Last weekend, my mom and sister from Georgia and my other 2 sisters from Ohio met me here in for an amazing Charlotte girls weekend! My sister was turning 30 and my older sister had just turned 35, so we had a lot to celebrate. We decided Charlotte was the perfect middle ground, which worked perfectly for me! I LOVE my city. And I love it even more after the weekend we spent checking out new things and places!
Friday Afternoon. We started off our Charlotte girls weekend by checking into the Charlotte Marriott City Center. You may remember that we stayed there last year with the whole family. It was so amazing that I knew when we started planning that this was the perfect spot to stay.
My mom, 1 sister and I got to our room and set up some fun drinks and decorations. The room had a kitchen and living room, that was perfect for hanging out and catching up, plus we had an adjoining room so there was space for all 5 of us to sleep.
{I had to take a break from the girly weekend and send a picture of our view to my boys. You could see right down into the baseball stadium and they would have freaked out if it was baseball season!}
But I digress. Back to girly! While we waited on my Ohio sisters to get there, we went and grabbed some appetizers in the M Club Lounge. They offer breakfast, as well as small bites, snacks and desserts at different times of the day. It was so convenient to be able to grab something without leaving the hotel!
Friday Night. Once we were all there, had smothered each other in hugs and raided each other’s suitcases, it was off to dinner! My sister had had heard of Bakersfield Restaurant and wanted to try it out, so we grabbed an Uber and headed down. Fair warning, we waited nearly 2 hours to be seated. But, spicy margarita and guacamole at the bar was just fine with us!
And the food was delicious. We ordered a bunch of different tacos and they were all exceptional.
Saturday Morning. I knew we would be eating more than our normal during the weekend, so we wanted to get in a workout. Marriott’s Flex program is amazing and partners with local studios for discounted classes. We opted to get out of our comfort zone and tried AIR Charlotte, an aerial fitness gym. It was a beginner class, so I really thought it wouldn’t be much working out, but it was no joke! I was so sore, while having the most fun I’ve ever had while working out.
We worked up a serious appetite and headed over to Amélie’s newest Uptown location. Y’all. It has to be the neatest looking restaurant I’ve ever been inside of. It’s super eclectic and I felt cool, just by being in there.
But let’s talk about the food. I’m so hungry just looking at these pictures! Between all of us, we ordered a little bit of everything. Lattes and other sweet coffee concoctions, salads, soup, quiche and sandwiches. Every bit of it was delicious. (Yes we all tasted everything!) We took at least 20 minutes of staring at the menu to order, because it really was a hard choice. They have a really fantastic menu!
We followed that up with some beautiful macarons and a little birthday cake brought over by the manager. Their dessert selection is endless, with éclairs, petit-fours, cream puffs and so much more.
Since Amélies is right next to The Green, we walked around exploring more of Uptown Charlotte. I’m amazed that after living here 3 years, there’s still so much to see! It really is a great city to stroll around in with shopping, dining and tons of green space.
Saturday Afternoon. After we went back to the hotel to freshen up, we added in a quintessential portion of a girls trip…a fresh mani! Our next stop was The Daily Details beauty bar. It’s in a great location, the Duke Energy Center, and was walking distance from our hotel.
It was bright, clean and and my gel mani is still looking fabulous on day 12! I got OPI’s Don’t Bossa Nova Me Around and it may be a new fave! Their standard manicure also included a sugar scrub or paraffin treatment. I opted for the scrub and it made my hands so soft!
Saturday Night. We easily walked bak to the hotel to get fancy before the Birthday night out and it was really nice that everything was so close! My sister loves sushi, so we went with a favorite of mine and walked to Enso in the Epicentre, for dinner.
Tuna tacos, sushi and sake hit the spot there, but dessert on your Birthday is a must! The ultimate dessert in Charlotte can be found at Stoke Restaurant or their adjacent bar. It’s the 1 lb donut! We sat at the bar in The Bottle Shop, a space that offers wine tasting daily as well as wine by the bottle at retail prices. You can grab a bottle and enjoy it in the great room or take it to go.
The very knowledgeable sommelier paired the donut with a Jeff Runquist petit syrah. It was a perfect pairing as well as one I would have never picked myself. That wine is now on my list of bottles to keep at home!
After filling ourselves with donut and wine, we decided on another walk around Charlotte. The streets were full on a Saturday night and music could be heard on every corner. My favorite spot for girls night in Charlotte is probably Kandy Bar. It’s got plush velvet seats and makes super fun martinis with real candy. (They only serve those until 11pm, though.) If you’re in the mood for dancing, I love the 80s and 90s music at Roxbury or the casual atmosphere at Prohibition.
Sunday Morning. We were headed out this day, but had a little time to check out the fitness center before some shopping. How cool is it that you can use the screens and select a cycling class, or choose from many different types of group fitness activities? Sure beats a plain old treadmill and weight bench!
Charlotte has great shopping and my absolute favorite is Southpark Mall. It’s about a 15 minute drive from the Uptown area and offers many luxury stores, as well as tons of your classic mall stores.
My family has always been so close and I feel incredibly blessed to have such a great mom and sisters that literally want to travel to spend time together. We made so many great memories on this trip, one of which being an fun photo shoot in our matching Beadhead PJs! We all got matching prints in different styles and they’re so insanely soft!
If you’re planning a girls trip with your sisters or friends, I can’t recommend Charlotte enough! From dining and shopping, to great places to stay and an overall fun and interesting city, you need to plan a Charlotte girls weekend!
Some portions of this trip were provided to me for review.
All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Charlotte is such a fun girls trip city!
love this! charlotte is such a great city. looks like you had such a fun time!
xo Emily
http://www.thehipsuburban.com
I've never been before but it looks like a super fun city!
My girls and I have been meaning to plan a trip to Charlotte, so this is SO timely and helpful!
Coming Up Roses
All of the food in this post made me so hungry! Especially the tacos! lol Also, that VIEW! That would have been SO cool if there had been a game going on!
XOXO,
Olivia
http://www.oliviasheastyle.com
What a fun girls' weekend!! I love those heart straws!! Glad you babes had a great time. xx
Aw what a fun girls weekend! I have never been to Charlotte and would love to visit someday!
xo
Maggie
This sounds like the best girls trip ever! I'm from Ohio too! I love sushi, manicures, everything you did sounds like a blast!
It looks like you guys had so much fun!
xoxo Mandy
http://www.sparkleshinylove.com
Wellll this looks SO fun! Glad you shared this. I want to make my way to Charlotte soon and this will be so great to reference.
XO, Lauren
http://www.aloprofile.com
you had me at rose!!!
xo,
Sandy
Sandy a la Mode