Found a great blog for Charlotte Newcomers
This is an article written on the blog that I thought you might want to know about.

Monday, August 20, 2007

Best spots for taking out-of-town visitors?
This weekend, I had the chance to put some of my own advice to the test when I hosted two friends from out of town. One of the most frequent questions I get from newcomers is where they should take out-of-town visitors. Here's my itinerary - please feel free to critique it. I might get some more ideas for next time!Thursday evening: Friends arrive hungry, but with no particular preference for dinner. I decided to take them to Dish, 1220 Thomas Ave., for an "only in Charlotte" dining experience. Southern food but with a very updated vibe - and lots of selections for my vegetarian friend. Everyone came away happy, but I did notice it was so loud we had trouble hearing each other at times.Friday: After a lazy morning, we headed out to Ballantyne Village (at Johnston Road and Ballantyne Commons Parkway) for lunch at Village Bistro. Everyone enjoyed the food there, and we topped it off with a visit to the center's new Kilwin's Chocolates and Ice Cream Shoppe for dessert. Then we headed to Ballantyne Resort across the street for some massages and a facial in the spa. Afterward, we decided that a couple of hours in air conditioning sounded good, so we headed back to the Ballantyne Village Theatre to catch an indie film ("Becoming Jane," which we generally gave a thumbs-up to). From there, we stuck around for dinner at Table, where we had a unique dinner with attentive service.Saturday: We headed to the U.S. National Whitewater Center on Charlotte's westside. My friends weren't interested in whitewater rafting, but they enjoyed seeing the center, which was extremely busy with rafters and kayakers. We ate lunch in the restaurant, The Eddy, and enjoyed the food despite slow service. We took a walk around the whitewater course - one circuit was all we could handle in the heat. Afterward, we considered a tour of Lowe's Motor Speedway (just $5, every hour from 9:30 to 3:30 most days), but both friends had seen it before. So we headed instead to Birkdale Village at Interstate 77's exit 25 in Huntersville for some shopping, another movie (more air conditioning! - "No Reservations," which left us hungry) and dinner at Brixx. We capped off the evening with a trip to the Charlotte Knights baseball game, where we enjoyed the post-game fireworks. Sunday was their heading-back-out day.I could've brought them to many other attractions, but the heat held us back from most of the area's outdoor offerings. Where else would you suggest we should have gone?
posted by Leigh Dyer