I spent the past weekend visiting my friend Katherine in Charlotte, North Carolina and I had the best time. I haven’t spent much time down south, and had never been to North Carolina prior to the trip. Her apartment with her fiancé, Sam, is so lovely and they introduced us to all of their awesome friends! I’m not an expert, but if you’re ever in Charlotte, here’s what I recommend based on how much fun I had this weekend:
Thursday: Our first night, I met up with an old friend, Jane, who I literally haven’t seen since 8th grade. We laughed and talked about old memories – and it was the perfect environment for it, because we were able to get a private room at Seoul Food Meat, Co. It’s not exactly your traditional Korean restaurant – a bit americanized, but absolutely delicious wings. I would recommend the soy garlic wings paired with the ramen mac n’ cheese. Could not get enough!
Friday: Katherine and Jake both had to work, so I decided to venture out on my own to the SouthPark Mall. I’m not even really a mall person (I prefer shopping in more of an outdoor experience), but this place was beautiful. It also had all my favorites: J. Crew, Nordstrom, Vineyard Vines, Lily Pulitzer, and even a Fabletics store (which I had never seen before!) If you’re in the area, I would recommend taking an hour or two out of your day to check out this mall. I also got an iced coffee at Cast Iron Waffles, which was so good. When I’m traveling, I always try to opt for the local coffee shops around town. I find it’s always better to try to go about a place as the locals do, which is exactly what I tried to do!
For lunch, I wanted something light, so Jake and I got caesar salad at Village Tavern. It was wicked yummy, and perfect for something light and refreshing. Plus, the weather was just so perfect! I walked around in short sleeves the entire weekend. However, my all-time 100% recommend favorite meal of the trip: Haberdish. It was beyond delicious comfort food – I opted for the two piece fried chicken with mac and cheese. Exactly what I needed!
I spent the day in this J. Crew T-shirt dress, these Jack Rodgers, and my favorite Toino Abel bag that Jake’s mom got me from Portugal. A perfect day!
Saturday: We started our morning a little slow, as we had a late night wine/game night the night before. (Do any of you play Jack Box Games? They are our favorite group game!)
We opted for breakfast at The Flying Biscuit. Let me tell you – so many new (wonderful) things here for me. Typically, I’m not a breakfast person. It drives Jake a little nuts because he is totally a breakfast person. I don’t like bacon and I only recently started to eat eggs. I went for the Garden Fresh Veggie Scramble with a side of fruit, which was perfect for me because it was a little lighter. If that’s not your thing, Jake loved his Flat Iron Steak and Eggs. But the best part about it was, with every meal, you get a homemade biscuit. It was delicious, I had never had any biscuit like it. Perfectly warm and crumbly! They have apple butter on the table that you can put on your biscuits and I could not get enough! (Plus, I had never had grits before this trip – really enjoyed them!)
After breakfast, we walked right over to the J. Crew Mercantile store, and then headed to the Old Mecklenburg Brewery. We went to a couple breweries that day (there are so many so close together!), but this one was by far my favorite. I loved their Captain Jack, and the environment was just so pretty and welcoming. There was so much space and it was such a beautiful day – I highly recommend hitting here if you want to see some of Charlotte’s breweries!
I spent the day wearing this ruffle sleeved J. Crew top (Really still hanging on to National Stripes Day!), paired with these Seaport Penny Loafers by Sperry – which are unbelievably comfortable by the way, didn’t even need to break them in.
That night we ordered pizza and played more games together, but I am so grateful for my friendship with Katherine! We are so goofy together, and had such a blast the entire trip. Can’t wait to come back again soon! Plus, she’s getting married! (and my first friend to get engaged!) Isn’t she going to be such a beautiful bride?!
