At 5:30 a.m. this past Monday, I tossed and turned with only one thought in my head, “The Panthers are going to the Super Bowl!” Psych! I kid, I kid. I was actually begging myself to go back to sleep knowing I had to get up in two hours. Instead, I was lying there thinking about how tired I was, even after sleeping for what felt like an eternity this icy weekend.
If you were lucky, you missed out on the “blizzard” that hit the East Coast this past weekend.
While I enjoyed every minute of it, there are many others who started experiencing cabin fever as early as Friday evening. I still had to work on Friday (even though my office was closed, which was a bummer) but after getting done early, nothing, not even hunger, stopped me from the most amazing nap.
If you’ve been in Charlotte/North Carolina for a winter then you know everything pretty much shuts down when a winter storm hits. Not to mention, every gallon of milk and loaf of bread is snatched up at least two days prior.
As such, you can imagine nightlife can be a drag during this season. After all, no one is cute when they’re falling, and definitely not on ice.
Still yet, the boyfriend — who swears he can drive under any conditions — and a couple friends managed to make the weekend a success.
On Thursday night, before the sleet rolled in, I grabbed a beer with coworkers at Stone Mountain Grill. Then a couple of us headed to another coworker’s for a game of “Spoons.”
Bowing out early, I went to meet the boyfriend for a couple of drinks and hookah at Barreled at the Lift off of Woodlawn Road.
A small venue, I was surprised to see that we weren’t the only ones there, and that they were even open.
This spot offers an intimate, cozy atmosphere in 1920s decor featuring a DJ and amazing hookah — blue mist is my fave. I usually go there earlier in the night during the week, but the few times I’ve been there late night, it’s always been packed!
Friday, of course, was a day of sloth after I finished my work day.
Filled with back-to-back movies and sleep, I could have repeated that exact day on Saturday and into the night. But my counterparts were going stir crazy and decided otherwise.
After getting ready, we decided to head to the EpiCentre, hoping to catch the end of the Panthers Pep Rally at Rooftop 210.
By the time we arrived, it was already over. So we stopped by Vault, which is also on the top floor.
I hadn’t been there since the glory days with my partner in crime when we would take Alive After 5 by storm.
Another small venue, it can be difficult to find a comfortable place to stand without having all eyes on you. But if you’re smart, you’ll snag the patio table (with firepit) where everyone can envy you as they walk by, especially during the summer. (Might I add, members of the U.S. National Swim Team were present the last time I was there?) And this past Saturday, the DJ played a majority of hip-hop, so you know I had to shake a leg.
After leaving Vault, would you believe the night wasn’t over?
We headed to Slate/Oak Room.
I’ve mentioned these venues before, but usually it’s within the context of Sunday Funday.
On game days, you can barely reach the bar and there’s no such thing as personal space.
On a wintry night, we were able to move freely between the two venues.
Both play great music, but Slate has more of a bar feel to it, including pool tables and other games.
Oak Room has more of a club appeal: dark lighting, table seating around the outskirts, dance floor in the middle and a strict dress code. It was nice to be able to actually move around in both.
We wrapped up the wintry weekend in Charlotte at Brazwells Premium Pub on Montford Drive for THE game.
Game day tip: if you’re not into huge crowds and want to avoid Uptown traffic, I would suggest heading over to Montford. It gets busy during the game but nowhere near as crazy. And if you get there before the game, you can even score a table and waitress.
Not too shabby for our first real winter weekend in the Q.C. What did you do to keep busy?