We drove all the way from Atlanta for this....

Wednesday, the one and only Rosemary Walsh and I drove from the A-T-L all the way to Charlotte, North Carolina for.... a sandwich, a bird garden, a beer, a burger and a basketball game.

Lunch at Dean & Deluca

They make a darn good sandwich.  And chocolate.  Yum!  We split two deli sandwiches, each had a Strawberry Lemonade and then treated ourselves to a few chocolates.  Don't mind if I do.

Wing Haven Gardens

St Therese "the Little Flower" how fitting :)

The home and garden was in the middle of a suburb in Charlotte.  We walked in some lady's backyard.  The story of the home and the garden was incredible.  This woman cultivated three acres with literally nothing on it, turn the street into a bird haven and beautiful prayer garden.  She has since passed and the facility requires two full time gardeners and over a hundred volunteers to keep it running as beautiful as she did.  Can you imagine the joyful labor she spent?

Taco Mac - Charlotte

The wait staff at Taco Mac was less than amused with our announcing, "We drove all the way from Atlanta for this beer!" Granted it was 3:40 in the afternoon on a Wednesday.  We tried to explain that Taco Mac is kind of a big deal in Atlanta...and that our Brewniversity lists are kind of long.  At least try to be impressed, okay, buddy?  Pictured is Foothills Sexual Chocolate.  Picked out for us via text message by none other than the Mayor of The Fred himself, Sean Ellis. Delicious.

The Penguin Drive-In

I think the pictures say it all, y'all.  Except: we stuffed our faces with our queso smothered burgers too fast to even get a picture of them.  Let's just say I might drive another 4 hours to get one. Did you read the names of the Hot Dogs?  "I can hear you getting fatter" ?!?!  Yes, you did.

The University of Dayton 

vs 

The University of North Carolina Charlotte

A-10 Basketball Game

Since we literally had to roll ourselves from the Penguin to UNCC, Rosemary and I walked around campus for at least 30 minutes.  Campus was beautiful.  New, but beautiful. And huge (compared to our private Catholic colleges).  The arena was one of the nicest athletic complexes I have ever been to.  Good pre-game entertainment.  Great facility.  (Lots of bathrooms).  A Chick-fil-a Blimp that passes out gift cards. Yummy concessions (not that we had any. okay, maybe we did).  And the best part......

The Flyers brought home a big fat WIN!  Love it!  The boys certainly aren't having their best year, but there is potential for some good hoops coming our way in the next season or two.

And yes, this is the REAL reason "We drove all the way from Atlanta!"

Go Flyers.