Road tripping America, day 1!

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Day one is complete!

After a long 12 hours, and 640 miles down I made it to Charlotte, North Carolina around 7 pm yesterday. Other then a stretch of hour long traffic in Maryland (where a three lane highway mysteriously turns in to one lane), the trip was painless. With just two stops along the way for gas and to use the bathroom, I honestly felt that I could have even driven a few more hours. I guess that's a good sign for the rest of the trip.

I am currently slightly hungover writing this- after getting here last night me and friends in the area did not waste much time getting to drinking before a night out at the EpiCentere. Of course, before drinking we did go to a small, local restaurant called Alexander Michaels Tavern located in the Historic 4th Ward of Charlotte. The place itself wasn't too fancy, and it had a very southern vibe from the menu, to the decor, to the accents of the staff, which definitely reminded me I wasn't in NYC anymore. I ordered a crawfish burrito, which was incredible. We also decided to order some fried pickles as well, which put any fried pickles I've had elsewhere to shame.

The beer selection was great as well. As a fan of IPA's, I had to try something local and after asking the waitress for a recommendation, I decided on the Triple C Brewing Companies Baby Maker, and it did not disappoint.

After dinner and the apartment pregame was complete (in which I dominated Cards Against Humanity), we took a quick 10 minute walk from the 4th Ward right into the heart of Charlotte, to a spot known as the EpiCentere. Along the way there were many Irish pubs and other assorted bars, live music seemed to be blaring from just about every one. We decided on a bar called Howl At The Moon, and it was awesome. A live band was rocking the house with their own twist on songs such as "Shut Up And Dance With Me", "Cheerleader", and even "Baby Got Back" after it was requested multiple times. At one point, some of the friends in my group decided to jump on stage which was definitely entertaining. As far as the cost of drinks, it was pretty comparable to NYC prices which sort of surprised me. I decided on the bucket of liquor, because who needs to drink liquor out of a glass? For $26 it certainly did the trick for me and about 4 other people. Money well spent in my opinion!

After spending some time at HATM, we moved on to another local hot spot Dandelion Market. This place was pretty inconspicuous on the outside, but once you stepped in it was easy to see why this place is a local favorite. The lower level contained a classy, speakeasy type bar. A large selection of craft beers were available on tap- but we didn't spend much time downstairs. As soon as you walked into the place, you could feel the bass bumping from the upstairs dance lounge which was where we decided we needed to be. A quick walk upstairs and it felt as if we were in a completely different establishment. High vaulted ceilings with a wall length bar made this room the perfect dance room, and from the looks of how crowded it was, everybody else seemed to think the same thing. A couple shots of fireball later and we were ready to dance until the bar closed.

It is now noon, and we pretty much just woke up. Always a luxury when you're on vacation and can just sleep in as late as you want. That won't be the case for the rest of the trip, but for now I'm enjoying having slept in! The plans for today are still up in the air. A visit to a few breweries may be in the cards, but for the moment, the plan is to get some coffee and advil.

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