Charlotte, North Carolina is such a sweet little southern city. We absolutely loved stopping here to start off our Carolina roadtrip this summer! Over the past several years when Ilir was living in Spartanburg, South Carolina, I would most often fly into Charlotte, and began to fall in love with our brief moments in and out of the Queen City. This trip around, we spent a full 24 hours here and had such an incredible time.
Today I wanted to share with you all a bit more about where we stayed, ate, drank and relaxed for destination number one of our “engagement-moon.
WHERE TO STAY IN CHARLOTTE
We had the most incredible stay at The Duke Mansion! Our trip to Charlotte was so memorable and I can truly say that it was due in large part to our stay here.
Located just outside of Uptown, The Duke Mansion is the perfect spot to stay if you are looking for a quaint and romantic place that is also centrally located. When we arrived, we drove down the twisting driveway that was surrounded by trees and gardens and pulled up to the absolutely stunning white home in pure awe. It was definitely a movie-esque moment.
The mansion hosts 20 refreshed rooms that are the epitome of Southern charm and luxury. Our room was absolutely stunning with touches of classic Southern style and mixed in with modern amenities. We were lucky enough to have a room that had an attached sleeping porch, which is where spent a majority of our time while at the mansion. One of my favorite memories of the trip was sitting out on the screened-in porch, popping some bubbly to celebrate night one of our engagement-moon, and listening to the rain come down. Truly, I don’t think I felt relaxation like that anywhere else on our trip. It was perfection.
During the day, we spent time exploring the four and a half acres of gardens surrounding the mansion. They were absolutely stunning and so peaceful. We had plans to head into Uptown early before dinner to grab drinks and walk around but ended up spending more time at the mansion because we couldn’t get enough of it.
After the most incredible day and night at the mansion, we woke up the next morning to breakfast in bed and left wishing every day could be like a day at the Duke Mansion. I truly could not recommend staying here more!
WHERE TO EAT IN CHARLOTTE
Ilir and I have stopped at Ruru’s before when I used to fly into Charlotte, so of course we had to revisit!Β It’s such a cute little taco joint with tons of fun flavor twists. If you’re visiting Charlotte during a time of year where the heat isn’t insufferable, I definitely recommend eating outside. Their patio is one of the cutest I’ve ever seen!Β
Oh my word – I cannot say enough great things about Angeline’s. Hands down it was one of our favorite meals across our entire vacation. Angeline’s is Italian-inspired cuisine with unique (and absolutely delicious) twists on favorites. The ambiance is also so warm and inviting yet modern and sophisticated, which makes it perfect for anything from a quick cocktail to date nights to celebrations. Our cocktails were fantastic and our meals were unreal – I couldn’t recommend theΒ Tettrazini and the ribeye more!Β If you’re in Charlotte, you have to stop at Angeline’s.Β
Just upstairs from Angeline’s located on top of the Kimpton Hotel is the rooftop bar, Merchant & Trade. We headed up here after dinner to grab a cocktail and the views are beautiful! Not only do you have a great view of the city, but you can also see mountains peeking through, which is so fun for my city girl heart.
WHAT TO DO IN CHARLOTTE
Β While we were only in Charlotte for one day, it felt like we had both done so much, yet alsoΒ really took advantage of relaxation time. One nice part about Charlotte is it is small enough that you feel like you can really tackle it in a few days. While we spent a lot of time winding down at The Duke Mansion, on past visits we’ve also explored Uptown quite a bit and I absolutely love how pretty and clean it is! It’s such a nice city to spend time in.Β
There are so many cute coffee shops and dessert cafes to check out around the city. There are also tons of breweries and wineries, so definitely plan to make a stop at one (or a few) while in town!
Outside of eating, drinking and exploring, Charlotte always seems to have something going on! From football games to concerts, you can count on Charlotte’s event list to be pretty long.
Have you been to Charlotte and do you have any other recommendations? Drop them below and I can’t wait to hear your thoughts! XO
So many questions about this suitcase – it’s from Nordstrom Rack and I am in love!