Thursday, January 31, 2008

Gnorm the Gnome's Adventures in Charlotte

Yes, you read it right.....he has a name! Gnorm. My good friend Megan gets the glory for that one.

Gnorm and I went to Charlotte, North Carolina this week for two nights. He was TOTALLY ready for some warm Southern weather. I must say...Gnorm's a bit of a sissy when it comes to Winter.

We arrived Monday afternoon and had a couple of hours to explore before our first meeting, so Gnorm and I jumped in the rental car (a kickass Jeep) and went for a drive in search of gnome-worthy spots.

I don't know my way around Charlotte, so didn't really know how to get downtown. I just drove toward the tall buildings :) He and I found a very colorful and interesting area on the way. A friend who is a local, who you will meet later in this journey) informed me later that I was in the hood.

I found this awesome spot at the "The Phat Burrito"





























































After causing some commotion in the hood...a freckle-faced redhead taking pictures of a gnome in the hood.... we took off and found our next spot, downtown.
































































Gnorm and I wanted to give a statue a cheap thrill. We got some interesting comments from businessmen standing nearby.























Gnorm was pretty tired from traveling and wanted to lay down and enjoy the weather.


















It was off to our meeting after that....and then for all of the next day. After a short but extremely dramatic panic when I thought that Gnorm was gone I found him in the bottom of my bag. My friend Chris, the afore mentioned local, took Gnorm and I out for a tour of the most 'charlottey' spots in Charlotte.
We found the Bobcat stadium and the Panther stadium.....











































Next we went out to this amazing Charlotte spot that was built to be the US Olympic Training Center for whitewater sports. This is a huge whitewater park where you can change the rapids in innumerable ways...it's incredible. It is open to the public when not in use by the Olympic teams. I was blown away by this place. Gnorm liked it, too, but was scared to get too close to the edge.


















Gnorm asked Chris, our tour guide, to join him for a photo.



















Towards the end of our tour we came across a string of circus trucks.......






















and last, but CERTAINLY not least..... a place I drove by during my jaunt in the hood the day before. I had told Chris about it and he thought that we needed to go back for the shot.

drumroll, please.........
Smack dab in the middle of the hood.......

3 comments:

Amy said...

Hahahah!! LOVE LOVE LOVE it. I've only been to Charlotte twice but I'll have to tell my friend who lives there. Think I'll definitely add your blog to my list of must-reads :) Love the way you write!

Jen said...

LMAO! Well you have to watch out for those perverted statues. I hope Gnorm gave him a fake number.

Anonymous said...

oooooh... you know, there is a kids movie from the 80's called a Gnome named Gnorm ...except that Gnome from the movie calls himself Gah-Norm...because he's a Gah-nome. :)