirt to the Hornets party. Not one person made a comment about it. C'mon, Charlotte. I love this ironic photo. The worker at the station, as everyone else, didn't notice.
It's first one to make 10 wins. I was challenged by this teenager. Kicked his ass. Then played Nicole, who jumped to a lead before succumbing to my awesomeness.
At another Buzzfest station, there was a wheel to spin for little prizes. What did I win? Two tickets to the game that night.
Also, former NBA commissioner David Stern was doing a radio interview and taking a few pictures. Nicole shoved me to the front of the line, and I got the last picture with Stern before his interview.
Before the game, we grabbed some pizza and dessert. Yum, chocolate.
It was electric at the basketball arena, as the Charlotte fans were over the moon to have their mascot back. The free tickets I got had a face value of $43 each for the upper level in the corner.
Boy was it fun to chant "Let's go Hornets!" one more time. We ended up leaving at halftime with four T-shirts commemorating opening night. Two were on our seats, and I'm pretty sure Nicole stole the other two.
Hey, Tom. How about one of those fancy screens at the Smoothie King Center?
On Thursday, we started at the Mint Museum, which was a nice walk from our hotel in some breezy weather. It had art and shit.
Felt like being at home outside the museum. I put a dollar in his can. He said "I got ya" and busted into "When the Saints."
Here are my favorite pieces from da Mint.
I forgot this guy's name, but he helped the Revolution with supplies and was condemned as committing treason in England. He doesn't exactly look happy about his contributions to American history. Maybe he knew his name would be forgotten a few days later.
An example of American landscape by Thomas Doughty. There's a bunch of fisherman dotted among the scenery, which is really cool because they're little dots, yet so vivid-looking.
This painting is by an abstract artist who went more traditional to show the Civil Rights march from Selma to Montgomery. She didn't mean for it to be sold, and it was found in her studio rolled up in a corner after she passed away.
A security guard was familiar with the piece and turned into a tour guide, explaining that the artist put herself in the watching crowd at the top, placed Dr. King as just another marcher and showed the protesters as non-violent as they were taught to protect their heads.
This is called Slow: Eleven Women and 400 Daisies. Each year 20 or so daisy magnets are removed until this golden plated women is fully revealed. The portrait of the women is a combined form from 11 chicks.
There was an accompanying video I watched that didn't explain shit about the art. It just had the artist explain his other ideas for the project before he settled on the women and daisies. Thanks a lot.
In the next post, I'll talk about going to the Saints' 28-10 victory over the Panthers. Here's a sneak peak of me on the TV broadcast. Look in the lower left corner. I'm clapping.
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