Charlotte Arts: The Nutcracker

One of my favorite Christmas memories is going to see The Nutcracker. I remember getting dressed up and going to see the ballet every year when I was little. I also remember falling asleep a few times, but I was four or five years old... can you blame me?
My husband and I have continued the tradition of seeing The Nutcracker before Christmas. We don't go every year, but we try to see it as often as we can. Each ballet company and orchestra uses different choreography and arrangements, so every time we see it, it's like new!

Last night we went to see the North Carolina Dance Theatre's production, and it was wonderful. They were accompanied by the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, and they were truly fantastic. Of course, I'm a sucker for a great orchestra. The performance included professional dancers, of course, but also used ballet students from the community, so there were lots of adorable children too.

This was my first experience with the arts in Charlotte and I was not disappointed. I am, however, disappointed in myself for not seeing any other shows before last night. Charlotte offers a range of options, from orchestra to dance, and community theatre to professional touring companies. I love the arts and I need to do a much better job of supporting them, especially in my new home!

Thanks to the NC Dance Theatre and the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra for their introduction to the Charlotte performing arts. I'll be back soon, I promise!

Christmas Town, USA

One of the best places in Charlotte to visit during the holidays is McAdenville, NC aka Christmas Town, USA. The entire town decorates and transforms into a Christmas light bonanza, and it's a great place to go get in the Christmas Spirit.

My husband and I went last year and were just amazed by what we saw, so we decided to visit again last Saturday night. There was a long line of cars to get into the village, but eventually we saw the first lights on the tree and knew we had made our way into Christmas Town!

Photos from Christmas Town Facebook page

We loved looking at all the beautiful lights and were amazed by how well coordinated the decorations were. It reminded me of my childhood, when my neighborhood association held a contest so the entire neighborhood went all out with decorations. We always had lines of cars driving slowly through the neighborhood, checking out the lights. Just driving home from school or swim practice put me in the Christmas Spirit.

I loved seeing all the lights of the town, and I think this will be an annual tradition for us as long as we live in Charlotte. It's amazing that such a small town in North Carolina could get together to express all this Christmas Spirit.

Lazy 5

We had guests over the weekend - two friends from college and their three year-old daughter - which meant we got to be Charlotte tourists! It was another gorgeous Charlotte weekend and we took advantage of the sunshine with a lot of outdoor activities.

One of the most unique and talked about family activities in the Charlotte area is the Lazy 5 Ranch. It's a drive through or ride through animal park, but even that description doesn't fully capture the experience. I've been there twice now and both times I've been amazed by the experience.

The park isn't like a regular zoo - it's more of a forest, combined with a safari, with a touch of the children's zoo - because visitors have the opportunity to see, feed, and pet all the animals. It's safe - the animals are all given shots each year and are so used to people that they're essentially domesticated. Both visits I have ridden on the wagon through the park, which I personally think is the best way to see everything.

Words are failing me, so I think the best thing to do is just show you the pictures.

Luther the rhino - can't pet or feed him!

If it has two legs, hold out your food bucket and they'll peck at the food.

If it has four legs, they'll eat from your hand!

Everyone wants to feed the giraffes and the giraffes know it - they don't eat much, but they like to pose for pictures.

I didn't see the zebras the first time! There were at least ten of them, and they were beautiful!

And this is what it's like to take a car through the park - the animals come right up to you!

The Lazy 5 Ranch is an awesome family attraction just north of Charlotte, and I highly recommend it to any locals or visitors.

US National Whitewater Center

My husband and I had a friend visit over the weekend so we had the opportunity to be tourists in our own city. Granted, we're still learning our way around and exploring the area, so it wasn't much of a stretch. One place I've wanted to go is the US National Whitewater Center so we took a trip on Saturday afternoon.

First of all, if you live in Charlotte, buy the season pass. Totally worth it. Three trips and you've covered the cost.

If you have ever wanted to whitewater raft but are scared of trying it out in Colorado, come to Charlotte and go to the Whitewater Center. You get some instruction with minimal risk, and it doesn't cost as much as the rivers, AND you can go as often as you'd like in one day.

And if you just want a flat out awesome day, go! I had a blast. There's other stuff to do there, but I'm going to focus on the whitewater rafting because it was the most fun. We took two trips and each was about 90 minutes. The trip starts with a safety talk and then get in the raft. Each raft accommodates 6-7 people with a raft guide and we all had the opportunity to paddle. We took two laps around the Class II-III rapids, with the second time being more adventurous, and then took two or three trips around the Class III-IV rapids which were more exciting and a tad scarier. We saw many, many people get dumped from their rafts, including the instructors! We had no "swimmers" on either of our trips, but we came close a few times.

A couple of highlights of our trips:

• "Surfing" in which the boat rides the rapid like a surf board. Our first trip involved the front two riders (my husband and our friend) getting water up their noses for a good two minutes, which was fun for everyone except them! We surfed a few times on our second trip, and we all got soaked!
  
• I got dumped off my seat both times through the Class IV rapids on our second trip, but fell into the raft so I was lucky. We almost had a casualty, but we grabbed him before he got dumped overboard.
• Paddling through rapids is an amazing upper body workout, and trying to stay in the boat requires a lot of core and lower body strength. I am still sore!

I highly recommend the Whitewater Center if you live in Charlotte or if you're a visitor to Charlotte. It is tremendous fun and a great way to spend a day - being active, laughing a lot, and enjoying the outdoors!