London to Charlotte Direct

For the past four years, I’ve lived the high life in London, England. I had access to movie premieres, world-class museums and stage productions, with the rest of Europe just a short, cheap plane ride away.

So when I began telling people that I was trading London for the other Queen City across the pond, I got my fair share of strange looks. And those looks got even stranger when people found out I was coming here without a job.

My journey to Charlotte started in 2007 when I began a campaign to convince my boyfriend Alex, who is now my fiancé, to move to America. I had moved to London in 2006 to get my master’s degree. Shortly after arriving I knew I was going to love it there, but it would never be home. I wanted to raise a family one day and give my kids a childhood like mine – filled with evenings being pulled in a little red wagon, picking apples at the orchard and catching minnows at the local park… I just didn’t see that life in London.

Why Charlotte?
I knew that making the jump from fast-paced London to my hometown of Indianapolis would be a stretch for Alex, who’s London born and bred. Although Indianapolis has a lot to offer, neither one of us was willing to deal with the cold winters. Alex has enough trouble driving on our side of the road, even without snow.
I initially thought we should move to Nashville because of its weather. But it wasn’t just the lure of long summers spent by the pool that excited us. Then we thought Charlotte might be the better choice for a number of reasons – the cost of living is low, seven Fortune 500 companies are headquartered here, and our friends and family told us that Charlotte is a great place to raise kids.

A high school friend, Andrea Wright, moved here in 2009 and within 90 days she had a job, a place of her own and had enrolled her daughter in a great school. I knew that it was possible to make a living in Charlotte, but would it be right for Alex and me?
Our virgin visit

As we gathered our luggage from the plane’s overhead compartment, during our first trip to Charlotte in 2009, I had to refrain from jumping up and down with excitement. Would it be rude to push all these people out of the way so we could move faster? Alex was excited, too, yet he didn’t know what to expect from a southern American city.
As we waited at the luggage carousel for our three red suitcases, I realized that I had four days to convince Alex, and myself, that Charlotte was where we should make our next move.

Turkey burger bliss
On that first night, our friends Davis and Sheree took us to The Counter, a burger place in SouthPark. For Alex and I it seemed miraculous that we were able to park so close to the restaurant, and to top it off they offered us a table outdoors next to a fountain! Alex was slightly shocked that what I had told him was true: Charlotteans can eat outdoors without being rained on, and with no need for a warm jacket.

It was a perfect, warm evening even if the humidity did nearly knock us down as we left the air conditioning for our patio table. But after “summers” in London, where the temperature never hit 80 degrees, Charlotte felt like paradise.

We opened the menu and found a restaurant unlike any we had come across before. We could actually specify what kind of meat we wanted for our burger. I chose turkey since it’s impossible to find a turkey burger in London; for once I didn’t have to make my own at home. We could then choose the size we wanted – Alex naturally chose the largest, just to see how big American food really is. We then added toppings like sun-dried tomatoes, guacamole and ginger soy sauce. Already, this was shaping up to be the land of opportunity in Alex’s mind – and we’d only ordered dinner.

Hanging out uptown
Since we were staying uptown, we walked from our hotel to the EpiCentre, taking it all in. As we strolled along we noticed how clean the streets were and how nicely manicured the plants and bushes were. But we only passed a few people on each block. It was a weekend, but this city center seemed almost desolate. I could see it on Alex’s face and I knew immediately he was thinking: “She’s got me moving to this boring ol’ place where nothing is going to happen and I’m gonna hate it.”

How did I assure him that uptown was a happening place to be when it was my first time here, too? Was uptown lively on normal days? I had to think fast so I reminded him that London’s financial district, The City, is a ghost town on the weekends and Charlotte’s exactly the same. He turned to me with his head cocked to the side, one eyebrow raised, and said, “We’ll see.” Secretly, I had no idea, but I hoped I was right.

Thankfully, when we arrived at the EpiCentre we walked past bars packed with people laughing or dancing to loud music. Uptown Charlotte was looking up – and even better, Alex still believed that I knew what I was talking about.

We made our way to the movie theater. London certainly has its share of nice cinemas, but as we walked into the EpiCentre Theater our feet sank into the plush carpet and we were surrounded by crushed red velvet. Alex looked at me and whispered, “Oh baby, I think we’re going to love this.”
We made our way upstairs to have a drink before the show started. We sat down in the lounge – a high-ceilinged room, with a long bar filled with attractive servers. For a moment we felt like we were back in London sipping wine with the city’s finest.

We then snuggled together on the VIP couches – all for less than we’d spend at a regular London movie theater – to settle in and watch the show. Save for the woman loudly giving  her husband a running commentary throughout the movie, it was the best film experience we’d had in years.
We took advantage of the myriad food choices every chance we got while staying uptown –whether it was unlimited Brazilian meats at Chima or some of the best seafood and cheesy grits you can find at Lavecchia’s. But nothing topped our post-movie EpiCentre choice – Jason’s Deli. Now I know you might think Jason’s doesn’t hold a candle to a more upscale uptown restaurant, but London’s version of deli food is generally a pre-made sandwich, the kind you can get at a gas station. In London, if I wanted to customize a prawn sandwich with mayo on white bread, well, I was out of luck.

We may not see any movie premieres with A-list stars in Charlotte, but we knew we could have a great night out on the town.
Is that what you call a lake?