Other Than THAT, Mrs. Lincoln...

So Friday I left Wifey to deal with a missing car key, for my car, and I called Uber for a ride to MIA.  That was an initial fail -- the driver, Marta, just couldn't figure out how to get in my 'hood, and in violation of Uber's agreement with Miami Dade, spoke ZERO English.  I tried and tried to guide her in, and finally gave up. Uber charged me $5 for the canceled trip, just small enough that I didn't bother to try to contact them to give them hell.  Jose came, two minutes later, and got the job done with his spotless Honda...

My flight was packed with Canes -- probably 80% of the passengers.  When we landed a large fellow led a spirited "We got some Canes over here..."  I Ubered from CLT, with a very nice Croatian fellow who told me about his troubled native country.  Mike and Jeannine were waiting in the lobby of the South Park (Ha!) hotel.  We retired to the bar, and had the first of many toasts.

The hotel was in a very nice section of Charlotte -- offices, and a mall, and apartments.  We strolled around,and I coined the neologism neutron bomb-y.  There seemed to be zero people!  It was a bit spooky, and we returned to our rooms for an afternoon nap.

At 8 we walked to Del Frisco's, and there were plenty of people.  It's an enormous restaurant, and it was buzzing.  We were seated, and had martinis and apps, and waited for Peter, our law school classmate who was on a later, delayed flight.  He joined us, we ate good but not outstanding steaks, and had a lovely evening, capped by a night cap at the hotel bar.

Saturday am Mike and I took a brisk walk around the area.  Again -- very neutron bomb-y.  But it was cool and gray, as Carolina is in the Fall and winter, and we found a Xmas display outside the Coca Cola building.  Mike kneeled to ask for help for our Canes that night.

Peter, in some strange twist, also loves soccer, and is a big Arsenal fan, which is apparently a team from England.  He got into the boring game when he lived there.  He found an Irish pub called Ri Ra on the internet, and we drove there sans Jeanine, to watch the match.  Sure enough, the place was packed, both with Arsenal and their opponent Man U fans.  We had a Guinness and watched -- turned out to be a pretty good game, though Arsenal had no arsenal, and lost.

But, we realized we had found a great place to park for the nights main activity, and we returned to the hotel, to leave a few hours later.  It was time for the big event.

We parked, and had a pregame at Ri Ra, and then walked the mile to the stadium.  Canes fans and Clemson fans were everywhere.  The city had a street blocked off with music and food trucks.  It was nice, but showed that most towns are truly minor league compared to Miami when it comes to hosting a big party.

We got to the stadium, and folks were lining up to get in.  Mike had a ticket issue, and had to see the office to get a replacement.  We went up to the Club, which is like Joe Robbie's Club but not as plush, and chatted with our fellow Canes.

Then the game happened and we lost 38-0.  There were no Canes, anywhere.

We walked back to the car after the 3rd quarter.  An evangelist was preaching on a street corner, about the coming End Times.  Mike suggested we kick his ass.  That brought a big laugh.

Back to the hotel, and somber Canes fans.  Hey -- still a great season -- we knew we'd get the Orange Bowl.  Clemson is just who our team was -- big and fast -- and who we are trying to become again.  What are ya gonna do?

Sunday am we met for excellent coffee at part of the neutron bomb-y street, near Del Frisco's.  Jeanine had an earlier flight, and Peter wanted to do work.

Mike and I left, and headed to the Levine Museum of the New South.  It turned out to be a very well put together small museum.  Turns out that James Duke was America's second richest person in 1900.
They had lunch counters, and busses, and all sorts of inventive civil rights displays, along with writings about music and how the New Deal really sparked the South's rise -- presaging the booming Sun Belt revival of the 80s.

We enjoyed it, and then asked the lady at the front where we might get lunch and watch NFL football -- she pointed us to Duckworth's two blocks up.  It turned out to be an excellent sports bar, with TVs showing every game.  We told the host "Dolphins" and he plopped us beneath a tv showing our team.

They played great -- beating the Broncos.

After the game, we returned Mike's rental Kia van and returned to CLT.  Pete is a member of the Admiral's Club, and got we non members in..

The flight home was fine.

All in all, a fun weekend.  Except for one thing...