I have been fortunate over the past year, in that I have gotten to travel A LOT. And when I say I have traveled a lot, I mean I have been on 40 different planes in the past year. Now, I know there are people that travel far more than me, but I went from maybe getting on a plane twice a year to getting on a plane more than twice a month. So big change for Catie.
I was lucky enough to find a job that has allowed me to travel and go to some places that I never thought I would. It has also allowed me to go to some places that I have always wanted to go, but have not been able to for one reason or another. Today, I am going to focus on one of each, Charlotte and Chicago.
Charlotte
Charlotte was one of those places I never really thought to visit. I had heard from friends that North Carolina was beautiful, but they were normally referring to the coast, not the middle of the state. When I found out I would be going here for work, I figured why not stay an extra day and explore the city? Boy, was I happy I did. I came to find out that Charlotte is a vibrant city with a lot to offer; an awesome food truck scene, some great museums, fantastic parks and an awesome Uptown to explore.
One of my favorite spots was The Mint. A museum in the heart of Uptown, that has everything from American Art dating back to the 1700s to modern pieces. When I decided to visit The Mint I had not stepped foot in an art museum since college. I forgot how great it can be to put away the cell phone and just enjoy something. What I thought was going to be a quick stop turned into over 2 hours of admiring the pieces the museum has on display.
The rest of my day was spent locating food trucks (I highly recommend Papi Queso), strolling through Freedom Park and The Green and indulging in sweets from Amelie’s French Bakery.
Chicago
Chicago is a city I have been wanting to visit for a long time now. Unfortunately, mother nature was not so on board and it snowed the entire time I was there (in the middle of April I will add). Fortunately, I still loved my time in Chicago.
Because I was so excited for this trip, I did a little (read a lot) more research beforehand than I normally would. I decided to get a Chicago Go Card, which basically allows you to buy passes to different attractions in one place (you also can get a small discount by doing this). Because I was only there for a day, I only got passes to 360 Chicago, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and the Big Bus Tour. Now, I know what you are thinking, you really did one of those dorky bus tours? Absolutely. First of all, the tour guides have a lot of great facts and figures about the city that you wouldn’t get in a normal taxi or bus ride. Second, it takes you to all of the big tourist attractions so I used it as my taxi for the day.
My first stop, was Glazed and Infused Donuts (who knew Chicago had such a big donut scene?), which possibly had the best red velvet donut I have every eaten. Next up, even though it was stormy and snowy outside, was 360 Chicago followed by Millennium Park to see the famous bean statue. I will admit that I think both would have been much cooler had it not been snowing outside, but were still great experiences. After that, I defrosted on the Big Bus tour for a while, before stopping by the Museum of Contemporary Art for a while. I ended my day by going to none other than Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria, which had amazing pizza and amazing service.
I cannot wait for my next trip to a new place! Until next time… CB
