This is a small elegant museum, free to enter. It captures the history and evolution of Charlotte…read moreand North Carolina pretty well. It's a single floor, takes about 30 minutes to an hour, depending on how much time you spend on each topic. Lots of images, maps, explanation of milestone moments for the city and the state that shaped it over centuries. The two key events I remember from visit are Charlotte's role in ending segregation and the city became the a leader in banking world. Highly recommended for anyone visiting Charlotte for the first time.

Magnificent free museum. The front desk check-in lady was incredibly flattering, she thought I was…read moreactually playing in the Charlotte FC game when she asked why I was in town, and me being in town "for the game" was delightfully read by her as me playing in the game, which was an "I wish" moment. Number of people who think I look like a MLS player that are not my mommy: we're up to one now, but men remember every compliment they receive (most don't get that many) so obviously I will remember this forever. The museum has a large footprint in the building for being an overall relatively small museum. There is a lot of empty floor space which is for vibes I guess, or the Southern deep fried ambiance that you need adequate room to maneuver yourself around the wide open walkways when Bojangles is sufficiently well-loved around these parts. The museum is very similar to the STL Gateway Arch Museum, in terms of set up, focus on limited time periods, lewks, and content depth. This free museum is an introduction to a very interesting, historically rich city that gives you a taste of the history (but isn't a dissertation on every little thing) and gets you excited about the future of the city based on some key moments in modernity. While the state government was very particular about which bathroom you used up until it was repealed in 2020, CLT had originally passed local protections that the state got threatened by and made an international spectacle of for years of high profile constitutional litigation and appeals. If you read somewhat fast you can get through the entire museum in under 30 minutes; it is closer in size to the Bechtler rather than the Mint. It is well situated on S. Tryon (the city so far has resisted the obvious name change to Trigon, for all my Teen Titans bros, bro-ettes, and non-binary brxs) to hop, skip, or frogger across the street to the Bechtler and Mint for further museum experiences nearby. They have weird hours and occasional closure days (put actually tell you about it in advance) so be sure to check their webpage to plan ahead for when you can drop in. The gift shoppe is very small but every purchase helps support the free museum so I picked up a shirt for my next volunteer shift at the food bank this week. When you visit here too I am sure you will want to contribute something (voluntarily) to help support the free museum. That is when you know you have a free museum that actually works as intended. A great place to start to realise why Charlotte is one of my favourite American cities, and it could be one of yours too.

All the exhibits were really cool and interactive! My daughters and I loved coming here and…read moredefinitely had a great time visiting the museum. I would definitely recommend having your phone when you come here so you can take lots of cool and fun photos. Antonio and Marley were incredibly helpful with taking pictures. A wonderful way to spend a few hours and worth the stop.

An amazing fun place right at the heart of CLT. The place is quite small but has entertainment that…read morecan keep you hooked up for its repeat value. This place is essentially a play of everything that is mirrors, glasses and physics. Our toddler had so much fun running through the maze and we had a fantastic time with the building climbing trick and the vortex tunnel. Street parking on front of this is very minimal and on demand. The public garage parking on the next door is convenient but costly.

Came to the Museum for Father's Day since entrance for Dads was free today. Was excellent to see…read morethe Caravaggio special exhibit, so my fee was a bit higher $25. But my college age son got a student rate and my husband was free. Nice perk, they also do this on Mother's Day, in case you didn't know for next year. I didn't take too many photos of the artwork. The special exhibit is quite large and there is a lot to see. There are two floors full of different types of art and sculptures. Really has so much to see here. I love where the Mint is located, too. Across the street is a green space with a few restaurants and a beautiful church that we visited while waiting for the museum to open at 1pm. Sunday. The entrance fee is good for two consecutive days so if you are staying close by, go back and walk through again. Lots to see. There is also a restaurant attached to the building that was very busy. They had live music as well.

I would say this is a must-see if you're going to go to museums here in Charlotte. I love the fact…read morethat it had different types of art to view. It had something for everybody, even had a lighting exhibit, and I'm all about the lighting. We spent a good two hours here. It's in the middle of the city, so you can go to restaurants and shops when you're done or before. It was a $18 entrance fee for me, and they offered a senior discount as well for anyone 65 and older.

Beautiful gallery and amazing collections. We came in on Wednesday evening and discovered that…read moreentry was free. The front desk person was friendly and helpful. She explained the lay out of the gallery and we were on our way. We explored each floor and were met with incredible, thought provoking, pieces. I'm so glad that we found this space and we're able to spend time here.

We just happened to be in Charoltte for Fomo! So all the museums were free. Bechtler was by far my…read morefavoite. Such extensive collections that really dispayed the African American culture. I was very impressed and moved by the paintings on display.

I highly recommend!…read more The Harvey B. Gantt Center was an amazing experience this evening. Educators night was perfect evening as an educator to collaborate, connect and enjoy their beautiful exhibits. Mario Moore exhibit was captivating and breathtaking! The food provided was amazing: lemon pepper wing, fried cabbage, mac and cheese, veggie spring rolls and peach cobbler for dessert. Delicious! I enjoyed my time at the Gantt Center and I hope you enjoy their exhibits.

Gantt Center is a small, but impactful museum with wonderful art exhibits from various cultured…read moreartist. What I love most is, the Gantt always have great events! "Jazz Greats", opened Friday night where homage was paid to the best of the best! Walk through and see the iconic collection while Miles Davis is playing, you don't want to miss it!

As a first time visitor to Charlotte, this is 1 of 2 places that often gets recommended a must-see…read moreattraction. Other than watching Pixar's Cars, I have zero exposure to NASCAR, so I wasn't sure if it was worth visiting, but decided to visit anyways because it's popularity in the region. I bought my Starting Grid tickets online, so check-in was pretty easy. One of the first things you do is register your card with your name, and pick some identifying images and favourite drivers/teams. As you turn the corner, you'll see an huge welcome screen welcoming you by name. The first thing I did was go to High Octane Theatre, which gave me an intro to NASCAR, which was good, since I knew nothing about it. The next area was the Glory Road area, which is a neat layout of cars from the past, but is probably more interesting to NASCAR fans. It's the the next part containing the immersive experiences - specifically the race simulators and pit crew challenge that were really fun. The extra few dollars to get the Starting Grid simulator day pass was worth it. I went on the simulator multiple times and made the visit completely worth it. The next floor contains more historical artifacts and history of NASCAR. Again, as not a follower, this part was mildly interesting, but probably way more interesting for fans. Overall, I enjoyed my visit way more than I expected. The building and the exhibits are high-quality, well-designed and well laid-out. Even as someone who doesn't follow NASCAR, I appreciated the exhibits. But it's the simulators that made it really fun for me.

When it comes to NASCAR, I'm what the kids call a "casual". My 1st memories of NASCAR are that of…read moreKeith Olberman and Dan Patrick of Sportscenter fame always telling me how Dick Trickle finished each week. I started to watch it some when I moved to Indiana in the early 2000's. The 1st race I watched all the way through was when Dale Earnhardt died. Other than that, my knowledge comes from Days of Thunder, Cars and Talladega Nights. I say all that to say, I don't know much about NASCAR. The HOF has a bunch of different packages; we just did the General Admission which didn't include a whole lot of the interactive parts like simulators. The HOF has 3 different floors that spirals up a ramp with cars from the various eras. There are tons of displays with cars, trophies, gear, etc. throughout the facility. No sport has trophies as good as NASCAR. See Dover's Monster Mile trophy for reference. I like how they show the cars cut in half to show now vs the other eras so you can see how far the engineering has come. They also have a room with all the plaques and busts of the HOF members. No matter your knowledge base, the NASCAR HOF is fun. If you have kiddos or are a racer yourself, the interactive packages may be worth the investment.

A photography gallery in Uptown, right next to the 7th Street LYNX Station. When I arrived, the…read moreplace was quite desolate. The security guard had me wait in the lobby while he went in to the gallery to turn the lights on. I got the impression that there wasn't a whole lot going on here. It's a good thing that it's free, because 30 minutes of looking at pictures wouldn't have been worth much. And even at 30 minutes, I was still moving pretty slow. When I visited, the exhibit was "Streetwise", a collection of pictures of America's troubled 60's. Capturing images of not just our troubled times, including Boston's "Combat Zone" and close-ups of the Black Panthers, there were also shots of just regular people and places. All in black and white, which gave it a feel of being very like a documentary. Pictures of the pictures are not permitted, but I took that as meaning not taking a picture of the individual pictures. Instead, my wide shot of the gallery doesn't give away the detail but helps you see what you're going to see there. I might come back for the next exhibit, but I think this is a "See it once" kind of thing.

I had never been to The Light Factory and saw there was a very interesting reception called A…read moreShared Elegy. I was so happy I made it out to see what it was all about since I live so close by. Great intimate space, the artist were so insightful and the crowd genuinely appreciated the artist panel and the photography. It was very well curated. Great space, seasoned artists. Well done.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg library district offers a number of very nice regional and special…read morelibrary settings: the South Park Regional, South County Regional, and the library collaboration with the Children's Theatre of Charlotte ... ImaginOn: The Joe & Joan Martin Center on Seventh Street downtown to name just three. Each has specialties that make them individuals. The ImaginOn: The Joe & Joan Martin Center collaboration between the library district and the Children's Theatre is a hands down wonder. While some libraries specialize in library things (games and toys) to engage kids and others specialize in library materials (books and puzzles), ImaginOn has it all ... including plays and story times. The library itself is free to enter, multi-story, newish, clean and easy to get to, with available parking that is free for 90 minutes with a stamped ticket. This facility absolutely had everything to stimulate kids of all ages ... probably 2 to 12 being the sweet spot. Do make a point of finding your way here for a visit someday ... you'll be glad you did. Highly recommended.

Great place for children. Lots of books and activities and it's all free…read more Very clean and spacious.