Very cool urban "archaeological" find...nobody but locals "in the know" seem to be aware it's even…read morethere! Found out about it from the very nice & informative bartender at Dust Off Brewing (check out doing to the YoCo Brew Trail; check into 6 breweries on the app & get a t-shirt). He couldn't quite remember how to get to it, but after some intensive research, found the geo coordinates. That was honestly the only way to find this place, plus a little guts & guesswork. You can quasi see some portion of the rockwork of the ruinous remains from the paved Riverwalk trail. The "easiest" way to get to the ruins is to follow the Riverwalk Piedmont Medical Center Trail to just before mile marker 1.25; you will see this steep wooden thing with awkwardly placed planks. You basically have to rock-wall climb your way up. From there you are on a mountain biking trail. Follow the arrows for just over a quarter mile and you will see some indicators of the ruins before they open up in front of you. You will most likely have the place to yourself. Really cool to wander around and take it all in. Just be careful with holes and don't walk on or within the actual ruins as they are pretty sketch & unsteady. There are spiders, snakes, and flying insects galore, so put on repellent and stay vigilant cuz it is deep woods! You can either get back down the way you came; I found this gray rock slope that I found easier to navigate than sliding down the wood thing I climbed up. Either way, really neat find and I'm so glad I explored to find it! The paved walkway along the Catawba is also a nice walk to and from!

This is a cute place to go for relaxation and peace with beautiful scenic views of the lake. There…read moreis also plenty of seating and a small area with sand. I am definitely going back again.

This park is fantastic. There are great playground areas for kids and some nice relaxing recliner…read morechairs for the adults. The little beach at the lake is also a wonder place for kids to play in the summer time. This is a great weekend park to visit, especially if you're a local!

Great venue, organizers did a fantastic job reenactor did a great job portraying local militia and…read morethe burning of the baggage shows how desperate the British were.

Revolutionary War battle site featuring original cabins, a mass grave and a beautiful .3 mile loop…read morewalking trail. Very peaceful and educational.

This marker is located on Franklin Blvd in front of the Loray Mill building, which has been…read moreconverted from manufacturing to offices and lofts. Back in the day, it was once the largest factory under one roof in the world. The marker recalls a specific incident. It reads, "Loray Strike. A strike in 1929 at the Loray Mill, 200 yards S., left two dead and spurred opposition to labor unions statewide." Online there is detail on those deaths (one, the chief of police) and information on the backers of the union. "The National Textile Workers Union, widely acknowledged to be under Communist influence, exploited the situation by sending activist Fred Beal and others to Gastonia... The strike dragged on through the summer and fall of 1929. Moderate labor leaders denounced the NTWU and some workers returned to the job. Still, violent incidents increased. O. F. Aderholdt, Gastonia's chief of police, was shot and killed in June. Ella May Wiggins, ballad singer and union sympathizer, was killed in September. Beal and several fellow Communists were convicted of Aderholdt's murder, but there were no convictions for the assaults on union backers. The strike and associated violence dealt a setback to union efforts, bolstering anti-union sentiment both locally and, owing to the wide press coverage, across the state and region." [Review 12616 overall, 2408 of 2019.]

Cool views unless you're scared of heights. Head to the lobby for relaxing music. Hearst tower is…read morenice!!

Whenever I go Uptown, I always park in the Hearst Tower. It's in a great location, close to all the…read morevenues. The parking is very convenient and leaving is fairly easy as well. Walking inside the building, I was surprised to see so many things housed in there: Modern Salon, Showmar's, convenience store, LaVecchia's, The Original Soup Man. If you are into architecture, the Hearst Tower is great to look at. It's one of my husband's favorite buildings Uptown and it always looks great in the Queen City skyline.

We did a history, graveyard walking tour. Our tour guide was great informative and very animated…read more We learned a lot about the history of this particular graveyard. For instants, the gravesites/stones that we saw where from the graves a wealthy people. They were buried on top and then the grave started trickling down to what they believe is layers and layers and layers surrounding the cemetery. They are at sidewalk level, what they believe is that the poor people were buried on top of each other, they don't know how deep or how many are buried there. I went back the next day to get some better pictures, I WOULD recommend a tour of this place to get the history.

We just walked through the cemetery to check it out very hard to read some of the tombstones. Also,…read moreI guess if you go on a tour, you get to know a little bit more information.

The entrance fee to walk around independently is $5 but there isn't much to see except some…read morebuildings with animals that is like visiting a small farm. The buildings that are meant to appear as being refurbished appropriate to the era when the plantation was functioning are minimal, three small single room buildings. Not worth the price. I did not do the guided tour that was $9 to tour the single plantation home for 45 minutes which seemed like a really long tour for the small plantation house. Might be a good tour for school children but wasn't worthwhile for an adult. Plenty of onsite parking on a quiet weekday visit.

Took a bunch of out of towners who wanted to check out a Civil War era place to Latta Plantation…read more Located in the Latta Nature Reserve in Huntersville, the plantation consists of a visitors' center, plantation house, farm, and other assorted buildings. There are a couple of very friendly animals roaming around the farm area and the people who work there are really nice and informative. A Civil War Infantry demonstration was going on the day we went, that was neat, got to learn about how the Confederate infantry lived and operated. Great place to take the kids or people who like Civil War Era history. Admission is $6 for adults and $5 with student ID.

best fanicied-up historical alleyway in the Charlotte Gold District…read more The passsage is named in honor of Don Vincenzo de Riva Finoli who, in the 1830s, daily passed through on his way to the Rudisill Gold Mine where he mostly ran the show. According to a Yelp event page the public was invited to attend the May 5th 2018 ribbon cutting which was graced by the presence of Baroness Quaranta di San Severino e Fusaro and featured a performance by opera singer Virginia Gutierez.

Don't waste your time looking for this passageway. If is nothing but a alley behind some…read morerestaurants with a a few murals. Just a way yo get to more restaurants.

It's been awhile since I saw this masterpiece by Cerny a few years ago, and I found the perfect…read moreopportunity to go see it again... We went with some friends to check out this event, Metalmorphosis @ Whitehall with CSO Roadshow (and food trucks). What a fun idea! Surprisingly, it wasn't packed when we first got there, but gradually all the seats filled up. First of all, the Metal head was working (which is dicey!)...Thank God! I did wonder why it couldn't spew water from its mouth. THAT would be so spectacular! Still, the head did spin around, and segment into different pieces too. So amazing! It made a great backdrop for the CSO roadshow, which featured many pop songs over the decade. Surprisingly good...even for cheesy numbers like "Living La Loca" and "YMCA"!! The funny thing is...this corporate park is located near the airport, so there were many, many planes that flew over during the concert. Luckily, we were still able to hear the orchestra pretty good. The food truck was a bit disappointing though. Only 3 vendors...and the vendor we chose (King of Fire) was so slow, I almost gave up! More on that on another review. The sculpture looked so out of place...too majestic for such a common corporate park. In any case, I took several pictures of the sculpture this time. Hope they feature many more events here in the future.

Last time we were out here visiting looked up some art to see. Came across the Metalmorphosis Giant…read moreHead sculpture and thought that would be cool to take my grandkids out to see. It was a bit of a drive to get here and the sculpture is located tucked away around some office buildings. The day we came it was empty and we had the whole grounds to ourselves except for security, lol. This sculpture is really cool and I liked how it rotated around. It was really awesome to see how someone's vision can come to life with determination.

Heritage not hate, or so they say. Well, stop by the Gaston County Courthouse while you can because…read morethis monument is soon to be moved. It was supposed to go with a transfer of ownership and a $200,000 payment for the removal, but the Sons of Confederate Veterans backed out of the deal. So it's still here for now. Ironically, located on Dr. Martin Luther King Way. Dedicated November 21, 1912, this is the Gastonia memorial to those who fought in the Civil War. North Carolina is, of course, in the South and was therefore one of the states that seceded from the Union and joined up with the Confederacy. The monument depicts a Confederate soldier at parade rest with both hands resting on the barrel of his rifle. The sculpture is atop a tall column that is around 35 feet high. The wrong of the monument has a Confederate flag waving from a broken pole. The soldier faces to the East. (When it was in front of the original Gaston County courthouse, it was facing north but moved here in 1998.) The statue is in the front courtyard of the courthouse and is surrounded not only by yellow caution tape but also a chain link fence. People are a little upset around here, so this is to keep it from getting defaced. I did not go past the tape to take my pictures. [This site was visited on 8/24 but the hamsters AGAIN fell off the Yelp wheel back at headquarters and they merged it with another monument. Deleting and re-adding was the only way to fix it.] [Review 14279 overall, 1603 of 2020, number 2693 in North Carolina.]