Take the Creative Loafing test to find out how well you know your city. Do you rank as a true urban explorer who knows the hip spots that make Charlotte such a dynamic and exciting (and maybe even quirky) city? If you're a newcomer, what do you need to check out? Go through the list and check our handy scorecard at the end to find your "real Charlottean" quotient.
1 Shoot possum.
2 Enjoy a leisurely walk through Independence Park, the oldest park in Charlotte.
3 Spend the whole week thinking about the Panthers. Talk to your coworkers about the Cats' chances in the upcoming contest. Admit to someone that your fantasy football team isn't a plutonic fantasy. On gameday, tailgate outside BOA stadium. Get shit-faced and pass out at a sports bar in the second quarter.
4 Wake up and smell the counter-culture. Check out www.makecharlotteweird.com for the calendar of weird things going on in Charlotte. Join Point8 for its monthly art and design activity and discussion.
5 Observe the live models at Carolina Place Mall. Real Charlotteans can catch them moving.
6 Go redneck yachting on Lake Norman, peep the million dollar houses, and contemplate home invasion.
7 Take in a screening being presented as part of a local film series or area film festival. Yes, we have these now.
8 Go to the library and find out just who the heck Sharon was, considering that seemingly half the streets in Charlotte are named after her.
9 Visit Discovery Place and ImaginOn and see if you can understand why people might confuse the two.
10 Ride the Gold Rush during the morning weekday rush and marvel at the bankers' lazy reluctance to walk a couple of blocks from parking to their office buildings.
11 Visit Elmwood Cemetery and seek out the grave of Hollywood star Randolph Scott.
12 Read The Charlotte Observer for front-page scoops like this recent newsflash: "School night TV hurts studies." Really?
13 Peruse the used book offerings at Book Buyers, corner of The Plaza and Central Avenue. Try to pet the store's cranky cat, even after reading the warning sign posted on the front door. Curse anyway when it bites you.
14 Skateboard past the ugliest Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. statue in Christendom in Marshall Park and celebrate how far the New South done come.
15 Experience the time warp that is the Levine Museum of the New South (boy, has Charlotte come a long way -- that's a good thing and a bad thing).
16 Start an office pool on the final cost of the South Boulevard Light Rail line.
17 Check out the extreme sports mecca -- U.S. National Whitewater Center.
18 Go from the city to a farm and still be in the country.
19 Say, "Do What?" Translation: "Pardon me?/Come again?" The regional parlance is a little strange for a Yankee to get used to. Try not to laugh; a real Charlottean will break a bottle over your head.
20 If you're planning a night at home with the DVD player, first head to VisArt Video on 7th Street. They'll meet all your movie-watching needs -- including ones you didn't even know you had.
21 Compile a list of restaurants and businesses actually open downtown on the weekends. We bet you'll be stumped.
99 things to do*