Brotherly love but in North Carolina

Charlotte did NOT disappoint. We left Washington D.C. around 9:30 AM and hit the road.

We had our traditional overnight oats for our on the road breakfast. My biggest tip right from the start here was looking for Whole Foods in each area that we stayed in. It's just easy, I'm used to all the foods and they have the best vegan snacks. We stopped at the Whole Foods in Richmond VA. It was about an hour out of D.C. Got some lunch and stocked up on all the snacks. We got into town around 5:00 PM. What was interesting is that we saw ton of accidents along the way from D.C and right outside of NC. After chatting with my brother, he said as you go further down south, people aren't used to driving in the rain(which it was raining pretty bad form the start of of road trip!) That caused some traffic on our way down. Charlotte though is SO different than any city I have been to. First, it is so clean. Second, there was hardly any traffic.

Third, the streets are set up so great where it just makes it super easy to get

in and out of the city. Coming from D.C where it was a bit hectic and growing up where Boston is only 45 minutes away from home, it was a nice change of pace.

We stayed at the Kimpton Tryon Hotel. The staff was so sweet. They had a ton of recommendations for lunch and good areas to go to. There was complimentary happy hour with drinks and snacks but we had to quickly check into our room and get ready because my brother Chris, (who lives in Charlotte, NC now) was picking us up from the hotel to show us some sights!

We head out around 6:30 PM and we drive to the Noda district for dinner and drinks. We decide to eat at this vegan restaurant called Oh My Soul and let me tell you, I wish there was one in New England. It's North Carolina's first all vegan restaurant. I would easily even drive a few hours to eat here again, but 14 hours is a bit too much, lol. Everything on the menu is vegan from their drinks to their food. The food- I can't even begin to describe it was the freshest food I've honestly ever had. We got the nachos, veggie spring rolls and mozzarella sticks.

Now you all know that I am vegan, but if I wasn't I'm telling you right now this restaurants would convince me to make the switch.

After Oh My Soul we walk around the district a bit and made a stop at JackBeagles. Ben and Chris got mac and cheese and buffalo chicken and we got some more drinks. Chris loved the mac and cheese. Ben said the buffalo chicken was a bit spicy. They had a live band playing and the weather was just right. We sat outside to just relax and enjoy.

It was getting late so we decide to call it a night! We woke up the next morning and got coffee and breakfast at this place called Waterbean Coffee.

All in all another quick stop, we only a few hours in the city and we were off to our next destination but it was honestly my favorite night so far on the trip. Seeing my brother was like 80% of that too (the other 20% the vegan food lol).

I said to myself though it's almost easier not seeing him at all because I miss him more now! We left the state around 10:30 AM and our next stop, ORLANDO, FLORIDA! Well, with some rest stops along the way, another Whole Foods, and a gas station.

More to come! I think I am going to do a couple posts about Florida. Disney was a full trip on it's own and we also did Universal and Disney Springs.

So if you want to learn more about how the new Disney experience works with bookings rides and photos, get the inside scoop on the best food park to park, and of course some fun photos, check out my next post!

Until next time,

Bee