Stuff You Might Miss--or Not!

Aside from the people you know and love, you might actually miss inanimate things that you're accustomed to while living in your new home town of Charlotte.

Matt misses the fact that there's no Temptee brand cream cheese here, for example. There's Philadelphia, but not Temptee. When we first moved here, there was no Wonder bread, but then 6 months later it popped onto the shelves. Hallelujah! For some reason, they do sell Thomas' English Muffins in the regular size, but not that bigger sandwich size. How do Charlotteans expect us to make a good London Burger without the proper sized english muffin?

But in the process of being here, I've discovered new things that I'd never known in the streets of New York. Hushpuppies, for example, are these marvelous bits of fried dough that accompany BBQ pork like nobody's business. Don't even get me started on fried okra--yum! I'm not a fan of grits, but Matt can't seem to get enough hot sauce on the stuff.

The first thing you'll notice about Charlotte is that people here are super friendly. You walk into any retail establishment and you'll get a cheery good morning from everyone in the place. You walk down the street in your neighborhood and you get a wave from most folks. People here are just far more polite that anywhere I've seen. You will usually have the kindest restaurant service you've ever had in your life, too. I certainly don't miss the surly, can't-you-see-i'm-doing-you-a-favor attitude that I was accustomed to up north. Heck, I was one of those surly people once!

At first you think you feel a little bit like a windmill just waving at every damn person you see, and say to yourself that you just can't do this every day. Let me be the first to tell you that you will get used to it really quickly. The first year we moved here, we had to go back to New Jersey for a family visit. Matt made his usual morning trek to the Starbucks and returned in a huff. He explained that he did not get a friendly morning smile from his Jersey barrista. He said that it felt like she was serving him just because she had to, and that she just plunked his change on the counter. Like I said, you do get used to the friendliness, and quickly take notice of it when it's missing.

Now, don't get me wrong, there are rude individuals everywhere on this planet--including Charlotte. We're essentially a bunch of transplants coming together from all over the globe with different perspectives on life into one place. I give the natives credit for having as much patience with us as they do.

There's lots of other things you might miss. If you're from the north, things like pizza and bagels will be high on your list of items to find. Folks from the west might be itching for good vegan/organic fare. Floridians will be hard pressed to find a decent Sandwich Cubano, I'm sorry to say. But more on these controversial subjects at a later time...

As I've mentioned before, I sure as heck don't miss the snow. On the other hand, I do miss the ocean. As you can see, Charlotte is not exactly nirvana if that's what you're thinking--but what place is? I mean, you've just left a place to move here because there was lots about it that you did not like, right?

I'd say Charlotte offers just enough of a balance of great new stuff blended in with much of the stuff you're used to. That way you don't miss home too terribly much.

-Lisa