Charlotte, North Carolina

I was quite looking forward to Charlotte. I kept hearing good things about it and how great downtown was. We were here for a week and I just didn't see it. I tried, I really tried but it seemed I just wasn't seeing the same town as everyone else. Maybe if the arenas before had been the sort that are in the middle of nowhere (and there are lots of those) then yes maybe it would have been good but it followed Miami and Nashville which had great downtowns. All I could see was a town full of restaurants, takeaways and hairdressers, with a few pieces of street art thrown in for good measure.

I did find a store that sold food just one block away that no one had mentioned (well except the person that told me about it) It was a nice store but a wee bit expensive and half the stock was fine wine. Still it was good enough to get bread and milk.

The train arrived late in to Charlotte, which in turn made load in a nightmare for those who have to do it. Most people involved with getting the show up and running had little or no sleep. It also meant that for the first day there was no room for the school. Well I'm sure there probably was but it is not priority when everything is behind schedule. Still the children weren't really bothered as it meant they had an unscheduled field trip to the children's library for the day.

On the map I spotted a park called 'Green park' so we went looking for it one day with the intent to take Willow back there. When we came to the spot on the map it took us a while to realise we were right next to it. Not really what I would call a park. I suppose there was grass though that looked quite wilted and not that green at all. There were some nice arty bits there though and lots of signposts with one pointing to all the other Charlotte's in the US and how many miles away they were.



One day in the arena some signs went up warning everyone that we were in for some really cold weather including rain and frozen rain. This made me chuckle and ponder if it meant snow or hail. Well it meant frozen rain! During the evening show there seemed to be a fluttering of snow falling but it was strange snow, not really snow flakes at all. The next day the ground was covered in this white stuff, again resembling snow but it wasn't. It was definitely more ice than snow a thick layer of white ice. A snow ball made from the stuff would do serious damage. Whatever you want to call it, it seemed to freak Charlotte out a bit as they don't get the stuff very often. Reminded me a bit of England really. The circus is fairly geared up for all weather though and as always the animals are first priority and the elephants were moved to a warmer area before the cold even hit. I was quite surprised to come home to find the step to my vestibule gritted, but not surprised to discover the water pipes up as they would have been freezing. The water tanks had to be filled by truck which means you have to be conservative with what water there is.

I didn't dislike Charlotte, I was just expecting to like it more than I did and as I said at the start most people I know here did indeed like the City a lot. One thing I did like (I want to finish on a positive note) is all the public art. Including the art on The Green, the 17 foot tall Firebird made from mirrors and Sculptures on the square.



I also liked the skyline, especially at night, which we had a great view from the train.