Tag: US Trip

OK, in LDWA terms, this isn’t a long walk, but five miles or so is a fair chunk to get to the hotel in the evening after what had already been a long day. But, I’m not one to comment on my bravery of course. I had checked in advance that it looked a generally safe area and I fancied walking as although I could have got there using two buses, it wouldn’t have been any quicker. So off I went merrily listening to podcasts.

This is the sidewalk and there are constant reminders that the walking infrastructure in huge chunks of the United States is completely shot. There is a sidewalk on the other side, but it’s not always easy to cross and then there’s another obstacle on the other side. I accept this one is easy for me to walk around, but others weren’t and there was no alternative to going into the road.

The War of Sugar Creek, more on which at https://www.ncpedia.org/sugar-creek-war for anyone interested.

The sun was starting to set and I was relieved that the Amtrak train had been on schedule.

This KFC was opening the following week and note how they had decided to water their grass in front of the building, regardless that people had to walk along the sidewalk. And the water didn’t just hit the sidewalk at the edges, look where the sprinklers are….

Crossing a road bridge, I rather liked the sunset.

Nearly there…..

Safe and sound, pleased that I was using public transport to get back into Charlotte the following morning.

Although I was staying in Charlotte for two nights, I effectively only had one day there because I had arrived late the previous evening and was leaving early the next. The city does though have a $6.60 unlimited 24 hour travel pass which proved useful as I could use it all day and then also get into the city centre the next morning by leaving slightly earlier. Fortunately the 211 bus arrived on time and as expected, with this and the trams included in the public transport pass.

The bus was taking me to the tram network stop, which is quite exciting to me as not huge numbers of cities in the United States have trams and I’ve long thought that they’ve some of the most efficient and popular forms of public transport.

The tram stop (and I could see that nothing was coming from either direction in case anyone thinks this is dangerous).

Tom Hunter station, which I had assumed was named after a local transport dignitary or something. However, it’s just named after the road where the tram station is, so the origins of who Tom Hunter is go back a lot further. The tram system itself is known as the Lynx Blue line, with plenty of connections into the bus network. There are ticket machines for those who want to pay at the station itself, but I had downloaded the app which let me just show my pass on request.

Suitably spacious. Much faster than buses, the tram network opened here in 2007 and was extended in 2018 giving them a total of 26 stations. In the same way as HS2, and indeed most transport projects, there were huge arguments about the cost and the whole project was nearly suspended. It takes political bravery to proceed with projects like HS2 and tram networks such as this, but the benefit that they can provide in taking people off the road in their cars is enormous.

It took around thirty minutes to get from Tom Hunter station to the city centre. And my first impressions of Charlotte’s city centre, as I hadn’t seen it the previous evening, were quite positive given everything looked quite new and shiny. This isn’t the last mention I’ll make of the tram network, which I decided I very much liked and thought again how nice one would be in Norwich.

Although I hadn’t been before, I had heard of this chain for the work that they do with supporting those with disabilities. They have just over 20 shops across the United States at the moment and their motto is “a human rights movement disguised as a coffee shop”. It was started in North Carolina, in Wilmington, in 2016 and it seems likely to me to keep on expanding over the next few years given their concept of employing and helping those with disabilities.

I liked the relaxed environment here and I’d note that it did get busier than this. Customers are given a playing card and so when their order is ready, that card number is just shouted out. I much prefer this to giving a name, where there’s this process of them mis-spelling it and then calling it out wrongly. I hadn’t noticed that sign on the television until writing this, where if you like them on social media the numbers will immediately go up on the screen. That’s very clever, I like that.

All was well here, there were power points, wi-fi and so I was able to get some work done before heading off to explore more of the city. The coffee was suitably rich and pleasant tasting, with the whole operation feeling slick and well managed. There’s likely potential in many other countries for a concept such as this, although I remember going into a cafe in Jersey which had a similar theme. The service was friendly, the environment was inviting and the coffee was of a good quality, it’s a well-run venue with the added dimension of supporting those with disabilities making it even more of a community asset.