Good morning Everyone!
When Mark and I first married, we lived in North Carolina for three years. While most of that time was spent in a small town called Rockingham, North Carolina, we did have the opportunity to live for at least a few months in Charlotte, North Carolina. Even back then, in the late 80’s, Charlotte was a beautiful city. It ended up being one of the places we enjoyed living in most out of everywhere we’ve been. We had a chance a few weeks ago to go back to Charlotte for the first time, and we took Kayla with us. While we were driving through downtown Charlotte, Kayla took the following pictures, which I think (proud mama alert!) are quite extraordinary for a 12-year-old armed with only an iPod.
This one is probably my very favorite of all of the pictures that she took. One of the unique features of Charlotte is the quantity of trees the city, even the downtown, still has. Early on in its urban development, Charlotte’s city fathers passed ordinances requiring trees to be kept intact whenever possible.
Charlotte got its start as a town in the first gold rush that ever occurred in the United States – gold was found in Charlotte in the early 1800’s. Now the city is a financial services mecca, headquarters to many different banks and other financial institutions.
We were riding through on a misty morning, and the tops of the skyscrapers were hidden in the clouds, a fact that fascinated Kayla.
I, of course, hardly recognized anything downtown from when we lived here over twenty years ago, and yet I still recognized the spirit of the city. The city that can maintain the balance between old and new and still retain its original identity is a rare city indeed. But then, that’s Charlotte!
Have a great day!
Nancy
Tales from the Mom-Side 