Charlotte Is Kinda Boring, But I Found Hidden Gems! 💎

Road Trip Stop 3: Charlotte, NC 🇺🇸 When planning the trip, I thought the drive from DC to Atlanta was too long, so I decided to stop in Charlotte for a day. My first clue came when I checked into Hyatt Place—the facilities were quite outdated, and there were many elderly ladies staying here (though they were all very nice! 😊) The next noon, I drove around downtown and noticed most pedestrians were finance workers stepping out of office buildings for lunch (no offense intended!). I found a mall but felt like most stores were closed, which killed my motivation to explore. Only two precious photos of the city exist... 😂 Anyway, I found two amazing restaurants and an animal farm. Here are my top recommendations for Charlotte: 🥘 Yunta (2201 South Blvd Ste 130, Charlotte, NC 28203)Creative Peruvian cuisine. Highly recommend the Chicharron—it’s the best crispy pork belly I’ve ever had! 🍖 Mariscos al Fuego (Seafood on Fire 🔥) features scallops and shrimp, and it’s absolutely delicious. Passion Limo Tiradito is salmon with a unique tangy passion fruit sauce, a classic yet slightly innovative South American sashimi dish—I personally didn’t love it though. The Smoky Melon is a smoky-sweet cocktail that’s pretty good! 🍹 The dessert Chocolate Bomba is a regular chocolate cake with Oreo crumbs—nothing special, but not bad either. 🥩 MOA Korean BBQSo tasty! 🤤 Two of us ordered the basic $90 combo, choosing Prime Ribeye, Marinated Galby, and American Wagyu Brisket—all super juicy! The staff lady grilled everything for us, and she was amazing at it 👍. We picked cream corn as a side, which was sweet and creamy, but the beef soup was just okay (I even forgot to take a photo of it 🥲). 🐾 Darby SafariAnimal lovers, this is a must-visit! 🦁 You can book a 1-hour tour on their official website. A staff guy led us around, introducing each animal, and many are available for close-up interactions and feeding. The highlight was the capybara family! We bought an extra capybara encounter for 15 more minutes of interaction—total satisfaction 😌. #Charlotte #CharlotteNC #CharlotteTravel #CharlotteFood #NorthCarolina #NCFood #NCTravel #AmericanBoringLife #USRoadTrip