Blues, haints and bayous: snippets from the Deep South: Earth, wind and fire

Amelie’s in downtown Charlotte is like walking into a French bakery and cafe in Paris, though even better in a sense, as this Amelie’s has cleverly glassed in all its baking spaces so diners can watch all the different pastry chefs, and there are many, preparing everything from petit four, to croissant, to macaroon, to tarte, to baguette. All of which they sell here in this shop. The turnaround is simply staggering.

We spent so much time enjoying it all we ended up needing to refill our car-parking meter, luckily close by, just outside the entrance to the store. Amelie’s occupies a huge slice of downtown, and is dressed up in quirky chandeliers, and anything from around-the-world globes, to colanders, strainers, knives, forks and spoons welded together to form a light fitting—all hanging from the vast ceiling, over delightful French displays and food spaces. So popular is it that there are two more Amelie's in Charlotte, we learned, one of which, close to the university, is opened 24/7. The students must be in seventh heaven there. What a study hangout!

Charlotte, NC is another healthily prosperous modern city with some really attractive skyscrapers pocking the sky. This building, one of our favourites, is the One Wells Fargo which houses the east coast division of Wells Fargo, which helps to explain the financial looking downtown. Albeit being at the centre of the moneylending furore that caused the global financial crises. The building is not all that old, but was designed to be quite Art Deco in its step backs, its colouring, and its facade. We loved it and the surrounding complex of hotels, offices, banks and squares all maintaining the image. So inviting is it that way up on the roof, above the curved arch at the top of the building, a pair of Peregrine Falcons regularly return to nest and raise their young. Delightful. I hope they don’t mind the wind.

Charlotte is used as an evacuation destination by coastal folk avoiding the frequent hurricanes that hit communities along the coasts of North and South Carolina. So, it plays a big role in that. Evenso, it can suffer direct hits itself, and often has to recoup much damage to its own infrastructure, historic buildings and trees. All is peaceful today, though. Its downtown is so pretty with its leafy sidewalks.

Back on the road we soon tired of the interstate where you see nothing but never-ending lines of transport trucks and exited on to one of the more rural routes, which are so much more interesting to us. We came across some historic little towns, one of which was King’s Mountain, a fading railway community trying to rejuvenate by adding delightful murals to highlight many old brick walls. Very effective. They kept us wandering for ages with our camera.

We crossed back into South Carolina at Grover and came upon an old castle, right on the border which once probably acted as a tourist draw card, but is rotting now, and likely ready for dismantling. These old buildings all over the South are eyesores. I have no idea why they are not regularly recycled. It would make so much sense. And would create jobs, which would surely help so many in these communities. As well as tidying up the place.

The state line here is thick with tacky billboards around an old service station, and buildings we initially thought were faded Casinos, which we’ve not seen this last little while, but ended up being, of all things, firework outlets. So close to all that fuel. Whoever allowed that building combination? We skidaddled.