This weekend I have been away with my wife and our staff in the Georgia mountains.

Ten of us made the to the beautiful mountain cabin, which is really a large house in the beautiful Georgia mountains. We left on Thursday and only stopped in Greenville South Carolina at the amazing California Dreaming restaurant directly off of I-85. (I had the Prime Rib which is amazing there!)

We had a great time in the Georgia mountains. We were most near the town of Hiawassee Georgia. We even enjoyed a few days of snow there in the beautiful mountains!
We did not come back home until today. (That is why there have been a few days without a post here on this site… there was no internet in the mountains!)

We were actually supposed to return on Saturday but we sort of got “snowed in” because of all the icy mountain roads! We thought about making the four hour trek back to Charlotte but really didn’t want to slide down any icy mountain roads or get stuck somewhere between Georgia and Charlotte!

And of course all of you know that Charlotte was not much better with all the snow and sleet and ice all over the roads here in our wonderful city!

Charlotte Mecklenburg and Union County Schools are closed tomorrow because of the snow and ice on the roads. Enjoy a snow day tomorrow if you have one here in Charlotte!

I-85. I-485. Charlotte North Carolina. Ridge Church. Georgia. Hiawassee Georgia. Georgia Mountains.

Tonight we drove around about half of I-485, the beltway that is almost complete circling around our wonderful city of Charlotte North Carolina.

My wife had a meeting where she works on one side of Charlotte and then we were both going to a friend’s house to meet with our small group on the other side of Charlotte.

MY wife works at CMC (Carolina’s Medical Center) and specifically the University hospital. It is in the University area at the intersection of East Harris Boulevard and North Tryon Street. It is not far from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

So, my wife travels on I-485 a lot when going south from her work. The exit that is most near her hospital is basically the last stop or last exit on that side of the beltway that is completed so far and open. Technically the last exit is just one mile past, but it is just I-85.

We eventually made our way to the Pineville, South Carolina exit off of I-485 (which really is still like part of Charlotte). It is exit number 64 where CMC - Pineville is right off the exit. So, we went from one CMC to the other!

First though we made a stop off of exit 59 which is the Rea Road exit where Stonecrest shopping center is right off the exit. This is South Charlotte and definitely a nice section of town.

We could have returned home by going all the way around the other side of I-485, but we cut straight up I-77 instead because it is much faster.

So when is the last time you drove all the way around half of the beltway?

I-485. University area. Concord. Harrisburg. Mint Hill. Matthews. Providence Road. Rea Road. Balantyne. Johnston Road. Carolina Place Mall.

Tonight we ate at one of our favorite spots in NoDa called Cabo Fish Taco!

“NoDa” is the popular abbreviation for the tiny “North Davidson” area of Charlotte. It is a really tiny little community… really just a short portion of 1 street on the outskirts of downtown Charlotte. It is the “arts” district of Charlotte - kind of the trendy, artsy neighborhood in our beautiful city.

This is where one of only two Cabo Fish Taco restaurants in the country are located! The only other one is in Orange County California.

It is the coolest restaurant with a whole lot of character. Guy Fieri has been there and done a special on it for the Food Network on his show “Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives.”

Tonight my wife and I went to eat at Cabo Fish Taco with some friends of ours from Ridge Church.

What is good at Cabo Fish Taco you ask? Surely you have figured it out by now! They are famous for their fish tacos of course!
I always just get the classic “white fish” tacos and they are the cheapest on the menu. The cilantro sauce is also awesome!

Their chips and salsa are also really really good! It is kind of a pico de gallo type salsa.
And they have some unbelievable cheese mashed potatoes!

If you have never been to Cabo Fish Taco then you really have to go try it out for yourself!

Cabo Fish Taco. NoDa. North Davidson. North Davidson Street. Charlotte North Carolina. Uptown Charlotte. Orange County. California.

Today will be the final post about the Charlotte Bobcats for a little while. We have been discussing their success for the past few days. It is relevant to the city because they are our only pro sports team in action at the moment.

I found an interesting article recently written in light of the Bobcats recent success. It addresses some issues that are no doubt on Coach Larry Brown’s mind!
Here are some of the author’s thougths:

Three subplots to follow over the second half of the NBA season:

1. What about the road? It’s no coincidence the Bobcats rose to fifth in the Eastern Conference during a six-game home stretch. No NBA team has a wider gap between how they perform at home and on the road than do the Bobcats.

They’re hoping those back-to-back victories in Miami and Cleveland – that’s what started this hot streak – is an indication of getting their act together away from Time Warner Cable Arena.

Coach Larry Brown said the next two weeks – seven of eight on the road – is the toughest stretch of the season.

2. Chandler’s status: Center Tyson Chandler has missed 13 games with a stress reaction in his left foot, and the Bobcats are 10-3 in that span. That suggests to some he’s superfluous, but Brown disagrees.

He needs Chandler healthy to defend pick-and-rolls. In the meantime, the Bobcats are treating the injury conservatively to avoid a setback.

3. Ownership: This team is still for sale and managing partner Michael Jordan could still end up buying majority control from Bob Johnson. If not, there are others – including former Houston Rockets CEO George Postolos – who could assemble a bid to buy control.

Things could get interesting down the stretch. I just hope we can stay healthy and make a run in the playoffs!

Charlotte Bobcats. Charlotte North Carolina. Charlotte. Time Warner Cable Arena. Raymond Felton. Larry Brown. Stephen Jackson.

The last few posts have been about the amazing turnaround of the Charlotte Bobcats this season. This has enabled us to be firmly in the middle of the playoff hunt and finishing the first half of the season at .500 = 21-21.

Yesterday we discussed that one of the big reasons for the Bobcats success has been star player Stephen Jackson.

I found an interesting article recently with an interview with Doc Rivers - the head Coach of the Boston Celtics (one of the best three teams in the NBA).
Here is what he had to say about Jackson and the Bobcats:

He said, it’s not just what Jackson does, it’s what opponents must do in reaction.
“No one is sagging into the paint [with Jackson on the floor] and that allows other people to play. It spreads the floor and that’s the key to basketball – if you can get spacing.”

He said before the Bobcats had Jackson, “If you were allowed to play a zone, you probably would have” against them, Rivers said. “And I mean a real zone where you could just stay in the paint. You didn’t have to leave the paint.”

Jackson has helped the Bobcats out tremendously… offensively and defensively!

Raymond Felton and Gerald Wallace have both definitely benefited from Jackson coming to the Bobcats!

I think the Bobcats as a whole are benefiting from the “swagger” that Stephen Jackson brought with him. That was something we have never had in our franchise history.
I think we will take that swagger right into the playoffs and make some noise!

Charlotte Bobcats. Time Warner Cable Arena. Larry Brown. Charlotte North Carolina. Uptown Charlotte. Stephen Jackson.

In the last post we discussed how AWESOME the Bobcats are playing right now.

I actually heard that a prime time NBA announcer said this week that “the Charlotte Bobcats are the hottest team in the NBA.” That is big praise from a neutral announcer!

So what took these struggling Bobcats to new heights? What has caused them to be so great this season?

Of course many will point to the expertise of head coach Larry Brown… and they would be right.

Others may point to the newly found chemistry on this team. They would also be right.

Gerald Wallace’s play of late is definitely a factor! He is playing the best basketball of his life!

But one thing is certain = you can point back to when Stephen Jackson joined this team and see that he has made a major impact!

Stephen Jackson was the kind of player that the Bobcats generally tried to stay away from = high maintenance. He did not want to play with Stephen Curry in Golden State and he made that abundantly clear. He forced a trade and ended up here in Charlotte.

But the biggest thing the Bobcats needed was scoring. We have been a great defensive team all season long, but we never really had a bona fide scorer. Now we do in Stephen Jackson!

When Jackson started with the Bobcats our record was 3-6. Now we are 21-19! That is unheard of for us!

Before Stephen Jackson, we were averaging 82.4 points per game and 39.4 percent shooting. Since Jackson joined the team, we are averaging 97.7 points and 46.6 percent shooting!

That is a HUGE turnaround… and so is our record!

Charlotte Bobcats. Time Warner Cable Arena. Larry Brown. Charlotte North Carolina. Uptown Charlotte. Stephen Jackson.

The Charlotte Bobcats - our beloved home team in Charlotte North Carolina have won six games in a row! Let me say that again… “The Charlotte Bobcats are on a six game winning streak!” I think this may be our longest winning streak in history!

It is definitely the longest current winning streak in the entire NBA… by a long shot over most teams!

The most recent victim in our winning streak were the Miami Heat who we CRUSHED last night = 104-65! That is a beating if you have ever seen one!
That was also a BIG win too, because we were behind the Miami Heat for the fifth seed in the East, but with that win it catapulted us past them to be in fifth place.

Fifth place is basically what the entire Eastern Conference is shooting for. It is kind of like first place. Everyone is kind of resigned to the fact that the “Big Four” will finish in those top four spots and no one will be able to stop them. Those “Big Four” in the East are the Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavs, Atlanta Hawks, and the Orlando Magic.

Basketball fans in Charlotte are SO excited right now! This is the best position the Bobcats have ever been in. I for one am excited as I have tickets to several games later this year! I am excited to see them play when they are doing so well.

Later this weekend we will look at what has turned this team around!

Charlotte Bobcats. Bobcats. Time Warner Cable Arena. Charlotte North Carolina. Larry Brown.

I wrote a lot about this year’s University of North Carolina Tarheels at the beginning of the NCAA basketball season. I was very optimistic even though we have such a young team full of freshmen and sophomores. I knew that this would be a rebuilding year, but I really thought we would still do really well and definitely improve as the season went along!

That has not been the case and I am very disappointed! Tonight we lost to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at home in the Smith Center! We lost 82-69, but that is not the worst part.
This was our third loss in a row!!! I can’t remember the last time the Tarheels lost three games in a row!

That is still not the worst part! We have lost seven games overall and our record in the ACC is a dismal 1-3! This is NOT looking good.

Somehow we were still ranked 24th in the nation before tonight’s game against ACC foes Wake Forest. After tonight’s loss we will be out of the top 25!

I am sure Roy Williams has a plan. I am confident in him as a great coach! I know he can turn the “ship” around.

And of course it is always better to get all your losses out of the way NOW and then get on a winning streak when it matters = MARCH!

University of North Carolina. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Carolina Tarheels. North Carolina. Charlotte North Carolina. North Carolina Tarheels. Dean Smith Center. Roy Williams. ACC. Wake Forest. Demon Deacons.

Today I had lunch (and a meeting) at the Showmars in downtown Mint Hill. Mint Hill is a suburb that is really a part of Charlotte North Carolina.

I am a big fan of Showmars. My favorite item on the menu is their Chicken Pita sandwich. I LOVE their pita sauce at Showmars. It is worth the trip. I also love their french fries. Add some ranch dressing for dipping and you have the perfect meal!

This particular Showmars is located in the shopping center that is at the corner of Highway 51 and Lawyers Road. It is at the center of downtown Mint Hill. It is a great location. Less than one block from the library. Less than one block from Town Hall.

They have a great space in the back that is “semi-private” that would be a PERFECT meeting space for any kind of meeting you might have! It has seats, tables, and booths to accommodate around 35 people! As well as a wide screen LCD TV mounted on the wall. You could hook your DVD or presentation right into it and be ready to roll!

It has been recently remodeled too. It is a really nice place. It almost feels like a place you need reservations for!

I meet some people who still have not eaten at a Showmars. That is shocking! It is a great place with great food and a great environment for a very inexpensive price! You need to check one out today!

Mint Hill. Mint Hill North Carolina. Showmars. Highway 51. Lawyers Road. I-485.

We have been looking at “Charlotte Restaurant Week” recently here on this site. It is coming up January 22-31! Get all the details on the last few posts.

Also, if you live out of town but want to experience some of these amazing restaurants we have here, check out transportation and discounted hotel accommodations during “Charlotte Restaurant Week” also on that website!

Just to whet your appetite I will list some of the restaurants I would LOVE to go to during “Charlotte Restaurant Week” and where in Charlotte they are located. Just look through this list and it will make you SO hungry! I wish it was a whole month so that we could go to all of these!

These are all the restaurants who are participating each listed in their respective areas.

In Dilworth…
131 Main - Dilworth
300 East
Bonterra
Copper
Dolce Ristorante
Fiamma
Las Ramblas
Sole Spanish Grille

In Eastover…
Deejai Thai
Providence Café

In Lake Norman and North Mecklenburg…
131 Main - Lake Norman
Dressler’s
Kabuto Japanese Steakhouse
Maddi’s Southern Bistro
Mickey & Mooch - Huntersville
Positano Osteria
Red Rocks Café - Birkdale Village
T1 Tapas

in Midtown, Elizabeth, and Plaza Midwood…
Cajun Queen
Carpe Diem
Customshop
Maharani
The Melting Pot - Midtown
Vivace
Zada Jane’s Corner Café

in South Charlotte (Ballantyne / Arboretum / Pineville / Fort Mill, SC)
131 Main - Blakeney
D’Vine Wine Café
Gallery Restaurant
Global
Maestro’s Bar & Bistro
Mickey & Mooch - Arboretum
Miro Spanish Grille
New South Kitchen & Bar
Passion8 Bistro
Rudy’s Italian Restaurant & Bar
Tria Terra

In South End…
The Liberty Gastropub
Sullivan’s Steakhouse

In SouthPark, Park Road, and Foxcroft…
Andrew Blair’s
Arooji’s Ristorante - SouthPark
BrickTop’s Grill
BRIO Tuscan Grille
Café Monte
Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steak House
Firebirds Wood Fired Grill - SouthPark
Good Food on Montford
M5 Modern Mediterranean
McCormick & Schmick’s - SouthPark
Noble’s Restaurant
The Palm
Red Rocks Café - Strawberry Hill
Ruth’s Chris Steak House - SouthPark
Toscana
Upstream
Village Tavern

In Southwest Charlotte…
Omaha Steakhouse

in the University area and Concord…
Lava Bistro
The Melting Pot - University
Rocky River Grille & Lounge

Enjoy whichever restaurants you choose!

Charlotte Restaurant Week. Charlotte North Carolina. Restaurants.