Visiting the Queens City.

Charlotte is like any other major city with a skyline that includes larger than life high rise building jetting from the city streets. One of the prettiest of those buildings it the Hearst Tower with its art-deco inspired architecture. While it is evident this is a major city, Charlotte also manages to blend in nicely its older structures that have helped make this city what it was.

On the corner of Trade and Tyron you will see 4 statues on each corner which pay tribute to Charlotte’s past. There is one for transportation, family, The Native Americans who first settled here, and a nod to the fact gold was first discovered in these parts.

If you are in the downtown areas check out one of the many museums and art galleries including Discovery Place. This hands-on science museum is a hit with the whole family. The museum was recently one of only a small number of museums to have the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit.

In the downtown area there are a number of quaint and incredible restaurants, pubs, and bars offering everything from Nuevo cuisine to down home southern cooking. Since our weather is pretty agreeable, it is a perfect way to end the day dining out on the patio.

Downtown is also home to the Bobcats Arena and Bank of America Stadium. If you are in town you can take in one of our professional teams. Or for a better value and a better time check out our semi-pro hockey team, the Charlotte Checkers, who play in the Bobcat arena.

Outside of the downtown area there are a number of treasures to be found. One of the most lovely, and often photographed, places in Charlotte is the incrediable Freedom Park. There is no more beautiful place to just kick back and relax. Next to it is the wonderful Nature Museum.

Despite some flaws, Charlotte is still a rather nifty place to visit. So I hope this journal and several more that I have to come will be of use to you if you are planning a trip to our fair city.

Quick Tips:

First of all go to www.visitcharlotte.com to get a visitors guide and find out all about Charlotte.

If you are coming to see one of our sports teams, you don’t necessarily need to get tickets in advanced. Both the Bobcats and the Sting hardly ever sell out. If you want to see the Panthers then you better get tickets well in advanced. Our semi-pro teams, the Knights and the Checkers, do sell out quite often so advanced purchases would be suggestion. I probably don’t have to mention this but if you want tickets to the May or October races, you will have to have tickets well advanced. Most tickets can be purchased at www.ticketmaster.com

Speaking of, if you plan to come here for the races then you will need to have hotel reservations no later than 6 months in advanced. You can not find a hotel within a 50 mile radius last minute when the races come to town.

If you want to know what is happing entertainment wise in Charlotte, just look for the free Creative Loafing found all over town. The Friday edition of the Charlotte Observer also has a handy entertainment guide.

Check out the calendar from the CVB to see what is going on while you are here. Tickets for concerts, major museum exhibits (such as the Dead Sea Scrolls), and Broadway tickets should be purchased in advanced. Next summer we get the Lion King back for another 6-week run and I can guarantee you tickets will be sold out well in advanced.

Oh and if you like lotto, Charlotte has just gotten on the powerball train and also have scratch off cards.

I have several journals on places surrounding Charlotte that are worth seeing. I also have one on Carowinds which is a theme park just at the NC/SC border. I also have one on Brattonsville where the Mel Gibson movie, The Patriot, was filmed.

Best Way To Get Around:

Charlotte is served by the Charlotte-Douglas Airport. More than 500 flights a day arrive and depart from Charlotte. Thankfully we finally got a low cost carrier several years ago, so now Air Trans serves Charlotte as well.

You can rent cars at the airport or downtown. If you are downtown and are planning on staying in the region then you really don’t need a car. There are several ways to get around downtown and this area is not so large that it can’t be navigated on foot.

Charlotte does have a bus system. CATS (www.charmeck.org/departments/CATS) has routes all over Charlotte and many of the outlying areas such as Pineville-Matthews and Huntersville. They also have several buses that run to some outlying areas where you can park in a designated area and take the bus into Charlotte. Concord is one of those with pick ups daily from Concord Mills.

I would not suggest the bus system after business hours though. The bus terminal station isn’t the safest area after hours. I once dropped a friend off there and begged her to let me take her home. The station was filled with vagrant looking people.

There is also a trolley that runs through the downtown area. There is current construction of a light rail system that is expecting to be up and running within the next few years reaching many of the outlying areas.

The main highways here are I-85 and I-77. I-485 is being worked on to bypass Charlotte to help with congestion. Many parts of this highway are working.

Rush "hour" here can start as early as 6am and go to 10am and from 3pm to 7pm. Certain events such as concerts at Verizon Wireless can make the highway a parking lot. Charlotte is as bad as Atlanta or DC when it comes to rush hour traffic problems.

Do not drink and drive around here or you will be in trouble. And so you should be. NC is very strict with their DUI laws.

Discovery Place has earned its reputation as NC’s premier hands-on science museum. No matter if you are a kid or simply a kid at heart, you will find things here to stir your imagination.

On the first level kids will enjoy Kids Place, which shows kids how science is used in everyday life. There is also the Once In the Wild exhibit which features animals from North America-stuffed. So I just pass this on by. You can step in front of the weather board and see how it feels to be a TV meteorologist. There is also an aquarium on this level, but nothing to get too excited about since there are only about two-dozen small tanks displaying fish from local streams to the waters of the Amazon. My favorites are the moray eels and the stingrays. The museum even has a new stingray called Ray! There is also a touch tank.

Level two has the rainforest which houses an incredible collection of plants and birds from the rainforest. It often closes earlier then the rest of the museum though, normally closing at 5. This is also the section kids love since there are dozens of hands on displays here. You can step inside a large eyeball to see how it works, climb the ropes in the sports center, or check out how the human heart works. Kids can spend hours here.

Level 3 houses a dinosaur display and The IMAX theater. The normal IMAX movies are shown here, but not the mass market movies that have been show in IMAX theaters like Batman and Harry Potter . Darn it! Surround Snape, Lucius Malfory, or Christen Bale in his batsuit would be quite enjoyable. There is also the Sun Terrace for group lunches.

There is Discovery Café in case you get the munchies while here. They also offer a gift shop and a simulator ride. They do have ATMs on the premises. Credit cards are accepted in the gift shop and café. The museum is handicapped accessible. Discovery Place also owns the Charlotte Nature Museum and you can get a combo ticket for both museums and the simulator ride. Photography is permitted within the museum. The rules vary for changing exhibits.

You can plan on spending no more than 2 hours here. It is an interesting museum though once you see it, it pretty much remains the same except the touring exhibits. Up next is Action! Adventures in Movie Making coming this fall. This exhibit tells all about the movie making experience and displays original scripts, props, and wardrobe from dozens of movies.

General prices and admission: M-F 9-5, Sat. 10-6, Sun 12:30-5. Admission: $8.50 (a) $7.50 (c&s), under 2 free. IMAX and touring admission and hours vary. See www.discoveryplace.org for more information. Located downtown at N. Tyron and 6th. There is a parking deck on 6th. Parking $5.

I have a long-time relationship with Charlotte. Unlike many "locals", I have lived near Charlotte since I was 13 and we returned to NC to live permanently after moving around in the military. I always dreamed of moving to the big city lights of Charlotte. Well I did in 1996 after marrying since this was near where I would attend college and my husband worked. I had a chance to live there 5 years, but now I am very content to live in the country where the only things I hear at night are the owls hooting and the cows mooing into the night. While I prefer living in the country, Charlotte is close enough to visit when ever I want. So here is a real insider’s guide to life in this city.

General information. Charlotte is a city of about a half a million denizens. Add in all the suburb areas and your looking at more than a million people. Like most other major cities, life moves at a much more hurried pace. Walk downtown during work hours and you will find people in a hurry to get from point A to B. The well known idea of charming southern hospitality has no place in a major city. People are here to work and to get where they are needed and heaven forbid you impede them getting to their destination in a timely manor. Come after hours though and you will find folks more agreeable and here you will find that hospitality that southern life is known for.

Quality of life . Banking and medical are the top fields in this area. Charlotte has become a major banking center in the US and the hospitals are on the leading edge of technology. Unfortunately like many people, those in the banking industry are being phased out as outsourcing in places such as India are becoming more common place. But if you are in the medical field, then things are brighter. After all no one wants to be sent to India to have an appendices removed!

Housing here isn’t a problem. We have plenty of houses and housing developments. Problems is the lack of affordable housing. Now granted for what you pay for a dinky apartment in places such as LA or NYC, you can live quite nicely here. But Charlotte seems to be in a race to see how many McMansions we can have. Every week some new development opens up in the city. Neighborhoods that were once primarily minority neighbor hoods located near downtown Charlotte are being cleaned up and revamped. But this now highly desired location carry high prices on these new digs that most lower and lower-middle class families can not afford.

Many housing developments have tried integrating lower income with middle class families. They reserve a certain number of homes with financing through HUD and Fannie Mae. After about a year when these people can no longer keep up their payments, then they are forced to foreclose. You can ride through a number of new housing developments only to find more fore sale signs than people who have stuck it out. This leaves those who can afford to stay in a quandary. Many times the development has gone downhill in its appearance and demand. Yet if they sell they will find themselves upside down in their value. A friend of mine is experiencing this first hand. Her development has turned into a lot of empty homes. They paid $135,000 for their house, yet if they sell it they would be lucky to get $80,000. This is keeping a lot of unhappy couples together!

Unfortunately despite Charlotte emerging as part of the growing new South, which can keep up with any of its northern neighbors, the schools here still languish far behind. Currently 4 high schools in Charlotte are facing the threat of closing down because more than half of their students fail on state exams. There is not a week that goes by when I don’t see on the news where students are bringing guns to school or a major fight has broken out. In many cases these students are as young as elementary school students! Due to the large number of immigrants many schools are suffering from over crowding and their resource are limited. Yet the CMS (Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools) runs on a budget bigger than some 3rd world countries! All of this has lead to may people moving to smaller cities or home schooling. Private schools are also becoming a more variable option. Schools such as Charlotte Latin Day are considered one of the best in the country.

Despite the sorry state of schools here, on the other hand we boast some of the best colleges in the states. Students come from all over to attend UNC-Charlotte. UNCC is well know for both its academics as well as its athletic endeavors. Johnson C Smith is one of the best predominantly black colleges in the country. Other universities such as Davidson, Wingate, and Pfeiffer are well known for their curriculum as well. We have a number of secondary schools such as CPCC, Charlotte School of Art and Design, and the newly built Johnson and Wales may be training the next Emeril or Rachel Ray.

Sports? Oh we do we have that. Welcome to Charlotte…home of the sports arenas! The old Charlotte coliseum was built some time in the 1950s to 1960s. It was replaced with a much bigger and safer coliseum in the 1990s in hopes of drawing a professional basketball team. The old coliseum was then used mainly as the arena for the hockey team and for concerts and other venues. The new coliseum would be used for sports, conventions, and other higher profile concerts. I once had the privilege of seeing Mother Theresa speak here. And they built it and the team came. Once we had the new coliseum, we got the Charlotte Hornets.

All went well for about 10 years but then the team owners and sponsors got greedy and decided we needed yet another sports area. The reason for this? Not because they wanted space for more families to attend, but because they wanted more VIP boxes! They brought it before the voters who overwhelmingly voted against the arena. Well the Hornets went bye bye to New Orleans. Yet we still got yet another arena. We now have the Bobcats arena in downtown and woo wee…we got another basketball team..the Bobcats. The unhappy tax payers have stayed away since attendance for the games are amongst the lowest in the NBA. The women’s basketball team (the Sting) and the hockey team (the Checkers) moved here as well. So now we have two arenas taking up space and used for nothing. In the 90’s we got yet another arena with Bank of America Stadium, home to the Carolina Panthers football team.

Sometime in the next couple of years (2009 to be exact) we get the Racing Hall of Fame. Heaven forbid Charlotte should build something useful like maybe a decent museum or aquarium or something that people might actually enjoy. There is a current drive to get yet another arena downtown for baseball in hopes of getting a professional baseball team. It would also serve as the new home to the Charlotte Knights baseball team. Taxpayers don’t want it and Knights fan enjoy Knights Castle where it is. Course that hasn’t stopped our city council before.

There are also plenty of other sports to be found. Soccer, lacrosse, rugby, and more can be found throughout the area. If you love chasing golf balls then you will be pleased to know there are numerous private and public golf courses in the area. The Quail Hollow Country Club, home to the Wachovia Open , is among them. If you play it then chances are you can find it here in Charlotte.

Once you are here you will notice you are in the heart of NASCAR country. Racing is big business around these parts. Though technically, Lowe’s Motor Speedway is in Concord Charlotte gets the credit for it and certainly reaps the financial benefits from it. Lowes is home of the Coco Cola 600 held at the end of May. It is all part of 10 Days in May which includes smaller races, trials, concerts, and Speedstreet celebrated downtown which brings fans close to their favorite drivers. And this year also includes the world premier of the Disney animated movie Cars. Mid October brings the 500 NASCAR Nextel Cup. You can go to www.lowesmotorspeedway.com for more information. Charlotte and the surrounding area are where many of the drivers have chosen to call home and where many of the teams have sat up shop.

If you are thinking there is a hockey team in the Carolinas, well yes there is …the Carolina Hurricanes. This team is located in the capital city of Raleigh, a good 3 hours from Charlotte. Through many people from here go to those games as well. As far as baseball, most folks here cheer for the Atlanta Braves. There are quite a few organizations that have trips to neighboring Atlanta for a Braves Games.

Most major league tickets are high running at least $50 to actually see the team. We paid $70 once for Panthers tickets and I can only assume that was the Panthers because from where I was sitting they looked like a pee wee football team. For many families, pro games are out of their budget. This is part of the reason folks here are so upset over the constant additional sports arenas and teams. For a better use of your time and money check out our semi pro teams. We have the Checkers for hockey and the Knights for baseball. $20 will get you close enough to the Checkers players to see the sweat pouring off there cute faces and $7 will get you close enough to see what brand of tobacco the Knights pitcher uses. Most sports tickets can be purchased through ticket master at www.ticketmaster.com.

One bright and useful spot on the sports issue in Charlotte is the new whitewater center opening in June of 06 in Charlotte. This new venue will give both Olympic hopefuls and weekend warriors a chance to get outdoors and feel the rush that comes from braving the rapids. It is sponsored by the US National Whitewater Center and will also offer access for those interested in sculling, canoeing, kayaking, and fishing. Surrounding the rapids will be 11 miles of trails for mountain-biking, hiking, and running. It will include a 20,000 foot lodge/conference center which includes restaurants and retail stores. For more information you can go to www.charlottewhitewater.com. Finally a sports venue is Charlotte worth getting excited over.

Speaking of sports. Do you consider shopping to be a sport and could take home the gold if it was an Olympic event? Good..then you will love Charlotte. Another thing Charlotte land the surrounding areas like to build are malls. We have 4 major malls in the area. Concord Mills in Concord (15 minutes from downtown) offers discount stores and great bargains. SouthPark Mall carries designer duds and snobby people. Northlake Mall (the largest in the area) and Carolina Place Mall are just your regular malls. There are also dozens of strip malls and mini-malls. You can also find fanciful one of a kind shopping experiences within the area.

You are right smack dab in the middle of the Bible-belt, so religion plays a major factor here in Charlotte. Baptist, and predominantly Southern Baptist., is the main religious affiliation in Charlotte. In fact a major road was named after the Reverend Billy Graham. All other Christian affiliations and those of the Jewish faith will find a place to worship as well. With so many immigrants calling Charlotte home, many other religions, such as Buddhism, are represented in the Queen’s city as well. If you are a Wiccan or Pagan, you will find a home here as well.

As far as entertainment goes, we have a variety of options for that too. We have a the Blumenthal performing arts center which is home to the Charlotte Symphony, The Charlotte Opera, the Charlotte Ballet, and the Broadway Lights series which brings the best of Broadway to our door.

Charlotte is typically a major concert venue so if you’re favorite performer is touring, chances are they are coming to Charlotte. Concerts are held year round in the Bobcats arena. From about May until October performances from your favorite can often be found at Verizion Wireless Amphitheater. On a rare occasion Bank of America stadium is also utilized. More classical performers usually appear in at Blumenthal.

Downtown comes alive on the weekends with bars that offer everything from rock, country, and dance music to their floors. If you want to laugh it up, head for the Comedy Zone . Since moving from their Independence Blvd. location, they mainly seem to feature regional comedians. If you are in town and James Gregory is performing, make sure you buy tickets and go. James is one of the funniest people around and will have you rolling no matter how bad your day has been. Depends are suggested!

There are also a number of festivals that go on year round in Charlotte. Speedstreet in May is one of the biggest. It features concerts and is a fan fest for NASCAR drivers and their fans. During the summer A Taste of Charlotte offers a sample of Charlotte’s finest chefs and restaurants all for charity. Novella Fest, celebrated in November, is a celebration of books, Well-known authors, poets, and local story tellers all help celebrate the written word. To find out what is happening, just look for Creative Loafing which is a free newspaper found all over town. You can also pick up the Friday edition of the Charlotte Observer which carries an entertainment section in it.

Speaking of food , Charlotte is a haven for foodies. You will find everything from authentic ethnic foods to down home southern cooking. You will find an abundance of top chefs and 5 star restaurants. But also take the time to stop in at the smaller dinners far off the beaten path where the locals go. If you like BBQ, then you are in for a real treat. BBQ joints can be found all over the city. Real authentic southern BBQ is pit cooked and you can see and small the food cooking. If you can’t, then it is meat slapped with BBQ sauce. Pass that right on by! Pulled pork BBQ is what most connosiuers prefer. The sauce here is western style which is sweeter and has a molasses base to it instead of the eastern style BBQ, which is more of a pepper base. Come Spring, downtown Charlotte comes alive with a number of restaurants offering dining on the patio. There is no better way to end an evening in Charlotte than dining under the stars.

Location! Location! Location! Go 2 hours from Charlotte and you will find your self in the incredible and beautiful smoky mountains. Three hours to the east will have your toes in the sands of the beach. But you are either in Myrtle Beach or Hilton Head SC. The NC coast is about 6 hours away. Within 5 hours you can find yourself in Atlanta, Knoxville, Williamsburg, or Jacksonville...just to name a few of our lovely neighbors.

 

The best time to be here is either spring or fall. In the spring everything comes alive and the dogwoods and rhododendron are in full bloom. The fall brings a blaze of glory on the tree tops and the leafs give a fiery display for everyone to see. Summers are brutal here though. Temps stay in the 90ºs and often climbs to 100º-plus. It is a sticky heat that just clings to you and makes life miserable. Winters are mild though. It doesn’t get miserably cold here and snow is a rarity. We typically get no more than 2 snow storm and they are only a few inches. Those north of the Mason-Dixon line often laugh at Carolinians when it snows. We do go into a tizzy and only a few inches of snow does shut down the city. So if snow is called for, head straight for the grocery store and stock up!

Chances are if you are visiting Charlotte, then you are here for business or a convention. Despite Charlotte’s size, people really don’t come here for vacation. Charlotte has yet to be considered a tourist destination. They would like to be and spend a lot of time debating as to why. Simple fact is Charlotte is not tourist friendly and doesn’t offer much to see here. Most things to see are outside of the downtown area and require a car to see them. We have a few museums downtown, but nothing that can ever compare to cities such as NYC, Philly, or Boston. We have Discovery Place, which is a hit with kids and adults alike. It offers a hands-on exhibit for kids with an ever changing theme, an IMAX theater, and interesting displays for adults. We recently had the Dead Scrolls on display here. The Levin Museum of the New South offers an interesting look at life in the new south as well as life in the Civil War era. The Mint Museum is accessible by bus and it an arts and design museum. On occasion they offer interesting traveling exhibits. In the 1980s the Mint Museum played host to the Ramesses exhibit, which I was lucky enough to get to work with.

So that is Charlotte in a nut shell. It can be interesting. If you plan to stay here long you really need a car and get out and see all the wonderful things surrounding. For more information on Charlotte though you can simply click onto www.visitcharlotte.com. Who knows maybe I will see you here sometime!

On May 26, 2006 some 30,000 NASCAR, movie, Disney, and animated fans, or just the curios braved torrential winds, rain, and wet butts to be at Lowe’s Motor Speedway to be at the world premier of the Disney animated movie, Cars . And yes yours truly and my husband was among the 30,000 faithful in attendance.

One day while looking around on a movie website, I noticed that the premier of the movie, Cars , would be held at Loews speedway. Well wooo wee..I said to myself. I had planned on going to the movie anyway, so I clicked on the ticket master link and about a week later I had two tickets in my hot little hands. Good thing to because the premier ended up being sold out and scalpers were getting more than $100 for tickets that originally coast $10! .

As soon as John and I got in line to get into the speedway, the rains came. The sky opened up and sent a downpour on the thousands waiting to get inside. The wind was also causing major upheaval. It took out several large balloon displays and it was so windy that it almost caused umbrellas to be useless. As we neared the speedway entrance the rains had died down, the good folks at the speedway were passing out ponchos. And to think, our weatherman only predicted slight showers!

Since it was raining, and the seats were general admission, John and I headed for the stands to try to find a great vantage point to see all the action. If the weather had been a little more cooperative I would have sent John to the stands while I stayed near the red carpet to catch all the celebrities arriving. Instead we had to be content watching them arrive via the big projection screens set up.

Having never been to a movie premier I wasn’t sure what to expect. I thought maybe the introduction of the stars and then maybe the screening of the movie. Happily I was very wrong. We had a full night of entertainment ending at about midnight. As I mentioned the night started with watching the celebrities arrive on the plastic cover (the red carpet had to be protected from the rain!). Among the actors in attendance were:

Paul Dooley…voiced Sarge…character actor in shows such as CSI, Ellen, and Mad About You playing Jamie’s father before Carol O’Connor.

Katherine Helmond …voiced Lizzie…best known as Mona on Who’s the Boss. Also played in Soap and played Deborah’s mom in Everybody Loves Raymond.

 

Jennifer Lewis …voiced Flo….played Aunt Helen to Will Smith in Fresh Price and played the dean on Different World.

Edie McClurg ..voiced Mini…Mrs. Poole on the Hogan’s. Also was on the CSI episode King Baby. Played the shop keeper in a fetish store and asked Grissom is he "was a drinker or a stinker". Also voiced Flora in Disney’s A Bug’s Life.

Dave Foley …voiced one of the ending credit characters…well known from News Radio and currently hosting poker torments on Bravo. Also did the voice of Flick in A Bug’s Life.

Tony Shalhoub …voiced Luigi…..know as cabbie Antonio in Wings and in such movies and 13 Ghosts. Currently playing the lovable germophobe detective Adrian Monk on USA.

John Ratzenberger..voiced Mack….known the world over as Cliff Clavin from Cheers. Currently does a great show on the Travel Channel called Made in America. Disney’s good luck charm since he has voiced a character in every Pixar CG movie.

Cheech Marin…voiced Ramon…come on its Cheech. OK well known as part of the infamous team of Cheech and Chong in movies such as Up In Smoke. Also worked on Nash Bridges.

Bonnie Hunt …voiced Sally the Porsche 911….worked in plenty of movies including Cheaper By the Dozen 1 & 2.

Larry The Cable Guy …voiced Mater…one of the funniest people around. Tours with his friends and fellow comedians Jeff Foxworthy and Bill Engvall on the Blue Collar Comedy Tour.

Owen Wilson …voiced Lighting McQueen…smoking hot and sexy. Worked in lots of films including Starkey and Hutch, Armageddon , and last years hilarious hit The Wedding Crashers. Did I mention he is a hottie?

Richard Petty …voiced "King" Strip Weathers…NASCAR legend, philanthropist, fellow North Carolinian, and all around nice guy.

Paul Newman …voiced Doc Hudson….again who doesn’t know Paul? If you don’t, he is a legend working in dozens of movies most notably Butch Cassidy. Also know for his blue eyes, drives race cars even at 81 (!), and has been happily married to Joanne Woodward for almost 50 years and a philanthropist. His Newman products have raised millions of dollars to proved camps for terminally ill children and their families.

Since this is NASCAR country and this is the weekend of the big Coca Cola 600 there were plenty of drivers on hand including Darrell Waltrip (who voices Darrel Cartip in the movie), Dale Earnhart Jr. (who voices a race fan car) and Jeff Gordon. Other dignitaries included John Lasseter of Pixar and producer of the movie and since this is a movie about cars…you might as well have Norman Y. Mineta the Secretary of Transportation.

The festive got a late start due to the rain and finally began around 7:30. The guys at Seamore Johnson AFB here in NC provide a marching band that played God Bless America, a precision (and sharp) drill team, and the color guard for the national anthem. The national anthem was sung by country group, Diamond Rio. After that 4 F-14 fighter jets flew overhead followed by a dazzling fireworks display.

Larry the Cable Guy played MC for the evening and was so funny. That alone was worth $10. The money for this event was donated to the Speedway Children’s Charities and the Hole In the Wall camps, so a presentation of one million dollars was made to the charities.

The first of the entertainment was some group I had never heard of and I guess apparently the news camera crews who were in front of us didn’t find important since they stopped filming and sat down during their performance. The sad truth is white people singing Earth, Wind, and Fire tunes doesn’t cut it. Country singer Brad Paisley also performed three songs, including two from the Cars soundtrack. Since I don’t like county music I have no idea what songs he sang. That was followed up with a performance by the legendary Chuck Barry performing Route 66, which is a major song from the movie as well as Johnnie B Good.

If all that wasn’t enough entertainment, there was then a race. Several drivers from the Richard Petty Driving Experience and driver Darrell Waltrip (in the Cars car) went 12 laps. Not surprisingly enough the winner of the race was…you guessed it…Darrell Waltrip! I honestly don’t know how you folks who enjoy racing can watch cars go in a circle for 600 laps. Twelve was enough for me.

After all that excitement we finally got to see the movie. The movie centers on Owen’s character that is a hot shot race car in a three-way tie for the piston cup with King Strip Weathers and Chick Hick voiced by Michael Keaton (who was not in attendance though). On the way to the races in California McQueen gets away from his racing truck and gets stuck in Radiator Springs. Springs is located off of Route 66 which is now being passed by the new highway. The city is filled with rusted out and forgotten cars. McQueen ends up tearing up the city’s pavement and his punishment is to fix the road, which will take him 5 days. Does he get to the race? Does he win? Well I will let you find out for yourself starting June 9th. The movie is a great lesson about friendship and taking the time to see the beauty in all things. The movie is family friendly and adult friendly. Ages from 2 to 102 will find this movie lovable. You can go to www.disney.go.com and click on for the official website.

The movie was project on four huge 64-feet DLP Digital Projection screens making it easier for everyone to see. I wish all movies would incorporate this technology. I mean I would love to see a 64 foot Johnny Depp as Capt. Jack Sparrow (hey a girl can dream, can’t she?). The movie ended with another incredible fireworks display and 30,000 fans trying to exit the parking lot. 

So at least for one night, Charlotte/Concord got to be the center of the entertainment world. We had all the major local news networks here as well as shows such as Access Entertainment, The Inside Edition, and Regis and Kelly . We have had several movies filmed here including Days of Thunder with hottie Tom Cruise, Shallow Hall with the funnyman Jack Black, and this summer the new Will Ferrell comedy Talladega Nights. But we have never had a movie premier here and this was one of the largest movie premiers there has been. So excuse us for feeling special. Now I can say I was a part of it!

My verdict for the movie? *****, A+, two thumbs up-way up, loved it, a must-see...in other words…just go see it June 9th. You will be glad you did!

Even before the big buzz about the world premier of Cars, there was another big buzz in Charlotte. Discovery Place in Charlotte was chosen to host the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit from February until the end of May.

The Dead Sea Scrolls are the original written words of the Old testament. The scrolls were written around 200 B.C.E. B.C.E. stand for Before Common Era and C.E. stands for Common era and are equalivant to B.C. and A.D. They sat for over 2000 years drying and preserving in the desert. The scrolls were first discovered in 1947 by a Bedouin Shepard looking for his lost goat. After many years of excavations there were more than 900 remains of the scrolls and 11 caves in Qumran. After cleaning and working with the documents, science was used to date the artifacts. Indeed the items did date to the time period and have been since then declared the original Old Testament. In the Wall Street Journal there was an ad for where the scrolls appeared for sale in 1954. Today the scrolls remain under close guardianship of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Now what we saw will probably vary by cities, but I am sure most of it will be the same. When we first arrived we were seated in the newly built Dead Sea Theater. We were show a 7-minute film that showed how the scrolls went from Qumran to being excavated. After that the tour was a go at your own pace. Visitors were given hand held players that looked like a remote control clicker. Each display had its own code and you just entered the number and listed to the information on what you were seeing.

In the main viewing area there were a variety of displays. Many of them were authentic pieces while a few were reproductions. You saw displays of every day items from life in the Qumran area which centered on the Second Temple Period of 167 C.E. to 70 C.E. There are display of jars, coins, combs (with lice still attached…eek!), pottery, and medical instruments. You also see a display of how things were made such as weaving looms and the wool and linen used in the looms. There is a display which shows scientist working on the scrolls and how items are authenticated.

There is also a display of both secular and non-secular written scrolls that are copies of the originals right before you see the scrolls. Including in those works are Community Rule, Nahum Community, Calendrical Documents, War Rule, Enoch, Deuteronomy, and Aramaic Apocalypse.

Then the scrolls are housed in a separate area. In order to preserve the documents, this room is dimly lit and the light at each scroll fragments cuts on and off every few seconds. The Biblical chapters shown in Charlotte were Genesis, Numbers, Leviticus, Isaiah, and Palms. Fragments ranged in size from just only a tiny fragment to the larger book of Psalms.

If you are of either Christian or Jewish faith, you should consider it an honor to be able to see where the original beginnings of our written faith came from. Even if you are of another faith or claim no faith at all, it is still a privilege to be able to see in person something that dates back that far in history. Each person will walk away from this exhibit feeling something. You may feel renewed in your faith or just in awe of something so well preserved. No mater what you feel the experience of this exhibit is something you will always remember.

Photography of any kind is not allowed in the exhibit area. They do have a market shop which has books on the scrolls and items from Egypt and other areas nearby. They do accept credit cards in the gift shop and given the prices you will need it.

The next lucky recipients of the scrolls are the nice people in Seattle at the Pacific Science Center. The exhibit is set for September 23 to January 1, 2007. You can go to their web site at www.pacsci.org to find out all about it. So if you are in Seattle then I highly recommend it. I also noticed folks in San Diego get it from June 29 to December 31, 2007. For more information on the scrolls you may go to www.discoverscrolls.org.

If you are planning on going to see this once-in-a-lifetime experience here are a few good suggestions for you:

1. Get your tickets in advanced. We did and it was a good thing because when we went they were sold out for the rest of the exhibit.

2. Plan on about 1½ to 2 hours alone just to view the exhibit. Most of this is due to the fact people leave their manners behind when they go out in public.

3. There is not a lot of room at some of the cases, especially the scrolls. When you approach each exhibit, stand back and read the panels and listen to the audio tour. When you’re done then approach the display and act like it is the sun! Take a minute to enjoy it..but don’t stare to long! And for heavens sake don’t discuss your favorite TV show while hogging up space at one of the scrolls so no one else can see them. The book of Numbers is not the place to discuss the season finale of CSI and whether you were more shocked by Grissom and Sarah together or Grissom in a Hawaiian shirt. Yes! That very thing happened!

4. There is not an age limit (though there should be) but I can guarantee small children do not have the foggiest what all this stuff is, nor do they care. If you must bring small ones with you then keep them under control. Please do not let them loose to wreak havoc on the display room floor. Or yes indeed you will be escorted out of the exhibit.

5. I have mentioned this on one of the message boards, but I will revisit it again. Before your blessed day and child arrives one good thing to get or put on your wish list is your basic run of the mill stroller. There is not a lot of room to move about and you do have some displays out in the open. So those big Sherman tank strollers are too much for a museum exhibit. Please be considerate of those around you and for a few hours of the day just push your baby is the old standard that was once good enough for you.

6. Make sure you double check information before you go. In Charlotte and I would imagine anywhere else, tickets for the scrolls were separate. Though in Charlotte you could enjoy Discovery Place afterwards. Prices for the exhibit are generally higher and hours are often extended. Also double check to see if there are any special instructions for parking.

 

Well now that I have told you all about the exhibit, what was my general feeling? Well for one thing I was surprised by the size of the scrolls. They were so small. For some reason I was imagining them to be something like the Torah used by Jewish temples. I am very glad I had a chance to see this exhibit and will never forget it. Though I am not an in-your-face type of Christian, I do consider myself to be a Christian and of the Methodist faith. I felt it to be a great privilege and honor to see where the original words where my faith comes from began. And since I am also a scrap booker it will be something I can pass on to my nephew and soon to be niece (I will be an aunt again this December!). If you do happen to live near where the scrolls are coming, make sure to take the time to see the exhibit. You will be glad you did!