<p>My family will spend part of a day in Davidson, NC. After the college visit, any suggestions on late day entertainment/restaurants/sites/shopping (after 3:30 or so)? Flight doesn't leave 'til later on that evening, so we'll have time to kill.
Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>For shopping, Birkdale Village at Exit 25; the usual chains (Barnes and Noble, Williams Sonoma and such)--it is a make-believe town, so it has sidewalks and store windows as well as a rather pleasant residential development behind the commercial section. Also also some decent restaurants there, including Dresslers (pricey) and Red Rocks, and a nice gelato place---also a very well-kept multiplex cinema if it is raining! If you have time for an early dinner, you might also try North Harbor Club, right at Exist 30 but on the on the other side of I-77--right on the lake. If you want a fancy (but not dressed-up) dinner in downtown Charlotte, Blue is very good and costs about the same as Dresslers--reservations recommended and probably required. (Standard indoor malls are North Lake at exit 18 and South Park at exist 5.)</p>
<p>In Charlotte proper, and right near Blue, the Levine Museum of the New South is excellent--not sure how late it is open though. check the web site--there is parking in a garage right next door to it. The Fourth Ward, a charming small historic district, is a few blocks away from the museum and compact enough to be very walkable, so that is a possibility too. Mint Museum of Crafts is also right near there--less impressive I think. (I haven't been to the Mint Museum of Art, which is not in same neighborhood.)</p>
<p>Also see what is going on at school in late afternoon/early evening when you are there--sports? lectures? music?</p>
<p>Are you familiar with the town?</p>
<p>The town is delightful but tiny. Main Street has the Soda Shop (great sandwiches, sweet potato fries and milkshakes), a Ben and Jerry's, a bookstore, a very nice needlework shop, several other retail establishments, and the Summit Coffee Shop (good baked goods in the morning, very good coffee drinks). The college is on the other side of Main Street, and the sidewalks are certainly worth a a stroll before or after your campus visit. There are historical stone markers on the brick sidewalks on the shop side of the street that give an interesting sense of the town as it used to be. It is also pleasant to talk a block or two north (past the admission building) to see some pretty houses and an old cemetery. The interplay of school and town is unusually appealing--for example, the college owns the green in front of the town library, and there is a very pleasant residential area across Concord Road from campus that feels like the set of a happy 1940s movie.</p>
<p>There is also a new shopping center at Exit 30 with a great new Harris Teeter, which I consider a useful addition, but I think if you are looking for a few hours' worth of activity after a day at Davidson, you may also want to head to Exist 25 or Charlotte proper to see the places mentioned in my earlier post. Enjoy your visit.</p>
<p>A most gracious thank you, Mattmom!</p>
<p>Another source, for very local Davidson:</p>
<p>[url=<a href="http://www.davidsonnews.net/%5DDavidsonNews.net%5B/url">http://www.davidsonnews.net/]DavidsonNews.net[/url</a>]</p>