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ACRL NATIONAL CONFERENCE
Charlotte "revs up" for ACRL: Tours and activities in the 2003 ACRL National Conference city
C&RL News, November 2002
Vol. 63 No. 10
by Barbara Tierney
 The ACRL Local Arrangements Committee invites you to enjoy the remarkably varied offerings of Charlotte, “Queen City of the Southeast,” while you are in town for the 11th ACRL National Conference, April 10–13, 2003.
Tours for many tastes
Tours and activities have been created for many tastes. Whether you opt to head for Western North Carolina’s breathtaking Blue Ridge Mountains, or remain in the Queen City, we promise you exciting touring opportunities. (Final details regarding prices and times will appear in the ACRL conference program and on the Web site.)
• Lowe’s Motor Speedway (http://www.lowesmotorspeedway.com/). Board an air-conditioned motor coach for a 30-minute drive to Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. Constructed in 1960, Lowe’s Motor Speedway is the leading promoter, marketer, and sponsor of motor sports in the United States and is considered the hub of NASCAR in the Southeast. Get a behind-the-scenes look at the Speedway grounds—including Pit Row, garages, infield hospital, touring tower, dirt track, Winners Circle, and more. You will participate in an impressive tour of the track, a lap around the Speedway, and a buffet lunch in the popular Speedway Club, which overlooks the track. Many race shops are located in the track vicinity. Features include round-trip transportation via deluxe motor coach, guided tour of the Speedway grounds, buffet lunch at the Speedway Club, and a lap around the Speedway Track.
Aerial view of Lowe's Motor Speedway, considered
the hub of NASCAR in the Southeast.
• Biltmore Estate, Gardens, and Winery (http://www.biltmore.com/). Travel to George Vanderbilt’s legendary 8,000-acre Blue Ridge Mountain estate in Asheville, North Carolina. Billed as the largest and most exquisite private home in America, the Biltmore Estate was built in 1895 and features a 250-room mansion with 34 master bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, 65 fireplaces, 3 kitchens, and an indoor swimming pool. The mansion is filled with artistic treasures, including works by Renoir, Chippendale, and Wedgewood. Your tour will include the mansion, the estate winery, and the gardens. A self-guided tour through the winery’s production facility will conclude with a wine tasting. The gardens are one of the most notable achievements of America’s foremost landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmstead. Travel time is 130 minutes each way. Features include round-trip transportation via deluxe motor coach; self-guided tours of the Biltmore mansion, winery, and gardens; and buffet lunch at Biltmore’s Deer Park Restaurant.
• Charlotte City and Academic Library Tour (http://www.charlottecvb.org/). This tour includes delightful Center City Charlotte, a drive through Charlotte’s tree-lined historic neighborhoods, and tours of selected Charlotte-area academic libraries. More banks are headquartered in Charlotte than in any other U.S. city, except New York. You will see the headquarters of Bank of America and Wachovia. Founders Hall, one of Charlotte’s most sophisticated special event venues, is connected to the Bank of America Corporate Center.
You will also enjoy motoring through several historic neighborhoods of Charlotte, including one designed by Frederick Law Olmsted (designer of New York City’s Central Park and Asheville’s Biltmore Estate). Ericsson Stadium, the $18 million state-of-the-art home of the Carolina Panthers football team, is also featured on the tour. Visits to Charlotte-area academic libraries are included. Features include round-trip transportation via deluxe motor coach and a picnic lunch.
Prefer touring on your own?
Here are a few suggestions for budget-conscious, time-sensitive academic librarians.
For public art, try the self-guided Uptown Charlotte Public Art Walking Tour: http://www.artsandscience.org/walkingtour.asp. And for Charlotte history, try the self-guided Charlotte Uptown Historical Walking Tour (http://he.net/%7Ebrumley/tour/history/walkingtour.htm).
Charlotte’s architectural treasures
When the American Institute of Architects’ National Convention came to Charlotte in May 2002, the Charlotte Observer interviewed visiting architects and quizzed them on Charlotte’s best architectural treasures. The “Architects’ Best Place Nominations” included:1
• Bank of America Corporate Center (Uptown at Trade & Tryon Streets)
• Charlotte’s old “Streetcar Neighborhoods”: Dilworth (1 mile south of Uptown), Eastover-Myers Park (2–3 miles south/southeast of Uptown), and Queens Road area
• St. Peter’s Episcopal Church (115 W. 7th St.)
• Old City Hall (Uptown, 600 E. Trade St.)
• St. Mary’s Chapel (just past I-277 southeast of Uptown, between Third and Fourth St.)
• McColl Center for Visual Art (Uptown, 721 N. Tryon St.)
• Top of the Interstate Tower Building (Uptown, 121 W. Trade St.)
• Carillon Building (Uptown, 227 W. Trade St.)
• Pink Tower—The Arlington (1 mile southwest of Uptown at South Blvd. and Arlington Ave.)
Charlotte’s best
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recommended the following “Charlotte Bests” in its “Bank on Fun in Charlotte” travel article.2
Most romantic spots
• Go for drinks at the Mimosa Grill, First Union Plaza (327 S. Tryon St.). If the weather’s mild, lounge on the patio and enjoy the view of the plaza and fountains.
• As evening falls, head to Phillips Place (near SouthPark on Fairview Road). Sip a cappuccino on Dean & Delucca’s patio or a glass of wine in the Wine Room.
Best places to walk
• RibbonWalk (4601 Nevin Rd., in north Charlotte). This walk offers 150 acres of hardwoods just a few minutes from Uptown; trails take you past ponds, gardens, and a glen filled with ancient beeches.
• McMillan Greenhouse (University of North Carolina-Charlotte’s botanical gardens). This greenhouse boasts one of the largest orchid collections of any public garden in the South. The peak season is February through April. Nearby is the seven-acre VanLandingham Glen, with 3,000 hybrid rhododendrons, 1,000 trees, and the largest collection of native plants in the region.
Best places to go with kids
• Discovery Place (301 N. Tryon St.). Hands-on science museum and Omnimax theater.
• New Museum of the South (200 E. Seventh St.).
• Charlotte Trolley (2100 South Blvd.). Take the family for a 30-minute ride on a fully restored 1930s streetcar. Board the trolley behind the Southend Brewery (2100 South Blvd.). Call (704) 375-0850.
Getting around Charlotte
Uptown (Center City) Charlotte is a visitor-friendly, compact locale—set within tree-canopied plazas and streets—and is easy and safe to explore on foot. If you are a fan of public transportation, you will be delighted with Charlotte’s free Trolley Car buses, which provide 43 stops on a round-town loop, with free pick up at each stop, every seven to eight minutes.
Notes
1. “Towers, trees and more: Charlottes’s best, worst,” Charlotte Observer, 9 May 2002, sec. A16.
2. Pat Borden Gubbins, “Bank on Fun in Charlotte” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 4 August 2002, sec K8.
About the Author
Barbara Tierney is librarian in reference services at the J. Murrey Atkins Library, University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a member of the ACRL National Conference 2003 Local Arrangement Committee, e-mail: bgtierne@email.uncc.edu
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