Southern Comfort

I was blessed to spend the Easter weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina with my sister. The trip was nothing short of amazing. There's no way I could possibly write about all of it, but here are a few highlights for curious readers...


1. Charlotte is known as the Queen City, and it truly lives up to this name. It is gorgeously green and elegant. It amazing how much nature is packed into a city. Beautiful for a weekend drive, a hike by a nearby pond or river. And the housing... wow. Charlotte is a clearly city of affluence, but is not showy or gawdy by any means. No opulent palatial homes. Neither are there cookie cutter styles. Think more beautiful colonial meets modern designs surrounded by forests. 


2. The weather.  Sunshine and 30º vs. the snow we left here in Canada. Need I say more?


3. Elevation Church. The most thought provoking Easter Sunday I've had in a long while. This merits a blog entry of it's own. Stay tuned.


4. Charlotte is a scenic 4 hour drive from Wilmington. Really, every drive is scenic (see #1). Why is Wilmington such a big deal? Three words: One Tree Hill.  Take the best day of your life and multiply it by a zillion and you will not even come close to imagining how indescribable our day was in this little river-side town. Again, getting its own blog entry in the near future. 


5.  Shopping at Concord Mills Mall put a serious dent in my wallet, but oh so worth it. This place puts a whole new spin on retail therapy.


6. The people. North Carolinians have a warmth about them that rivals no other. We Canadians may have a reputation of being polite and considerate, but there is nothing like the southern hospitality offered by people of this state.


Above all , the best thing about this weekend was the feeling of being able to breathe. For the first time in a long while I was able to just enjoy where I was, free of worry or stress. North Carolina was healing in that way, it took the weight off my chest and allowed me to just be. I'm searching North Carolina real estate pages as I write this. Okay, maybe that's a bit extreme, but the feeling of being carefree was truly priceless.


On the show One Tree Hill,  protagonist Brooke Davis hangs a sign in her store Clothes Over Bros. The sign reads,


"Somebody told me that this is the place where everything's better and everything's safe".


For me, that's North Carolina.