Honestly, I’m guilty of it too. Once you catch the travel bug, your daydreams involve thoughts of places only a plane could reasonably take you. For most of us, we don’t live a jetsetting lifestyle where these daydreams are a reality. So, how otherwise do you itch that scratch? I can confidently say that the solution could be right around the corner.
For four years, Mrs. CCK and I lived in Charlotte, North Carolina, an American city on a nearly unrivaled upward trajectory. It was a planned temporary stop, but while we were there we wanted to explore the area as time allowed. Enter: a date idea.
I developed a proprietary map, patent pending (not really), with equal sections distributed around our home. With a few dice rolls, we would be handed a totally random section of the Greater Charlotte area to explore. And what did we end up with? The towns of Enochville (population: 2,851), Landis (population: 3,109), and China Grove (population: 4,434). With combined populations of just over 10,000, what would we find?
ENOCHVILLE
The plan was to enter the town name into Google Maps, land wherever this brought us, and go from there. Well, our first stop took us to the intersection of a two lane road and a half gravel residential street. We parked, regrouped, and checked the map. I made the rules, so I decided this was okay. Nothing. Literally nothing. Next.
LANDIS
Fearing another Enochville situation, I took a brief glance at our destination and…I saw colored business icons! That seemed promising, so off we went. When we arrived, we had our choice of every parking spot along a few block strip that ran parallel to train tracks. Before us lay the Sheriff’s office, a game store, a photography studio, a bank, and a gazebo. The problem was nothing was open. It was not obscenely early, nor Sunday in the south, yet, we were once again bamboozled. Once again, we regrouped, this time in the gazebo.
We had expected to stumble upon a coffee shop in either of the first two stops and with the need for caffeine, this was the main focus for our next stop before we moved along to China Grove. And right along our path was The Holy Grind Coffee House in all of its caffeine-filled glory.
It was at the Holy Grind that our morning took a huge positive turn. We entered with a quick need for refreshment and left with a feeling of gratification. Inside, we felt the warmth of a community coffee shop where the locals actually came and stayed to talk and hang out. We found books and games and an ambience that inspired Mrs. CCK in her future goal for a coffee shop. We were back on track.
CHINA GROVE
The downtown of China Grove continued the excellence of The Holy Grind. In China Grove, we once again felt community. People strolling along Main Street as the shops opened for the day. Local restaurants welcoming diners for lunch. A local troop selling Girl Scout cookies. A…wait hold up. Girl Scout cookies? If that doesn’t speak community, then I don’t know what does.
We basked in the glowing sun, obviously bought some Girl Scout cookies, and popped in and out of a few shops. In retrospect, we never did return to China Grove, but our brief time there felt like what travel should truly be about.
SIMPLIFYING TRAVEL
I cannot imagine Enochville, Landis, and China Grove are in many travel guides promoting the rich travel experience you could have there. And respectively to Enochville and Landis, we did not find a rich travel experience. However, in looking at modern day Landis, there does appear to have been a slight revitalization of this strip of shops, so things could be different in 2024. Nevertheless, what we encountered in China Grove was rich.
There were no famous monuments or television famous restaurants or seaside parks. But, for a morning, we were able to insert ourselves into a town’s daily life less than 30 minutes from our house, and that became a truly satisfying travel adventure.
