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31 signs you’re a native Charlottean
CharlotteFive has four native Charlotteans on staff, so we knew the city pretty well when we were growing up here. Since we’ve started writing our daily newsletter, we’ve gotten to know it even better in adulthood.
Here are 31 signs you’re a native Charlottean:
(1) Pizza night with your family involved Wolfman Pizza at Providence Commons or Avanti at the Arboretum (they had the best garlic knots). RIP. Good thing Wolfman still lives on at Cotswold.
(2) You ate at Big Daddy’s long before it became Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar.
(3) You remember the siren’s call of the Cinnabon at the SouthPark Mall food court.
(4) You also grew up throwing your parents’ spare change at the giant fountain in SouthPark Mall.
(5) You had a Sir Purr stuffed animal in the ’90s.
(6) You’ve been to at least one birthday party at Kate’s Skating Rink.
(7) You’ve also been to at least one birthday party at Laser Quest.
(8) Gus the Bus came to your elementary school and blew your mind.
(9) You and your parents brought old bread to feed the ducks at Freedom Park.
(10) You grew up thinking every YMCA was a ‘boujee’ paradise.
(11) You went ice skating at Eastland Mall.
[Related: 29 signs you grew up in Charlotte.]
(12) You went on one of your first dates at the Arboretum movie theater before it became Cinebarre.
(13) You also call the Arboretum “the Arbo.”
[Related: Shopping center superlatives: Your guide to the best of the Arboretum.]
(14) You don’t have an obvious Southern accent.
(15) You remember when the Bank of America tower was the Nation’s Bank tower and One Wells Fargo Center was the First Union building, and they were pretty much the only skyscrapers in the skyline.
(16) Your northern friends had to teach you how to parallel park in college because it wasn’t part of your driver’s test.
(17) You went hoarse cheering on the Charlotte Hornets at the old Coliseum. (Remember Muggsy and Larry Johnson, and Alonzo Mourning?) And maybe got lost trying to find the family car in the parking lot afterward.
(18) You also attended your share of games for the Charlotte Sting, the former local WNBA team.
(19) You remember when Cotswold Village Shops was Cotswold Mall, and had little more than a Harris Teeter, an Olan Mills and a nail salon.
(20) You lived for the free muffins at Charley’s (no, not O’Charley’s)—first at its location inside SouthPark Mall, and then when it moved to Cotswold Village Shops. RIP.
(21) You remember when that two-story McDonald’s opened on Fairview Road with the piano and Legos play area.
(22) You know Randolph Road is the best way to get to south Charlotte from Uptown during rush hour. (No, not Providence Road, not Monroe Road and certainly not Independence Boulevard. Trust us.)
[Related: 8 life hacks every Charlottean needs to know.]
(23) You frequented Middle School Madness and Jammin’ at the J, but knew Jammin’ at the J was cooler because it had less supervision. (Or your parents told you that you absolutely could not go.)
(24) You learned to water ski at Lake Norman. (Or, at the very least, float around.)
(25) You saw a ‘90s band play at Amos’ Southend (cough, Sister Hazel).
(26) You never fully experienced Uptown or NoDa until after college.
(27) At least one babysitter took you to Carowinds. And when you were in middle school and early high school, getting dropped off sans chaperone was the height of freedom.
(28) Harris Teeter was the only place you grocery shopped.
(29) These days, you can’t go to Montford without seeing someone you know.
(30) People have called you a “unicorn” to your face when you’ve mentioned that you’re a native.
(31) But, you do know the best place to get a sandwich or salad and bump into fellow natives/unicorns on a Sunday afternoon: Arthur’s in the basement of the Belk at SouthPark.
Caroline Portillo, Tyler Blackshaw, Sean Clark-Weis and Katie Toussaint contributed to this piece.
Photo: CharlotteObserver file
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