Fun Charlotte sights!

One of the best things Charlotte has to offer is our diverse culture and robust Arts. Among the Queen City's crown jewels in this writer's opinion is Mexican truck art such as this gem sighted Saturday at the Wal-Mart on Eastway Drive.
Allow me to critique; depicted in the rear windshield we have Our Lady of Guadalupe, the sixteenth century icon of The Virgin Mary and a beloved motif of many Mexican artists and truck owners alike. To her right is a portrait of perhaps this very truck itself in a vibrant alizarin crimson with fancy resplendant rims. Also in the foreground we see what I assume are the driver's very own muchachos donning cowboy hats. These two ninos strike a masculine pose next to a Brahma bull, an unlikely pairing next to a lion and his lioness; predator and prey in such close proximity, what could the implication be? No matter, let us move onto the rather dynamic rider astride a thrashing bull; one is reminded of how rugged and masculine, macho if you will, this owner must certainly be. Is that his Grande Casa nestled in the background? If this piece tells us nothing else, it surely tells of it's owner's virility and prosperity, we must assume it is indeed his home. But what of his faith? Again, the Virgin's placement near the center of the piece is telling; this is the art of a Man of God.
Although I can rrrroll my Rs with the best of 'em, sadly I am in fact not fluent in Espanol. I had to turn to the internet in attempt to translate the script along the bottom, "Que Dios Me Bendiga En Mi Camino". Near as I can tell this translates loosely to "God bless me on my way". On his way where? To the United States? To Wal-Mart? Or through life? I think he means through life, in his truck, with his kids.

Another of Charlotte's gems is The Landmark Diner! Here is Ellie standing before The Dessert Case in all it's deliciousness. On an outing with my Mom, Ellie and Danny we stopped by to take out a piece of chocolate cake and a slice of strawberry cheesecake to split. The Landmark is truly one of the best kept secrets in Charlotte. Whether you want breakfast or a pizza bagel after a night out with friends at 2 AM, lunch with family midday or dinner with the girls at 8 this is always the best choice. Their menu boasts more items than you can shake a stick at, and everything is delish! They bake their own bread, they have wonderful authentic Greek dishes, you can get breakfast around the clock and may I suggest the Chicken Marsala? In my younger days they had these miniature coin operated juke boxes at every booth, but sadly they redecorated a few years ago and tossed out the delightful contraptions. Still, the food is excellent!

What is a trip down Central Avenue without a stop at Value Village? A gyp, that's what! "VV" as we call it is only the best thrift store in Charlotte; well to be fair it's a toss up between VV and Community Thrift on Freedome Drive, but I live way closer to VV so it wins. It is worth the entertainment value just to stroll through even if you don't find anything. I love looking at all the weird stuff. Where else can you find snow globes, porcelain Teddy bears and grotesque European busts all on one shelf?


I have found some of my best "stuff" on this shelf, but let's not leave out another favorite feature of VV; the "bags of random stuff". Check out these vintage plastic doll heads! $3.13 for a bag of 6! Had you purchased them eslewhere you might expect to pay upwards of $34.99. And if you want more there was a whole other bag of them below these. I have to admit, I was tempted...but I was able to resist. I'm not real sure what I would have done with them. But they would sure look cool in my big glass apothecary jar...
A funny thing happens when you do as much thrift shopping as me and my compadres, you get really cheap, as in "$3.13? That is way too much!" I mean, who are they kidding? They got the stuff for free!
Stay tuned for more tales from one of only two dozen Charlotte natives...