{Guest Blog}: Baseball, Farmers Markets, & {lots of} Wine

Oh no. It's Wednesday. I only have 6 days of vacation left! The first 5 have flown by and I'm so not ready to go back to the real world yet. I do miss Charlotte though, so here's a fellow Charlotte blogger here to tell you about all of the fantastic things about our city...

well hello readers of a southern twenty-five! i'm amanda and a blog over at as the wine cork turns where you will find me talking about life, style, food, and whatever else that flows out of my fingers onto the keyboard.

oh, and wine. there's always a lot of wine.
as a lover of the queen city, north carolina and a resident of over two years, i want to talk about some of my favorite things about charlotte and what to do if  when you visit. because you're totally going to want to visit. 
i moved here in may 2012 and literally wanted to do everything. i stayed out too late, i ate too much, i probably spent too much money, but from someone who is from a teeny tiny town that features only one high school county wide, charlotte was my new york city. 
one // soul gastrolounge 

of course one of my favorites has to do with food. soul gastrolounge is the hidden gem of charlotte. featuring a full menu full of tapas ranging from tuna tacos to this amazing heaven of pork belly tacos with watermelon on top, you gotta go. it can be kind of pricey, but just keep in mind your eyes are bigger than your stomach. i can't seem to figure this out however.
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two // the charlotte knights games in uptown charlotte

no doubt a huge hit in charlotte this spring/summer has been the opening of the bb&t ballpark stadium. heck of a view of uptown & $12 beers in mason jars. boom - sign me up. i can't lie though, i definitely don't watch baseball on my own free time, but place me around friends and a sporting event and i'm sold. i've been to four games so far; including one that got completely got rained out. paying for overpriced beers definitely does get old, but the atmosphere does not.
oh, and you get to keep the mason jars. and no, they're not glass. there are some evil fans out there and the last thing the stadium wants is one being thrown and hitting a kid in the head. still worth it to me. 
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three // outdoor bars & farmer's markets

charlotte has one of the best farmer's markets in the country? did i make that up? i think i read that somewhere, but it's phenomenal and if you live in charlotte, you pretty much breathe & eat this city. farmer's market's are also cheap. we all like cheap. we went last october and got some pumpkins to carve. 
also, the amount of outdoor patio, floppy hat, wine sippin, beer drinking spots in the city itself and the surrounding areas... gah. i could go on forever. all american pub is definitely a favorite for their half off wine wednesday's.
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four // st. patty's day bar crawl

apparently this is the largest in the world. i believe some 18,000 people flooded the streets of uptown charlotte in all green this past year. i've done it for two years now and it's kinda my annual thing. i like to have a good time, in case you can't tell. with 30+ restaurants and bars that offer deals, it's hard not to want to go. it's also hard to stay with your friends. and get cell phone signal. 
i've learned the hard way on the last two. 
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five // the u.s. national white water center

here lies the place i almost died. seriously.
we went zip-lining and and white water rafting and it was a complete blast. i'm a huge adrenaline junkie so this was right up my alley.
..until i got knocked off the boat, thrown into a rock, shoved underwater and was caught holding my breath underneath the boat. 
yet, here i am still telling you to go to this place. just don't do what i did. 
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six // vgbg

rumor has it that vbgb stands for "very big german beer." i don't know the story behind this, but we're just going to roll with it. the reason this place is phenomenal is because they have life-sized games. connect four. life sized jenga. chess. checkers. cornhole. sand volleyball. ping pong. 
you get the point.
i realize the last three aren't necessarily "life-sized" - but again. the point is made. games and drinks and friends. 
i hope to see you over at as the wine cork turns some time. until then, come to charlotte! cheers!