I've now been living in Charlotte, North Carolina for ten years.

Labels: Charlotte, home

Google's Street View launched in Charlotte a couple of weeks ago, one of 37 news cities added to Street View all at once. When the Street View feature first launched in select cities last year, every blogger in America was posting about the strangest and most interesting sights that could be found (and I was one of them.) Several websites sprung up to share all the interesting candid shots that people were finding.¹²³ Now over a year later and with Street View available in dozens upon dozens of cities nationwide, the novelty has largely worn off. I was eager to see what other people had found in Charlotte's version of via Street View but other than a few passing message board mentions, nobody seemed to care, or even notice. So that's why I've taken it upon myself to present, A Tour of Charlotte via Google Street View.

A Tour of Charlotte (sightseeing)

Trade & Tryon
This is the center of Uptown Charlotte. Pictured here is Bank of America Corporate Headquarters. Pan down to see the four statues on each corner of the intersection. (Wachovia's corporate headquarters are just a few blocks south.).


Queen Charlotte
This statue of Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg is the first sight many visitors see when arriving at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport. She is the reason why the city is named Charlotte, its nickname is "the Queen City", and the county is named Mecklenburg.

Queens and Queens
Charlotte has many confusing roads but this is definitely the city's most notorious. Queens Road loops around and meets itself again only to take a 90 degree turn. At the same intersection, Providence Road also takes an unexpected 90 degree turn.


Bank of America Stadium
Home of the NFL's Carolina Panthers. Go Panthers!





Time Warner Cable Arena
Home of the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats. Also home of minor league hockey's Charlotte Checkers.




Lowe's Motor Speedway
The Charlotte area is NASCAR country, and LMS in nearby Concord is its mecca. Lowe's Motor Speedway holds over 200,000 spectators and is home to both the NASCAR All-Star Race and the Coca Cola 600 .


(Site of the future) NASCAR Hall of Fame
Still under construction, but soon to be a centerpiece of the city.





Baseball Water Tower
Sticking with the sports theme, this is the baseball water tower next to the Charlotte Knights stadium in Fort Mill, South Carolina. This is a landmark along Interstate 77, just south of the state line.



Carowinds Amusement Park
This a 112 acre Cedar Fair amusement park is half in North Carolina and half in South Carolina. This image is of the Thunder Road roller coaster.



Meck Deck
This nondescript location marks the historic signing of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence - the first colonial government to declare independence from England in 1775. Nearly nobody in Charlotte even knows this historic event happened at this spot.

Buster Boyd Bridge
Another spot that most locals don't even know about. Well they know the bridge is here, but most people don't realize that the Buster Boyd Bridge is the only place where you drive north to go to South Carolina and south to go to North Carolina. Take a close look at the states and directions in this image.



Caught On Camera (other interesting shots caught by Street View cameras)

Motorcycle on Sidewalk
I'm no law expert, but I'm pretty sure it's illegal to ride your motorcycle on the sidewalk.





Do you know of other cool Street Views in Charlotte? Post it in the comments and if it's good enough I'll add it to the list above.


Stupid Is As Stupid Does (Google is stupid)
Some commentary: Google is stupid to have paid whomever they got to take these photos, and Charlotte has been jipped. There are dozens of places around Charlotte that were photographed at night time. WTF? The very point of Street View is for users to see what cities look like - so what's the point of photographing the city at night time when all you see is blackness and headlights? Here's what should be a great shot of Uptown Charlotte from the John Belk. Here's I-77, College Street, Bank of America Stadium, Ballantyne, and Carowinds. All taken at night so they're all useless photos. Just plain stupid.


P.S. The answer to the question "When were these photos taken?" is as long ago as last year and as recently as last month. I happen to know that this road was newly paved only about 6 weeks ago, yet less than a mile away the you can clearly see that the Lynx light rail line near Clanton is still under construction (and missing those huge clay circles that they call art) despite the fact that it was opened to the public and already running in November 2007 (so the photos have to be even months earlier than that).

Labels: Charlotte, cool, internet

If you live in the Charlotte area - or anywhere in North Carolina - you're already familiar with Meck Day. For my northern friends and family, Meck Dec Day celebrates perhaps one of the most influential event in American history that you've never ever heard of.

Meck Dec Day celebrates the signing of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence on May 20th, 1775 - more than a full year before the United States Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4th, 1776. The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence - or "Meck Dec" - was the first official colonial government declaration of independence from England. This date is found on the North Carolina state flag.

Read more (much more) about Meck Dec on Wikipedia. Or if you want to go the slacker route and watch an abridged audio/video summary, click this link.

Labels: Charlotte, history

You know how sometimes you'll be reading the newspaper, and then suddenly you find an unexpected article in there about you...? No? Well I now do.

Today I found an article about me in the Sunday edition of the area's major newspaper, the Charlotte Observer. I don't mean that I just happen to be mentioned - it was actually about me. The subtitle reads "Steele Creek resident shares 2 local finds" Was I surprised? Hell yes! I was unaware that there would be an article on me in the first place, but I was especially taken aback since I was personally identified by first and last name after I told the reporter on the phone that I did not want my name to be printed in the newspaper, and the reason why. I suppose I have to give the reporter the benefit of the doubt that she may have misunderstood an email where I said it was okay with her knowing my real name, but I never gave her permission to print it in the newspaper and online.

In any case, the article is about how Maegan and I enjoy letterboxing. It's a nice little article and I assume the reporter meant well, but since it's already out there, here's what she now attached my name to:

1. The article mentions that I found that many letterboxes are located in McDowell Park. (I haven't found any of them yet and I'll write more about that next Spring.) Did park rangers know about these boxes? If so, do they mind that they're there? Did the reporter's publishing of this fact (now associated with my name) possibly jeopardize all of those letterboxes that others enjoy?
2. The article mentions that I found two letterboxes in Tega Cay, SC this summer and includes links that I shared (with her). Non-residents are not permitted in Tega Cay parks so they most certainly don't want boxes which invite non-residents like me to come, park, and search around. Are these boxes now in jeopardy because of this article? Unlike McDowell Park, I do think that these Tega Cay boxes are now in jeopardy.
3. The article says that we plan to plant a few of our own letterboxes in the area. That's true but thanks for publicizing in the newspaper that I plan to hide stuff on public land.

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Updated:

I was asked why I was talking to a reporter about letterboxing in the first place and why I wouldn't expect an article to come from it. About a month ago the reporter asked in the newspaper if anybody in the area letterboxed so I contacted her. We spoke conversationally for a few minutes (not like I was being interviewed for an article about me) and I thought that was it.

The next week she wrote a micro-article about letterboxing in which she specifically asked if anybody knew how to contact a specific letterboxer by their trail name. I recognized that trail name from the letterboxes we had found in Tega Cay a few weeks earlier so I was trying to be nice and helpful and emailed her a link to that person's online profile so that she could contact him/her herself. Her reply to me was "I realize that" (which was not only curt but quite odd since she publicly asked for help in finding that person). In any case, that seemed like the end of it again and I wouldn't have expected any more articles on letterboxing to be in the paper.

Then two weeks later that article shows up unexpectedly, about me, with personal details about me, and about boxes in the area. I'm sorry but it's irresponsible to write an article about a non-famous person (who helped you) without asking their permission. It's irresponsible to publish somebody's full name after you explain that you do not want to be identified. And it is irresponsible to publish the location of items in the newspaper that you know are supposed to be hidden.

I was trying to be helpful to somebody who was asking for help and now innocent people's letterboxes are in jeopardy of being removed and other local letterboxers are probably pissed off at me (as if I had written the article myself). WTF!

Labels: Charlotte, letterboxing

It's raining tonight. It's far from a torrential downpour but definitely a steady rain. This certainly won't end our record-setting drought but every little bit helps, and the forecast calls for rain again tomorrow. I can't even remember the last time it rained in two consecutive days.

Labels: Charlotte, weather

This afternoon there was a bank robbery in Fort Mill. Police chased the thieves in to Charlotte where the car crashed. One suspect was apprehended quickly but another darted in to a nearby apartment complex. Dozens of police cars were called in to search for the missing bank robber, as were two police search helicopters, and the S.W.A.T. team. The whole area was completely shut down for hours.

Maegan's school was on one side of the standoff and school was about to let out. Patty was at home on the other side of the standoff with the doors locked. I was far away at work watching events unfold live on television. Although there was a period of uncertainty, Maegan's school held her and other students at the school until the standoff ended. Police still have the road closed off but the bus took an alternate route around the area and Maegan got home about an hour late.

News Story

Labels: Charlotte, Maegan, news, Patty

Snow dusted the ground this morning and the entire city of Charlotte shut down. [Pause for my northern friends to stop laughing.]

Although we didn't get any snowfall last year, Charlotte does average a few inches of snowfall each year. In 2003 we had one storm that dumped 18 inches on a city that isn't equipped to deal with it. We got less than two inches this morning and there were over 200 automobile accidents before 9 am. It is supposed to get worse this afternoon as the rain that is currently falling turns to ice.

On a side note, some neighbors let their kids go out and play in the snow, yelling and screaming at 7:30 am. Although I'm heading out to work in a few moments, so much for anybody else being able to sleep in.

Labels: Charlotte, weather

If "Touch My Building" didn't make you curious, alternative titles for this post were "The Fish Smells Fine" and "The Ghost of the 7th Street Station".

In Charlotte there is an interactive work of art that lights up and plays music when you touch it. This enormous artwork is nine-stories tall and stretches a full city block. And oh yeah, it's a parking garage. Although it's all one and the same (a ying and yang thing) the building is known as the 7th Street Station and the artwork is titled Touch My Building, created in 1998 by artist Christopher Janney. The interactive part of this building is 36 thirty-foot tall "light fins" located around the structure with touch sensitive pads at the base of each one. (Click here to see a better photo.) When you touch a pad, it and the fin light up and plays one of a wide variety of notes or sounds. Plus the parking garage also doubles as a clock, as every hour all of the fins play a synchronized melody for serveral minutes. Very cool.

By now you may have noticed that I've already explained the title of this post but not my two alternate titles. Well there's a small plaque located on the east side of the building next to Reid's Fine Foods with a riddle inscribed on it.

The fish smells fine
Go E I, III, V, VII, IX
1000, 0110, 0100, 0010
And see what she tells you

If you solve the riddle and play the pattern of fins in the correct order "the ghost of the 7th Street Station" is supposed to respond with a visual and musical display of appreciation.

Several years ago a friend and I thought we had solved the riddle but the ghost failed to sing for us. Did we get it wrong? I don't actually know because one of the fins was broken! Now several years later, a recent lunch visit to Reid's reminded me that I never did figure out whether or not we were right.

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Spoiler Warning: Don't read below this line unless you're okay with learning The Mystery of the 7th Street Station. If you do want to see the spoiler, just highlight everything from HERE.....
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Below is how I decyphered the riddle, but remember that I never got it to work because of a broken fin. Hence I can't actually prove I'm right. If you have successfully heard the ghost sing from the riddle pattern and can confirm my instructions, please add a comment to this post.

The fish smells fine
The first line is the most essential clue because it establishes your initial location, on which all other steps are dependent. I assume you should start at the southeast corner of the 7th Street Station, nearest to where 6th Street on the side that runs along the light rail. I assume this because there is are two fish sculptures way up near on that corner. I would think that the one fin between the two fish is the right starting point.

Go E I, III, V, VII, IX
Go East from the starting point and touch the first, third, fifth, seventh, and ninth fins. (Technically you can't go due east along the building but going northeast towards 7th Street is the closest to going east.)

1000, 0110, 0100, 0010
Just like the second line was roman numberals, this line is binary numerals. That would make this line translate to 8, 6, 4, 2. So walking back towards 6th Street, touch the eighth, sixth, fourth, and second fins (in respect to the southeast corner being zero).

And see what she tells you
Well this line isn't actually a clue so there's nothing to figure out. But since one of the fins were broken last time I tried, she never told me anything. :(

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TO HERE.....
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Labels: Charlotte, riddles

Today is WAXN-TV's 10th birthday. The station officially signed-on air on August 4th, 1996. Happy Birthday! For the record this isn't technically the birthday of "Action 64" because that branding line wasn't introduced used until September 2nd, 1996.

Labels: Charlotte, television

I've been waiting for this day all year. No, not the premiere of the movie I'm in - the opening of the new Super Target at River Gate. Hooray!

River Gate is a new 60,0000-square-foot shopping center being built just a few miles from my house. There's not much in the way of retail shopping in the immediate area and funny as it sounds, Patty and I really have been counting the days until it opened. The Home Depot (yea) is the other anchor store, with Best Buy (yea), PetSmart (yea), and a bunch of new restaurants (yea) to open soon.

Labels: Charlotte

This is one of several billboards put up as part of a promotional campaign by WCNC-TV, the NBC affiliate in Charlotte, NC. They are promoting the accuracy of their newscast's weather with the following text:

"It's not that they are wronger... We're just righter."

P.S. Incase you're wondering... No, they don't have any weather talent named Righter.

Labels: Charlotte, funny, stupid, television

This week the Charlotte Department of Transportation released compelling video of three collisions that occurred within one month's time at one particular intersection in Uptown Charlotte. They claim that there were zero collisions at this interection the previous eight months, during which time there were red-light cameras in operation. CDOT goes on to claim that this is strong evidence that the red-light cameras were effective in detering collisions at these intersections, suggesting we need to reinstate the red-light camera program for our own safely.

I've watched the video of these three crashes over and over again (sorry I don't have a link) and in each case I've noticed two things. One is that the violator didn't even slow down in any of the crashes. And two, that the traffic light was already red before any of the clips even begin. In the image above you'll notice at least three cars totally stopped for the red light, and at least one car that had already made it across the intersection (left to right), meaning that this crash must've had the light red for at least 10 seconds before the collision. Red-light cameras will snap your photo any time you proceed through a red light but their purpose is to deter people from intentionally trying to beat a changing or recently changed signal. That was obviously not the case in any of these three videos. Each of CDOT's examples clearly show an oblivious moron driver and not somebody intentionally trying to beat a light that just changed.

So why would CDOT release this great video and blame the collisions on the suspension of Charlotte's red-light camera program when it's so obviously not the cause? Because Charlotte makes money off of fines generated by the cameras - lots of money. Thanks for caring about our $afety, Charlotte.

Labels: Charlotte, politics, rant

Tom and I solved the riddle of the Seventh Street Station. Well almost. The Seventh Street Station is a nine story parking garage that has dozens of 28-foot high panels that light up and play music if you touch them. Some call it the musical parking garage. Legend goes that if you solve the riddle correctly, the entire building will light up at once and play music to celebrate the achievement. Here's the riddle...

The fish smells fine
Go E I, III, V, VII, IX
Go back 1000, 0110, 0100, 0010
See what she tells you

We didn't get the building to light up yet, but we'll try again. We're pretty sure we cracked the code, but we're not positive about where to start the sequence from (you've got to solve it for yourself).

*^{I blogged about this building again in 2006. Click here to learn the secret.}

Labels: Charlotte, riddles