Skinner and EarlG at the DNC: Tuesday

[EarlG]

We arrived at the delightful Continental Inn on the outskirts of Charlotte last night at around 9pm after an uneventful drive (with the exception of a somewhat surreal detour through Jerry Falwell's Liberty University).



There are lots of excellent dining opportunities in the area.









Weather: cloudy, humid, warm but not ridiculous. We're expecting rain later.

After a spot of breakfast we're now getting set to head into Charlotte -- our first order of business is to figure out which bus to take. We'll pick up our media credentials from the Time Warner Arena and then check out the madness downtown before stopping by the PPL, a space set up specifically for bloggers just a few blocks from the convention center.

Stay tuned for updates!

Skinner and EarlG's DNC 2012 Journal

[snooper2]

1. you spelled it wrong, it's jerry fartwell

LOL

[Ikonoklast]

2. All four food groups....awesome!

Urp.

[OneGrassRoot]

3. *clapping* So excited you guys are going to be there!

[aquart]

4. Dining well, are you?

[aquart]

5. A journal is fine, but where's the APP?

[Solly Mack]

6. I hope y'all brought Tums® or Rolaids®.

[nc4bo]

7. If you've never, try a Bojangles biscuit

They're pretty good!

All that fast food is gonna be tough on the ole GI tract, I'm sure there's more out there for yall - somewhere

[nolabear]

9. +1 on the Bojangles. And Popeye's Fried Chicken. *Heaven*

In general though keep to healthy. We need you!

[bluemarkers]

12. don't forget the iced tea

Chicken fillet biscuit with sweet iced tea

soooo much better than the other chix place

[riverbendviewgal]

17. I really like Popeyes

I love their onion rings and crispy chicken... I find there is more meat on Popeyes chicken.

[12AngryBorneoWildmen]

21. Double Ditto on Fried Chicken Hierarchy

Popeyes-red beans and rice, dirty rice and more. Their head chef is also a fellow Culinary Institute of America alumnus, along with Rob Zerban running against Lyin' Ryan in the Janesville Wisconsin congressional district. But, but, thee place to go for Fried Chicken in Charlotte, I am told, is Price's Chicken Coop. http://www.priceschickencoop.com Drove there from Knoxville one day on the way to Wilmington, NC and it was closed at that time-Sunday, too late in the day? I can't remember. It truly is a little, tiny hole-in-the-wall

[Arugula Latte]

33. Remember what Skinner said long ago. No chicken threads!

[Amaril]

34. + 1 -- Bojangles biscuits AND the dirty rice

Nom, nom, nom!

I lived in Charlotte -- like a million years ago. Beautiful city........and, like they say, if you can't trade on Tryon, try on Trade.

[Island Blue]

54. mmmmmm. Bojangles.

[tomm2thumbs]

8. ironic, as your site is so much more than blogging

much more

[BumRushDaShow]

10. Yay!

And food near by.

Looking forward to the blow-by-blow!!!

[Doctor_J]

11. Holy moley

only $3.69 for regular?

[MadrasT]

13. Yay, Skinner & EarlG!!!

Next best thing to being there myself!

[Alduin]

14. I've never heard of the place in the fourth photo.

Must be an Eastern/Southern thing. I don't think we have those here in Minnesota.

Enjoy the convention!

[Scuba]

15. What? No Shoney's?

[derby378]

24. We used to have Shoney's in Dallas

Started out as really good food, but something weird happened, and the quality of both food and service started slipping. Now Shoney's appears to have left the D/FW area entirely.

[TBF]

16. Hold out for waffle house -

you won't be finding grits at Wendy's.

[Happyhippychick]

18. I thought you boys would go to Chick Fil A!

[Lasher]

23. Chicken thread! Chicken thread!

[NBachers]

19. Maybe you can uncover an archaic A&W Root Beer- check the National Registry of Historic Places

I love your DNC Road Trip threads, and the replies are great.

Thank you so much for taking us along on your journey

[BlueJazz]

20. I think we Duer's should chip in and send you some transportation.

[timber84]

22. Price's Chicken Coop

Is a must to eat at. 1614 Camden Rd Charlotte,NC 28203. Very near downtown.

[bigwillq]

25. HA!

Thanks for the updates!

Enjoy your meals!

K and R

[HopeHoops]

26. Screw those - go to the Waffle House - good food, low prices, quick service. Tip well.

[WCGreen]

32. Last time I went it was seven bucks for a scattered and smoothered with toast and coffee.

[HopeHoops]

49. No way. A scattered and smothered is about $3.00, coffee another $.75.

That's the cheapest breakfast you can get (that isn't McFood) and it's good shit. I don't even get the toast. The eggs and hash browns are more than enough for me - but I do like to cover them in black pepper and Tabasco.

[WCGreen]

50. This was in Cleveland and I paid for three adults and a child and it waa

almost 30 bucks...

[HopeHoops]

51. Fuck. I don't think I've ever spent more than $25 with five of us.

And that INCLUDES a generous tip!

Wait, did you get meat? That could be the difference. We don't do dead animal parts.

[WCGreen]

52. I think it's just cheaper down south for whatever reason....

Stopping at a Waffle House was one of my treats when I drove down to Fla when my folks moved South.

I loved it.

I found a great greek restaurant here with almost as good hash browns but they also make a great corned beef and swiss cheese and onion omelet. Yummmm Yummmm.

[HopeHoops]

53. We're in PA. I don't call that "south".

[WCGreen]

55. That is my only experiance with the Waffle House...

I thought, until recently, that it was a strickly Southern franchise.

[Generic Other]

27. I feel like I am following Jack Kerouac

yay for roadtrips!

[UnrepentantLiberal]

28. Skinner and EarlG live from Charlotte!

http://www.ustream.tv/

[Cleita]

29. See you are gourmet dining. n/t

[turtlerescue1]

30. ENJOY!

Waiting with high hopes for any and all posts!

[WCGreen]

31. Last time I was down around those parts there was an Aunt Bee's Restaurant....

Let me suggest one thing, Aunt Bee's pickles. That's the polite way to say move it on over....

[Why Syzygy]

35. Local DUers should invite you for dinner!

Keep us informed about your meal choices!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

39. If I lived down there, you bet I'd invite them for dinner!

Now, that would be a meetup!

[Why Syzygy]

48. snicker

I know it would, CP! An event to remember

[Liberal_Dog]

36. K & R

[UrbScotty]

37. It's very muggy up here in Michigan!

I hope you stay comfortable where you are!

[FirstLight]

38. ya, I'm in CA, didn't even know what a Bojangles was either!

This is awesome...thanks for taking us. I wish I could see this someday, and travel too...seeing your pics and getting the scooop from you guys is the next best thing!


ps...now I'm hungry for chicken & biscuit too!

[a kennedy]

40. Hey, congrats and looking forward to all your escapades.....

[SoapBox]

41. Phewww...good it's the Continental and not the

No-Tell Motel!

And all those healthy dining options...I can just feel my blood pressure rising and my arteries clogging.

[cbayer]

42. This is so cool!! Super cool things to see and where to eat while in Charlotte below:

Last edited Tue Sep 4, 2012, 02:16 PM - Edit history (1)

Unloved MLK statue:
The statue was sculpted in the 1980s by an 80-year-old woman who claimed to have designed the Roosevelt head on the dime. It's so unloved that there was once a public outcry to replace its head (which failed).
E. 3rd between Davidson and McDowell Sts.


Brick Kids - Life is an Open Book
The Brick Association of the Carolinas commissioned "Life Is An Open Book," depicting brick kids climbing on a brick book. For a generation not influenced by Pink Floyd...
West 1st Street at West Tryon Street, near the Bechter Museum of Modern Art.


Disco Chicken
Unveiled in 2009. "The Firebird" was actually created in 1991 by French-American artist Niki de Saint Phalle. She died years before its was purchased and moved to the front of Charlotte's Bechtler Museum of Modern Art -- and perhaps that's for the best, since locals have embraced her work not as a serious piece of sculpture, but as "Disco Chicken."

Standing 18 feet tall, covered from top to bottom in shards of shiny glass, it does indeed suggest a barnyard fowl wrapped in a coating of mirrored disco ball, with 1970s Soul Train flared pants and a strutting John Travolta pose straight out of Saturday Night Fever.


Bechtler Museum of Modern Art
420 S. Tryon St., Charlotte, NC

FOOD!!!

Old Hickory House (near your motel)
6538 N. Tryon, Charlotte, NC - [phone]
Old Hickory House has Texas-themed decor, but the cuisine is the best of North Carolina: hickory-cooked pork, smoky beans, and Brunswick stew.
http://www.oldhickoryhousebarbecuerestaurant.com


Near Downtown:
Price's Chicken Coop
1614 Camden Road, Charlotte, NC - [phone]
We cannot tell you the secret of this chicken's superiority; but we can tell you that it has a surfeit of crunchy skin that is imbued with the silky, savory goodness of chicken fat; and while the skin is chewy, these pieces that strip off the meat underneath melt in your mouth and transform from crunch into pure, essential chicken flavor.
Have a sweet potato pie for me!
http://www.priceschickencoop.com

Between downtown and your motel:
Zada Jane's Corner Cafe
1601 Central Ave., Charlotte, NC - [phone]
Zada Jane's is a very popular, 3-meal-a-day eatery known especially for breakfast. From classic buttermilk biscuits to vegetarian exotica, there is something on this menu for everyone with an appetite.
http://zadajanes.com

Penguin Drive-In
1921 Commonwealth Ave., Charlotte, NC -
The best thing about the big-bore burgers at the Penguin Drive-in is the meat itself, a thick patty that oozes juice and radiates ultabeef flavor. Amazingly, although they are huge, the condiments copious, and the bun only regulation-size, even the massive hemi is wieldy enough to pick up and eat without significant spillage.
http://www.penguindrive-in.com

John's Country Kitchen
1518 Central Ave., Charlotte, NC - [phone]
If you are looking for blue-plate breakfast or lunch in Charlotte, you can't beat John's Country Kitchen. We were taken there by Carolina cuisiniere Heidi Billotto, whose "Charlotte Weekly" story about the place described the portions as large and the prices as "unbelievably reasonable."
no website

Lupie's
2718 Monroe Rd., Charlotte, NC - [phone]
Our 4-vegetable plate was 4-star: painfully tender discs of yellow squash with sweet onions, green beans (non-canned, well-cooked) saturated by tidal waves of pork flavor, large hunks of carrot sweetened with brown sugar, and super-cheesy mac & cheese. The cheeseburger was a sloppy, full-flavored stack of juicy beef, thick and salty bacon, really tasty slices of tomato, and a kaleidoscope of condiments.
no website

Right outside of town:

Bar B Q King
2900 Wilkinson Blvd., Charlotte, NC - [phone]
A big lot with two rows of car slips, order-matic menus, and trays mounted on articulated arms so you can pull dinner right up to the side of your vehicle, Bar B Q King is a mid-century treasure where the pulled pork -- and the deep-fried fish -- are soul food paradigms.
http://barbqking.com

[greatauntoftriplets]

43. I bet that you two are having a blast at the DNC.

Thanks for the opportunity to be there vicariously.

[bongbong]

44. Food suggestsions

Try one of those books/websites that have lists of local restaurants. One I can think of is roadfood; there are others.

[cbayer]

45. I gave them a list from roadfood up above and I hope they see it. No chain food!!! is my motto.

[progressoid]

46. Seresiely? No Olive Garden?

[SaveAmerica]

47. If The Continental is South of Downtown park at Lightrail stations on South Blvd

You can park for free and take the light rail trains in. I read that parking is $50 a day downtown.

[lunatica]

56. It looks like you could be any city/town USA!

Our great culture on display in every town!