Charlotte, NC

We're at it again, this time south to the Carolinas. First stop: Charlotte, NC.

Now we have been here before and I really like this town. Last time we had dinner at the Rock Bottom Brewery, which was absolutely awesome. The next day the kids and I went to a hands-on museum called Discovery place. This was so much fun the kids took Sherry there after her seminar the last day. I took that opportunity to get pampered at a men's grooming place. Haircut, shave, drinks, and a big bill. But it was nice.

This time around, we were at the Hilton in downtown Charlotte. Nice place, especially the room. The highlight was the 42" plasma TV that had hookups for game systems. Nothing like playing the Wii on the Jumbo-Tron. The beds were nice too. If Sherry and I have to share a double bed, it needs to be comfy and this on passed muster. The one problem we had with the hotel was that the pool was part of a YMCA built in to the place. We went over to check it out and not only would it have been $12 per day to use the pool, but it was an adult-only facility, except on weekends! Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the YMCA started to cater to kids – you know, the "Young Men" of "Young Men's Christian Association"? So that was a bust, but we knew we'd get some pool time in at the next hotel in Columbia, SC.

Tuesday, we went back to Rock Bottom Brewery. I had one of the best dinners I have had in a while: three kinds of wursts, sauerkraut mashed potatoes, braised red cabbage and country brown mustard. Oh, man, that was good. I have to make some of that at home. On Wednesday the kids and I went back to Discovery Place while Sherry did her thing. They had a special exhibit on Pompeii, which was very interesting. They even had plaster casts from where they found impressions in the rock of where people died. That was really sobering, knowing that we were seeing how these people came to the end of their lives.

Sherry had a temp work with her the first day. This woman was so bad, Sherry called Cross Country and cancelled the temps for the rest of the trip. So I was back at work. The crowds were manageable, so I didn't mind. It beats a lot of other things I could be doing at 7am. And, of course, it wouldn't be a Marchand road trip without someone getting sick. This time Laura decided to revisit her dinner at 12:30am. This kind of thing makes for a long night and morning. But she was better after a shower and we all survived the night.

Come Wednesday afternoon, we were off to Columbia.