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FROM THE EDITOR

Acouple of months ago, I found a 2003 copy of SouthPark Magazine while cleaning out a secretary at home. It was published years before I started working here, but we’d saved it because my husband, then a local chef, had a recipe featured in it.

In those days, the magazine went by SouthPark Luxury Living, and it was filled with stories about elite cars, over-the-top crystal chandeliers, “coveted” designer shoes and handbags, and the impending arrival of Saks Fifth Avenue at the corner of Gleneagles and Park roads (that one didn’t age well!).

But the cover story by the late Ron Green Sr. featured golf legend Jack Nicklaus. The Club at Longview, developed by Mel Graham, had recently debuted in Waxhaw — Nicklaus had designed the course. While the article was mostly about the making of Longview, Green also shared the inside story of how Nicklaus had helped shape an early redesign of Quail Hollow Club, which hosts the PGA Championship May 15-18.

As Green told it, the “Golden Bear” came to Charlotte in 1974 to play in the Kemper Open. “Mr. Nicklaus wasn’t happy about the Tour’s choice of Quail Hollow and said so, his feeling being that it was not a good championship layout,” Green wrote.

Obviously, that criticism wasn’t well-received here in the Queen City. In the locker room after the tournament, Nicklaus offered suggestions about how the course could be improved.

“A short time later, Arnold Palmer, the golf star who held a membership at Quail Hollow, was hired to implement some alterations,” wrote Green. “The course … has since undergone other, more dramatic changes, changes that would probably make the layout far more to Mr. Nicklaus’ liking.”

McIlroy had lunch together to discuss his strategy for the tournament in Augusta.

At lunch, as The Wall Street Journal reported, Nicklaus listened as Rory outlined his game plan. “I wouldn’t change a thing,” Nicklaus told McIlroy. “That’s exactly the way I would try to play the golf course.”

Despite a rocky final round that ended in a sudden death playoff against Justin Rose, McIlroy finally earned the coveted green jacket. After his Masters win, Charlotte social media was flooded with congratulatory posts for the four-time winner of the Wells Fargo Championship (now the Truist Championship). Rory might not call Charlotte home, but Charlotte sure loves Rory.

“He’s as talented a player as there is out there, and he’s got a lot more majors in him,” Nicklaus told the Golf Channel in March.

This month, plenty of Charlotte golf fans hope he’s right.

CHEERS TO 10!

When I started this job over six years ago, one of the first people I connected with was Whitley Adkins. Adkins had been a contributing stylist at SouthPark since May 2015, back when the talented Sarah Crosland was editor. She wanted a bigger role. Whitley’s passion for her work was effusive, but we’d never worked together before. “Ask me again in six months,” I told her.

Nicklaus, 85, is far removed from the days of his competitive brilliance, but many top players still seek his advice, including Rory McIlroy (“The Perfect Match” by Ron Green Jr., page 88).

“I think it’s about time that Rory won,” Nicklaus said in a press conference ahead of this year’s Masters, after sharing that he and

After recognizing Whitley’s incredible work ethic, eye for style and relentless pursuit of perfection, she became SouthPark’s style editor in fall 2019. Along with leading the annual IT List of stylish Charlotteans, Whitley’s been the driving force behind our exquisite style features, many of which have graced the cover, and a top “talent scout” of sorts, scoping out story ideas for SouthPark around the Queen City.

In this issue, Whitley takes us inside her 100-year-old Myers Park cottage, where her high-style-meets-nostalgia aesthetic is on glorious display. Cheers to 10 years, Whitley! SP

May

BLVD.

24 | golf

Charlotte gets ready for her close-up as the PGA Championship comes to town.

28 | southpark sit-down

Selwyn Pub owner Jim Foster shares a pint, and tales of his fascinating life.

34 | arts

Artist Meredith Connelly’s cut-paper works are an extension of her large-scale installations.

40 | tastemakers

Textile designer and creative agency founder Caroline Cecil

42 | weddings

12 Charlotte couples and their dreamy celebrations

48 | authors

A Q&A with author Judy Goldman

52 | sports

CMS leads the way in recognizing girls flag football in high school sports.

56 | cuisine

Tale of the plate: Meyer lemon croissants by Leressa Rucker

60 | around town

What’s new and coming soon in the Queen City

66 | happenings

May calendar of events

DEPARTMENTS

71| flashback

Down-to-the-wire drama at the 1974 PGA Championship

75| bookshelf

May’s new releases

77 | simple life

Gone but not forgotten

83| well + wise

Breaking old habits, and forming new ones, is a process.

129 | swirl

Parties, fundraisers and events around Charlotte

136 | gallery

A new sculptural artwork adds a splash of color in SouthPark.

ABOUT THE COVER:

Spectator Style: Photograph by Olly Yung; styling by Whitley Adkins (page 92)

FEATURES

88 | The perfect match by Ron Green Jr. Rory McIlroy and Quail Hollow Club

92 | Here FORE it!

styling by Whitley Adkins photographs by Olly Yung Preppy styles to mix and match for a spectator style that’s sure to turn heads both on and off the course.

100 | A stylist’s sanctuary by Caroline Portillo photographs by Chris Edwards Whitley Adkins’ home is a curated mix of beauty, nostalgia and whimsy — a place where style meets soul.

109 | Kicking the hornet’s nest by Gayvin Powers

Celebrating Charlotte’s 250-year-old spirit

114 | When you think Tim McGraw essay by Cate Stern

How music connects us to our memories

TRAVEL

118 | Stay the course by Michael J. Solender

These bucket-list golf resorts deliver fairways to heaven and memorymaking rounds.

123 | Beyond the beach by Cathy Martin

From a soothing spa to activities galore, Wild Dunes Resort has perks to please all ages.

Creative Food, Endless Drinks!

1230 West Morehead St., Suite 308 Charlotte, NC 28208

704-523-6987

southparkmagazine.com

Ben Kinney Publisher publisher@southparkmagazine.com

Cathy Martin Editor cathy@southparkmagazine.com

Sharon Smith Assistant Editor sharon@southparkmagazine.com

Andie Rose Creative Director

Alyssa Kennedy Art Director alyssamagazines@gmail.com

Whitley Adkins Style Editor

Contributing Editors

David Mildenberg, Michael J. Solender

Contributing Writers

Natalie Dick, Jim Dodson, Asha Ellison, Ron Green Jr., Vanessa Infanzon, Juliet Lam Kuehnle, Page Leggett, Caroline Portillo, Gayvin Powers, Cate Stern, Ashley Stroehlein

Contributing Photographers

Daniel Coston, Justin Driscoll, Chris Edwards, Richard Israel, Olly Yung

Contributing Illustrators

Keith Borshak, Gerry O’Neill

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Jane Rodewald Sales Manager 704-621-9198

jane@southparkmagazine.com

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Jack Andrews, Frank Daniels III, David Woronoff in memoriam Frank Daniels Jr.

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blvd.

people, places, things

MUSIC TO OUR EARS

Symphony Park is getting a glow-up as part of a $21 million renovation aimed at making the space more user-friendly year-round. The project will enhance the 7.4-acre green park that’s home to festivals and concerts, including the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra’s popular Summer Pops and the SouthPark After 5 weekly concert series. Highlights include new permanent restaurants and micro-retail space, a terraced lawn for events, a kids play area, and public restrooms. Plans for a park renovation announced in 2019 had stalled. The enhancements will be funded by public and private funds, along with a $5 million capital campaign led by SouthPark Community Partners. Construction is expected to begin in summer 2026 and be completed by summer 2027. SP

TIME TO SHINE

The Queen (Charlotte, that is) gets ready for her close-up as the PGA Championship comes to town.

by Ashley Stroehlein and Cathy Martin

When Quail Hollow Club hosted the PGA Championship in 2017, the event attracted more than 200,000 people and generated a local economic impact greater than $100 million.

From course upgrades to hospitality, the club looks to build on that experience to make the second time even better than the last, says Johnny Harris, Quail Hollow Club president.

This year’s championship — one of golf’s four majors — is expected to attract as many as 50,000 fans for each round of competition when it returns to Charlotte May 12-18. But the stage is even bigger, when you consider the event will be broadcast in

more than 170 countries — with the Queen City as the backdrop.

“I think it goes back to a club that cares deeply about the game and the fellowship that surrounds the game,” Harris says of the opportunity to host the PGA Championship again.

Typically in May, the club has hosted the Wells Fargo Championship, an annual PGA Tour event that debuted in 2003. Now called the Truist Championship, the event will temporarily relocate to the Philadelphia Cricket Club this year before returning to Quail Hollow in 2026.

In the eight years since Quail Hollow Club held its last major,

Harris and company have been hard at work making changes focused on creating an exceptional spectator experience, with expanded hospitality areas and better viewing opportunities. A new entrance will help spectators easily arrive and depart the venue daily, and more viewing areas have been added throughout the course.

Another new aspect to the spectator experience: All tickets will be inclusive of food and nonalcoholic beverages. With five major concession hubs spread across the course, the idea is to cut down on long lines for concessions.

It’s all about making it easier for spectators to watch more of the golf they came to see.

2025 BEST N.C. GOLF COURSES

Ranked by the North Carolina Golf Panel

1. Pinehurst No. 2, Pinehurst

2. Grandfather Golf and Country Club, Linville

3. The Country Club of North Carolina (Dogwood), Pinehurst

4. Quail Hollow Club, Charlotte

5. Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club, Southern Pines

“Really, what we’re trying to do is achieve a premium experience to make sure that if you’re here to watch a major championship at Quail Hollow Club, you’re going to see more golf … than you ever have before,” says Jason Soucy, 2025 PGA Championship director.

For Harris, it’s another full-circle moment in the club’s storied history.

“This club was founded by 25 men who met with Arnold Palmer at my father and mother’s home,” he says. “They talked about building a facility where friends could get together and enjoy friendship and fellowship, could enjoy the game that they loved, and could bring the best players in the world here.”

For Charlotte, a feather in the cap. SP

IF YOU’RE GOING

• Getting there: There is no parking at Quail Hollow Club. Guests are encouraged to use ride-sharing apps (Uber, Lyft or Z-Trip) or park in one of two designated lots at Carowinds and the Park Expo Center and shuttle to the event. Parking reservations must be made in advance.

• Every PGA Championship ticket includes all food and nonalcoholic beverages.

• Charlotte’s 704 Shop will have a special line for sale in the merchandise tent.

• The patio on the back of the clubhouse will double in size.

• Expect more viewing areas throughout the course, and the hospitality decks on holes 17 and 18 will double in size.

• To aid with pedestrian traffic, there is a new service road running between the 10th and 18th holes.

SOUTHPARK SIT-DOWN

DOC FOSTER

The Myers Park pub owner and Queens professor shares a pint — and tales of his fascinating life.

by Natalie Dick |

photographs by

Richard Israel

Jim “Doc” Foster might be the coolest professor I’ve ever met.

At 71 years young, the owner and co-founder of Selwyn Pub in Myers Park is a fireball — and he’ll tell you so himself.

“My students say I have ‘rizz,’ which means charisma,” Foster jokes as we settle in with a pint at the bar on a spectacular Friday afternoon in March.

The timing of our get-together is perfect. In a few hours, UNC will face Duke in the semifinals of the ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament in uptown. Young professionals and dads with babies strapped to their chests trickle in to kick off the St. Patrick’s Day weekend and secure a coveted spot on Selwyn’s legendary patio.

“Selwyn Pub is not just a place; it’s an experience,” Foster says as he sips his Guinness. “You can see millionaires in blue jeans sitting beside college students. There’s some magic here that can’t be replicated.”

The soul of the pub is intertwined with a dream that Foster and his 96-year-old father, “Coach,” brought to life 35 years ago when they turned a tiny old house in the heart of Myers Park into a popular neighborhood hangout.

“We’re not an Irish pub; we’re a Myers Park pub. What makes us Irish is the hospitality. We don’t pay much attention to social media or reviews, and we don’t have an advertising budget,” Foster explains. “We start with the customers and work backward.”

The pub’s patrons are multigenerational. OG’s (like me) started coming while in college. Our now twentysomething kids are drawn for the same reasons: Selwyn’s laid-back vibe, affordable fare and nostalgia. Foster credits the pub’s longevity to the philosophy of Kaizen.

“It’s a Japanese management philosophy of continuous improvement across all segments of a business. We’re constantly working to improve and keep it relevant.” His most recent refresh is a subtle logo update, replacing “Charlotte 1990” (the year the pub was established) with “Myers Park Casual,” along with new merch he calls “Doc Couture.”

In life, as in business, Foster refuses to become outdated. While he considers himself a professor first, he has led a fascinating life as a licensed attorney and CPA, an inventor, author, former college basketball and softball coach, bartender, bouncer, Saratoga harness track groomer, roofer, and Keebler cookie salesman. And as I discovered in our afternoon together, he can weave an Irish tale with the best of them. Sláinte!

NORTHERN-BORN, SOUTHERN BY CHOICE

“My father has always said that I’m a Southerner mistakenly born in the North,” Foster tells me. “I hated the snow — hated it.”

Raised in Hyde Park, New York, Foster is the middle child of three and the only son born to Jim “Coach” Foster Sr. and Joan Fitzpatrick Foster. He graduated from Siena College with a bachelor’s in accounting in 1976 and earned his law degree three years later from Union University Albany Law School, where he attended on a scholarship.

“I had a job offer in Syracuse. Fifty-seven sunny days a year,” he recalls, tapping his forehead for effect. “I thought, wait a minute. Am I going to work 30 or 40 years to retire in Florida like most people, or should I just cut out the middleman now?” He chose Charlotte based on the advice of his best friend, who worked for IBM.

“He said IBM is betting big on Charlotte ... and if IBM says it’s the place to be, then it’s the place to be.” Foster had already passed the

CPA exam and the bar in New York. So in 1979, he packed up his old Buick and drove south to begin work with Deloitte as a tax adviser.

“I had zero money and didn’t know a single person in Charlotte — no one — but people were so welcoming despite my being a Yankee and a Catholic,” Foster jokes.

After three years, Queens College (now University) approached Deloitte about staffing an introductory accounting night class. Foster was tapped to fill the position, which eventually led to a full-time role at the McColl School of Business. The new gig also allowed him to start a tax-planning firm.

“I’ve always told my students not to be afraid. Life is not a spectator sport. You must jump right in and figure it out,” he says.

Around the same time, Foster encouraged his parents and sisters to move south.

“I wanted to grow deep roots for our family in Charlotte,” Foster says. Thanks to Selwyn Pub, that eventually happened — but not

before he made a life-changing decision. Foster held a secret very few people knew, and one he only recently shared with his daughters.

FOSTER’S GREATEST GIFT

Big ideas and creativity are among Foster’s fortes — he’s constantly thinking of ways to make things better. That mindset led to a highly lucrative invention: the convertible multi-function child restraint system. Yep, the one it seems like every parent uses to safely transport infants from one place to another without removing them from the carrier. He got the idea while visiting his sister and godson in 1988.

“Watching her struggle to get him in and out, I thought there had to be a better way. So, I scribbled an idea on a napkin, and when I got back to Charlotte, I had a buddy file for the patent,” Foster recalls.

Unfortunately, his breakthrough idea was ahead of the industry. He couldn’t find a company willing to license the patent and was concerned that, if he did, one manufacturer would gain exclusive rights and drive up the cost for consumers.

Selwyn Pub’s wings

While he was opening the pub, Foster chose not to renew his patent, despite a $6,000 investment. “I thought long and hard about my decision, and I ultimately chose to give this idea to the world,” Foster says. Soon after, similar child-safety restraints flooded the market. The rest, as they say, is history.

“My simple design is still central to what will soon be a $7 billion industry. But my reward has been great. Whenever I see someone pushing a stroller with a tiny child at SouthPark Mall, I smile and silently think, ‘You are so welcome!’”

A PUB IS BORN

Selwyn Avenue Pub opened on June 16, 1990. It was renamed after a few years of everyone calling it simply Selwyn Pub.

“As time went on, people started calling us just ‘Selwyn.’ Now, the younger crowd says, ‘Let’s go to Selly,’” Foster tells me. For years, Foster had driven past the house on his way to Queens. He thought it would be the perfect spot for a pub, but his dad worried it might not be big enough. Foster suggested building a patio under the big tree out front.

“Nobody had anything like it in 1990,” he says. Coach wasn’t keen on the idea, but he trusted his son. The patio cost $5,000. “We recouped all our money in just one weekend, and to this day, my father tells everyone it was the best idea he ever had,” Foster says

Eventually, the tree had to be removed after arborists warned that it could fall on the property; now a new retractable awning keeps out the rain and sun. The new addition has allowed for celebrations yearround, from sporting events to post-wedding parties.

THE CHARLOTTE WAY

Selwyn’s become a vital part of the community, and Foster is fiercely proud of his team’s commitment to giving back.

“I’ve had many great mentors, like Hugh McColl, Derek Close and Fred Whitfield — people I admire so much,” he says. “There’s a Charlotte way of doing business that means being involved in the community and giving back.”

Their philanthropic efforts include supporting the Good Fellows Club, a nonprofit that provides one-time emergency assistance to Charlotte families in need; being longtime donors to HoopTee Charities, which sends underserved youth to summer camp; and in recent years, sponsoring the Dilworth Little League.

Then there’s Foster’s endorsement of one of his Queens University students, Jayson Alexander.

“Jayson asked me for advice about his business. I thought maybe he was an influencer or selling T-shirts,” Foster says. “When he told me he was a NASCAR driver trying to move up to the ‘Big Time,’ I knew I had to help him.” Last May, Alexander debuted the #10

Southern fried pickles and fries with Sriracha ranch

BECKY MCGRATH TEAM

LEIGH C. CORSO

LUCY BUTLER GROUP

CHRISTIE HANSEN

CAY CRAIG

THE HUNEYCUTT TEAM

CHIP JETTON

HEATHER MONTGOMERY

KALIE KOIVISTO

LINDA HENLEY SARA ROCHE TEAM

LINDSAY REDFERN

CINDI HASTINGS TEAM

TREY SULLIVAN

LISA WARREN

HEATHER WOLKING

TUCK TEAM

LISA RUPP

MARY BETH SNYDER

TAKE FIVE

Something few people know about you: My dad and I were honored with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, North Carolina’s highest honor society.

Something that would surprise your students: I can be very introverted. I treasure my quiet time when I sit in my recliner while listening to music contemplating my next big idea.

Current projects outside work: I’m creating a soundtrack of my life, songs that have inspired me. There are two categories: who I strive to be and where I have been. Songs include “The Impossible Dream” (Luther

Selwyn Pub/Constant Contact Camry in the ARCA Menards Series. Whether offering a job to a former employee’s college kid or lending an ear to a student contemplating their future, Foster is always eager to help.

“I have been blessed with success. My family, Queens University and Selwyn Pub have given me more joy in a lifetime than anyone deserves,” he says.

THE QUAIL HOLLOW GOLF CART HEIST

There’ve been plenty of shenanigans at Selwyn Pub over its 35 years, but the most infamous is the Quail Hollow golf cart heist of 2015. After the Wells Fargo Championship, a couple of fans stole the club manager’s golf cart and drove it 5 miles to get a drink.

“I got a call from a bartender,” Foster recalls. “He told me two guys pulled up in a golf cart, onto the patio and right up to the bar and ordered two tequila shots.” The perpetrators abandoned the golf cart at the pub, and Foster notified Quail Hollow about the hijinks. The club towed the golf cart back the following day, but not before the stunt went viral.

“It was on Total Frat Move. I had (ESPN SportsCenter anchor) Hannah Storm and other media calling me. They even heard about it in South Korea,” Foster chuckles. “It was everywhere!” The “bandits” were captured on surveillance video, and the escapade is now part of pub lore.

LIVING IN THE ‘ESTROGEN PALACE’

Walk into Selwyn Pub, and everyone knows Doc. In years past, you’d find Coach there, too, holding court near the bar. But Foster says the real powerhouse that keeps Selwyn Pub running day to day is his wife of 33 years, Margaret.

“If it wasn’t for her, we wouldn’t have beer to sell,” Foster says. They met when Margaret was a student at Queens. What started as a platonic professor-student relationship evolved into mentorship, friendship and, later, love. The couple have three daughters, who routinely update their dad about what’s on trend and what’s not.

“I live in the estrogen palace,” Foster quips. Kidding aside, strong

Vandross), “Run for the Roses” (Dan Fogelberg) and “The Pretender” (Jackson Browne).

Something you could improve on: Punctuality. I’ve only been early once in my life, and that’s when I was born. Most entertaining pub patrons: Al McGuire. He visited with a friend in 1994 when Charlotte hosted the Final Four and ordered a sliced onion sandwich on white bread. I also once took Chuck Daly to church with me after meeting him here. And of course, we built a special VIP area for Michael Jordan years ago.

women have always played an important role in Foster’s life. He grew up surrounded by sisters, and he felt a kindred spirit with his mother, who died at 62 from lung cancer.

“I look just like my dad, but I’m 99% my mom. She was so creative and a descendant of Irish poets. She supported Selwyn Pub because she thought it would keep our family together — working together — and for 35 years she’s been right,” he says.

SELWYN’S LEGACY

Foster stays busy bouncing between the pub and Queens, where he is a tenured professor of business law and ethics.

“When you don’t know how much time you have left, you want to spend it wisely,” he tells me. “Everything I do now is about what has the greatest impact.”

I can’t imagine Foster slowing down anytime soon — if at all. For now, he’s preparing a business plan that looks far into the future, long after he’s gone. In June, the Fosters will welcome their first grandchild, a baby girl, into the family.

“Margaret is going to be called Lolli,” he says sweetly, “and I’m going to be Pop.”

I ask him what he’s most proud of in life as he takes a final swig of his Guinness. Then, in a flash of Irish wit, he quickly blurts out, “My wife and three girls. I have this specific definition of love — it’s the bullet test. Who would you take a bullet for? There are only four people on that list. I tell my father I love him, but only a flesh wound for him because I’m not leaving my wife and three lovely daughters. He’s 96 — I’ll lean in a little for him, but I’m not running in front of him!” SP

ONLINE EXTRA: In addition to being a stellar storyteller, Foster is known for imparting “Doc’isms” to his students and young staff. Learn more in the online story at southparkmagazine.com.

WATCH: How did Doc Foster get his nickname? And what the heck is “Doc Couture?” Scan the QR code to view the video extra.

Doc’s Delight pizza (pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, onions and green pepper)

INTRICATE ILLUMINATION

Best known for her 3D lighted sculptures, artist Meredith Connelly’s 2D cut-paper works are an extension of her large-scale installations. by Vanessa Infanzon

Children, wearing fairy wings and tutus, skirt in and out of “Fairy Ring,” Meredith Connelly’s first permanent outdoor art installation at Atherton in South End. The illuminated mushrooms capture the imagination of visitors, young and old. Some kids peek underneath the toadstools for a look at the gills, the papery ribs under the cap. Others dance, reflect and create their own narratives among the more than 100 mushroom sculptures. Connelly, a Cornelius resident, blends her interest in nature, science and technology to create two-dimensional and three-dimensional works. Even before Connelly enrolled in the studio art program at UNC Wilmington, she was drawn to light, an element she incorporates in her artwork. Whenever

she designs, for as long as she can remember, light is at the center of her practice.

“It’s the only material that reaches beyond the sculptural structure and engages with the viewer before they even realize they’re being pulled into the work.”

Works for Walls, the name Connelly has assigned to her 2D projects, is an extension of her large-scale 3D works.

“You see mushrooms in my three-dimensional light works,” she says, “and I wonder what it looks like under a microscope. That fuels my two-dimensional exploration. It took me years to realize that there was this symbiotic relationship between the two practices.”

Several of Connelly’s Works for Walls were displayed in 2024 and early 2025 at the Cain Center for the Arts in Cornelius and at McColl Center, where she recently curated an exhibition titled Sovereign. She also accepts commissions for her cut-paper works, about eight to 10 a year.

SIMPLE MATERIALS

Connelly begins by rolling out a 10-foot strip of recycled brown paper outside her studio. “I like humble materials; materials that are overlooked or not seen for their potential,” she says. “I think paper is one of the most versatile materials we have.”

She cross-mists the paper with spray paint in a variety of colors, many metallic. “Metallics reflect light off a surface and change how people perceive color, similar to light,” she says.

The paint also serves a practical purpose; it stiffens the paper. The painted paper is broken into segments, based on what colors or patterns emerge. Connelly may add more paint, especially when

she identifies a certain color story or pops of metallic that need to be softened or changed.

Once she moves inside her studio to the cutting board, she subtracts material using a blade. She does this freehand, with no sketch to follow. Photographs of items found during strolls through the woods provide inspiration. Connelly explores her files of microscopic images of algae, plant cells and pollen, pulling ideas for structure.

“I never draw beforehand,” Connelly says. “I think there’s something really special about the process being intuitive. I do go in with an intention and subject in mind.”

‘INTENTIONAL AND SLOW’

Connelly works on multiple papers at a time, making various shapes on each one. “It is so repetitive that having the chance to go between different shapes gives my eyes and hands a break,” she says. “It also helps me step back and look at things with fresh eyes.”

Sometimes, when Connelly’s overworked her hands and eyes, the blade rips the paper and she must start over, make the composition smaller or remove a torn edge.

“There are times when I’ve made so many cuts, I’ve ruined it,” she says. “There’s a tension in using paper that’s challenging to me. I try to be intentional and slow with my process.”

Before framing, Connelly trims the edges to make sure the work isn’t square. She wants to show the dips and undulations, natural to the organic forms such as leaves and mushrooms she’s representing in her work. She then places the work between two panes of translucent acrylic. The nontraditional framing method continues

the nature concept, which is so important to Connelly’s work.

“It’s like pressing a specimen between microscope slides,” she explains, “or collecting something from outside and preserving it.”

Connelly integrates light into Works for Walls by hanging the framed piece offset one to two inches from the wall. She thinks of them as tiny relief sculptures, bumping off the wall with light coming through.

“It doesn’t hang flat against the wall,” she says. “It lets light shine through it, and it creates shadows on the back of the wall. It allows people to inspect it and lean in, perhaps like they are looking through a microscope. You can see those fine details on the edges and tell that it’s something delicate.” SP

Your Summer Starts Here. Your Summer Starts

ELLEN KELLY

LISA TOMLINSON

ANNETTE SEMPRIT

CHLOE FAUCHER

DAYTON BUTLER TEAM

SHERRIE ANDREWS

NICOLE HALL

TRACY BROWN

CARA SHIELDS

MILLER BASKERVILLE TEAM

THERESA KISTLER

DEBBIE COVINGTON

ANNA CASTILOW

JENN MATTSCHECK

JULIE VALBUENA

PAULINE TOMS

MIKE FRIDHOLM

ILY MUNOZ

HEATHER FLOHR

TASTEMAKERS

CAROLINE CECIL

Caroline Cecil launched her namesake textiles brand in 2014, when she was living in California. “There were few boutique collections on the market at the time, and I was wanting to support the art of hand screen printing, with the prints all originating from my own artwork,” says Cecil, who previously worked in corporate design at Target and Levi’s. The fabric and wallpaper collection features geometric prints and colors “that appear basic from afar but are complex in their simplicity,” she says.

Cecil moved to Charlotte in fall 2023, around the same time she sold Caroline Cecil Textiles to the luxury home-furnishings brand Kravet. The Camden, Maine, native is now a creative consultant at Kravet, developing new collections for the Caroline Cecil brand.

The sale of her company also freed up her time for a new endeavor: Caroline Cecil Creative, a marketing agency for interior designers. The agency helps clients with social media, digital marketing and branding. “I discovered my passion for brand storytelling and digital marketing through developing and growing the Caroline Cecil Textiles brand,”

she says. “Now that it’s acquired, I’m so happy to be able to help elevate other brands.”

Learn more about Caroline Cecil Creative at carolinececilcreative.com.

EAT AND DRINK: Renaissance Patisserie for lunch (incredible spinach quiche), Osteria Luca for a casual dinner (best cheesecake in town IMO) and Sixty Vines for girls night. BrickTop’s also makes a great vodka martini, and the people watching is fun.

BEVERAGE: Oat milk latte from Summit Coffee

GETAWAY: I grew up going to the British Virgin Islands, and after living on the West Coast for 15 years, am happy to be a quick flight away from places like Virgin Gorda and Tortola.

TREASURE HUNTING: I’ve made a killing buying high-end light fixtures on Facebook Marketplace here in Charlotte. The amount of (new in box) Visual Comfort sconces and table lamps is

astonishing. I even purchased a Wolf range and a stunning bedframe from a home in Eastover.

COLOR ME HAPPY: Water’s Edge and Brittany Blue from Benjamin Moore

FITNESS: I just joined The Health Club, and I also love Bar Method in SouthPark.

WELLNESS + BEAUTY: Beauty Walker for Russian manicures, Palestra Boutique Spa for massages (Angeline is the best!), Infinity MedSpa for brows (see Katie!) and Jon’Ric for skin care

LISTENING TO: Chet Baker is on repeat in my house, and when I’m out driving around lately I’m loving Pink Sweat$ SP

Tortola, BVI

Renaissance Patisserie

Osteria Luca

Brittany Blue

Water’s Edge

Summit Coffee

VOWS THAT WOW

1 2 3 4 5 6

Yes, we do! Love weddings, that is. Our special Weddings by SouthPark issue is out, highlighting 12 Charlotte couples and their dreamy celebrations, a luxe new honeymoon destination and a modern take on bridal registries. Here’s a preview, if you haven’t snagged your copy yet.

5–Cooper

6–Emma

3–Camille

1–Alexis Kaiser & DJ Karasik by Wyeth Augustine

2–Alicia & Brandon Cosey by Harry McLaughlin Photography

& Ben Buben by Click Away Photography

4–Charlotte & Clayton Roberts by Millie Holloman Photography

& Jordan Sease by Demi Mabry

Grace & Blake Krause by Katy Clatterbaugh, Katheryn Jeanne Photography

8–Hailee

9–Isabelle

8 9

Find

11–Suzy

12–Leanna

or use the QR code to start reading online.

For more wedding inspiration, follow @weddings_by_southpark

7–Emily & Alex Garcia by Ally and Bobby Fine Art Photography

& Alston Bridges by Casey Hendrickson Photography

& Drew Boyd by Amy Kolodziej, Amy Kolo Photography

10–Komal Mathur & Pranav Trivedi by Amy Kolodziej, Amy Kolo Photography

Levett & Andy Griesinger by Amy Kolodziej, Amy Kolo Photography

& Gerald Evariste by Timeless Carolinas SP

Weddings by SouthPark at south Charlotte retailers

e Village on Morehead has ushered in sophisticated retirement living in the Queen City. Surrounded by the heritage neighborhoods of Eastover, Myers Park and Dilworth – its impeccable nishes, Aspenwood service detail, dining and resort-style amenities make it the premier address. Impressive, spacious residential oor plans, oor to ceiling windows, expansive terraces allow a new level of indoor-outdoor living. Spaces designed for entertaining, tness, relaxation and a dedicated team provide a secure, lock and leave lifestyle for members.

Our approach to customized living continues by partnering with an accredited home care provider that serves you in the comfort of your residence. Making things easy, private and reliable when you need on-site health and wellness services. From personal care to therapy – nursing to companionship services, you can rely on a care plan that ts with your needs and schedule.

EIGHTY GOING ON 17

Judy Goldman’s latest book, The Rest of Our Lives, posits that, no matter how old we are, we’re all ‘still kids grappling.’ by Page Leggett

If you’ve ever been surprised to be called “ma’am” or “sir” — since you’d swear that you and the (relative) youngster who’s “ma’am’ing” you are the same age — you’ll relate to Judy Goldman’s new memoir.

“Yesterday reminds me of today because inside, I’m just a kid,” writes Goldman in the prologue to The Rest of Our Lives, her eighth book. “Regardless of our age, we’re all still kids grappling.”

We age. Our bodies change. Our laugh lines grow more pronounced.

My hair is now tinged with gray, but I’m still the awkward teenager hoping Sun-In plus peak tanning hours will lighten my mousy brown hair. I’ll turn 60 in September, yet I’m surprised when I get a senior discount. Wasn’t it just yesterday I was thrilled to get carded?

What a relief to know that Goldman, 83, still feels the same way. The latest book from Charlotte’s beloved author of Child, Together and Losing My Sister isn’t just for the folks eating dinner at 5 p.m. at Shady Acres.

“I was afraid, because I was 80 when I was working on this book, that I’d end up writing a Hallmark card — you know, doilies and rainbows,” Goldman says. “I didn’t want to write that book, so I was always pushing against it. I wanted to avoid sentimentality, but aging is a sentimental subject. I really hoped this would be sort of a guide for 40-year-olds, 80-year-olds and everybody in between.”

Our conversation has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.

Do you believe that wisdom is the great gift that comes with aging? Are we really older and wiser — or just older?

My husband — we’ve been married 58 years — says that “On The Other Hand” should be on my gravestone because I see two sides to every issue, which can make life confusing. So, yes and no are the answers to your question.

Yes, we have the benefit of experience, and that gives us a certain amount of wisdom. But we’re still encountering the unfamiliar. Every stage, including old age, is uncharted territory we’re trying to figure out.

Yes! Early in the book, you say you agree with two friends in your breakfast group — one who thinks about death every day and one who never contemplates it.

Right. I have some of each inside me. I’m living my life as though I’m 40. I’m busy. I’m doing a lot of the same things I did when I was 40. I’m writing, walking, seeing my friends, having people over for dinner. But I think about death a lot, and I act as though it’s never going to come.

I think my fascination with old age comes from not having grandparents. I was always so envious of my friends who did. What you don’t have, you’re curious about. My children didn’t have their grandparents very long, so that’s been sort of a theme in our family. It’s why I’m amazed that I’m 83.

We’re basically always the same people — just in different bodies. You write at one point, “I forget I’m old.” I totally get it. I don’t feel 60 — but the world often reminds me I am. Qualifying for a senior discount is shocking.

We’re always shocked at every age we are. We turn 20, and we’re shocked. We turn 40, and we’re shocked. I was shocked to be 80. But 80 is like 17. A lot of the things I was concerned about then, I’m still concerned about.

You also write that your family was always “in love with beginnings. Endings not so much.” Is there anybody in your life who handles endings well? Or who handles change and the unexpected well?

Oh, my father was so good at what I’m not good at. He was good at facing uncertainty.

He had a saying: “If you’re going to do business, you have to do it in today’s climate.” What he meant was that you have to accept; you can’t have regrets …

At my age, the question of “Where do we live?” is ever-present. One minute, Henry and I feel fine here [in the condo to which she and her husband downsized]. And the next minute, I’m panicking that we haven’t moved to [a retirement community].

What do you hope readers take away from this book? Or do you even think about that?

I didn’t have any goals for the reader in mind when I was writing. I was just trying to be as real about this period of time as I could be. That was really my goal — to be honest in every way. But now that I’ve written it, I would like for readers to see how similar old age is to young age.

In this society, where there is such a premium placed on youth, we need to also place a premium on aging. As an old person — an 83-year-old — I don’t want reverence, exactly. I just think it adds to the richness of a person’s life to see aging as not so foreign, not so alien.

I was fascinated by this anecdote from the book: One of your best friends lost her middle-aged daughter to cancer. And her daughter said she didn’t feel like she was going to die. That was the night before she died. Do you know people who have been ready for death?

I think we’re all pretty good at denying the obvious. I don’t

think we live life as though there’s going to be an ending. I don’t think we entertain that thought easily. Again, we’re better at beginnings than endings.

I had breast cancer when I was, maybe, 70. I thought I’d appreciate each day I was given after that. But I don’t think you can sustain that attitude. The everyday moves in, and we become preoccupied with that. And maybe we’re meant to be preoccupied with taking the recycling out and picking up our prescriptions — to avoid thinking about the inevitable.

I’ve heard you say you’ll finish an early draft, print it out and arrange the pages on the floor to determine the best way to structure your book. Did you do that this time?

The easiest way to structure a memoir is chronologically. And that’s what I did with this book. But I didn’t know that’s what I’d do until I was nearly finished.

Everything I do in writing is by instinct. I really believe that your subconscious does a lot of the work for you if you just take your time, listen and pay attention. I don’t worry a lot about structure in the early drafts — only near the end.

Are you working on another book?

I do have something in the works, even though I said Child (published in 2022) would be my last. My family has laughed for years that I always say my most recent book was my last. I keep finding more to write about. SP

Judy Goldman will read from her new memoir, The Rest of Our Lives, at Park Road Books on May 6 at 7 p.m. The cover art was designed by Goldman’s daughter, Charlotte artist Laurie Smithwick.

MORE THAN A GAME

CMS leads the way in recognizing girls flag football in high school sports.

by Ashley Stroehlein

They’re fierce, tough and competitive. With each practice and game, the girls of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ flag football program are proving they belong.

“It’s harder than it looks for sure — it’s a very athletic sport. It has all of the components of regular football that men play,” says Myers Park High School senior and fourth-year flag football player Ava Haygood. “You have to use that fierceness and put it into energy.”

Haygood started playing in 2022, the same year the Carolina Panthers piloted a girls flag football program for CMS. The response was overwhelming. Organizers expected a few schools to sign on. Instead, an incredible 20 out of 21 high schools joined the Panthers’ flag football initiative, along with Charlotte Catholic.

Now, there are 30 teams competing, and every CMS high school has a varsity team. The demand for junior varsity teams is growing, too.

“I think now as we’re going into year four, we have narrowed it down to the kids that are very serious,” says Ericia Turner, CMS executive director of athletics. “They’re more competitive. We’re going out here to win.”

Championing women in football is not a new priority for the Panthers, who will host the CMS Athletics Girls High School Flag Football Championship on May 18. Former head coach Ron Rivera became the first NFL head coach to hire a female assistant. Before becoming CEO of Tepper Sports and Entertainment, Kristi Coleman was team president, one of only two in the NFL at the time.

Now another barrier is falling away — participation.

“When you look at how girls and women are engaging in the sport of football… it’s really remarkable,” says Riley Fields, director of community relations for the Carolina Panthers. “The girls have a real hunger and desire to compete,” he says, noting their intensity about the game. “I’d also say that there is a level of joy in how they compete.”

Ask any coach or player, they’ll tell you — flag football is the real deal.

“Flag has made me change so much as a person,” Haygood says about the benefit of being part of her team. “I love being outside playing the sport, and I just think it’s such a great outlet for me.”

“The girls coming to try out have been coming with more and more talent,” says Myers Park flag football coach Hannah Smith. It’s a testament, she says, to more student-athletes taking the sport seriously.

LEADING THE WAY

Statewide, 17 school districts — and counting — have flag football pilot programs. Fields says CMS laid the groundwork for that statewide growth.

“Our intentions have been clear from the start. We want to see the sport sanctioned as a varsity sport in the state, which would be transformative from the standpoint that you’re providing girls with a new outlet of participation,” Fields says.

As an independent practice, creating stronger relationships is what Tryon is all about. Always has been, and always will be.

See the difference today at tryonmed.com

ALLSTARS SPRING

Flag football is currently sanctioned in 14 states. Once that happens in North Carolina, high school teams would be eligible to compete for a varsity state championship.

“We hope that it becomes a sanctioned sport,” says Brooke Simmons, another flag football coach at Myers Park. “I think that just getting it out there and getting more support… will help.”

While there’s no state championship trophy to compete for this season, there’s still pride in taking the field.

“It’s bigger than the Xs and Os, right?,” says Turner. “I want them to understand that they’re part of — I don’t call it history — I call it HERstory. They’re creating a legacy for people [who are] coming behind them.”

With every touchdown, Turner says these studentathletes are challenging societal norms and shrugging off the naysayers. SP

Ava Haygood

Coach Brooke Simmons

Coach Hannah Smith

UNRIVALED LUXURY

Experience

FRENCH FINESSE & SOUTHERN SOUL

by Asha Ellison | photographs by Justin Driscoll

The scent of rich, yeasty dough mingles with the spring air as Leressa Rucker coaxes magic from flour and butter. Rucker wears the vibrant, almost-electric fragrance of Meyer lemons like a second skin — a heady perfume that tells the story of her past, her present and the future she is writing for herself as executive pastry chef at Charlotte’s Carolina Farm Trust (CFT). The nonprofit organization supports local agriculture and provides fresh food to area neighbors who may not otherwise have access.

Rucker carries within her the heart of Amherst, Virginia, where she grew up chasing fireflies on her grandfather’s 130-acre farm. It’s where, at 8 years old, she learned the rhythm of the kitchen and the dance of the planting and harvesting seasons, and it’s where her love for the culinary arts began. Cooking is in her DNA; it’s her heritage.

“Everybody in my family is a caterer or chef,” says Rucker, recalling the depth of her family’s culinary ties. “My great-grandfather was an executive pastry chef, so I sort of took the reins from him.”

For Rucker, the journey to becoming a pastry chef herself was ripe with trial and error. At one point, she found herself stuck at a fork in the road.

“I actually thought I wanted to go to law school,” Rucker says, laughing heartily at the memory. “I took a law class and failed it, and my mom was like, ‘Leressa, just do what you’re good at.’ And that was baking.”

Support for Rucker’s culinary endeavors came early. High school classmates would salivate over her confections, hoping to find their names on the thoughtfully cultivated list of friends she treated to something sweet on Valentine’s Day or at Christmas. And members of her own family waited hungrily for Rucker to make rounds about town with her desserts in tow.

“My mom and her friends would always buy me kid-themed cookbooks,” Rucker says,

recalling the $20 weekly allowance her mother gave her to shop for baking supplies. “I would buy what I wanted, test-batch [a recipe], make it, and then I could sell it — usually to my uncles — or take it to church.”

Through education, Rucker mastered the elegance and precision of French pastry-making. She earned degrees in baking and pastry and food service management at Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte. And while she’d grown fluent in the language of French pastry, Rucker’s soul remained rooted in the rich, comforting flavors of the South.

Tale of the plate: Meyer lemon croissants by Leressa Rucker

“I’ve been in French restaurants and brasseries for years,” explains Rucker, “but I also have Southern influence, having grown up on the farm. Because of that, I try to incorporate a lot of my grandparents’ recipes into all that I do.”

This fusion of French finesse and Southern soul remains the essence of her cooking today — along with a bit of divine inspiration, according to Rucker.

“I attribute all of my creativity to the Lord. The Holy Spirit tells me what I need to make.”

Previously with Mother Earth Group (Something Classic, Coquette, Mariposa), Rucker’s decision to join CFT in July 2024 was a natural progression. Intrigued by the organization’s sustainable food mission and being a farm girl herself, Rucker says she is impressed with the Trust’s network of local farmers. She’s also discovered a new appreciation for the nuances of working with seasonal ingredients.

“It’s been a challenge, but a good one — just like making croissants,” she says. “They are my favorite to make because they require a bit of work, but when you do it right, it’s good.”

Her recipe, which she says tastes “literally like lemon meringue

pie,” is a tribute to her heritage and her skill. The meticulous steps of the recipe, from the warm milk and yeast mixture to the delicate lamination of butter, are a reflection of Rucker’s dedication to her craft — something she challenges the home baker to also approach with the same Michelin-star mindset she encourages from her team at CFT.

“It’s important to have fun with it,” Rucker says. “You probably won’t get it right in the beginning. You’ll likely overproof the dough, the butter will run out or you may burn them. But your skills will come with time and practice.”

“You like to bake, right?” she asks you, the reader. “[Getting technical] is what’s going to help you hone your craft and master it.” SP

Ready for a baking challenge? Scan the QR code for chef Rucker’s recipe for Meyer lemon croissants.

Chef Leressa Rucker can be found with the Carolina Farm Trust team at local festivals throughout the year,. Supporters can also find CFT’s food truck at local farmers markets or keep up with their happenings online at carolinafarmtrust.org

HOBIE MIRAGE OUTBACK

Leressa Rucker

THE PATH FORWARD COLLECTION

by Babette

Reynolds

“Maybe the desire to make something beautiful is the piece of God that is inside each of us.”

This quote from poet Mary Oliver has always inspired North Carolina contemporary landscape artist Babette Reynolds. The words come alive in her most recent project, “The Path Forward’’ collection, influenced by Reynolds’ love of the Blue Ridge Mountains and Western North Carolina. Reynolds has been an artist for decades and began painting in oil and cold wax 10 years ago. When Hurricane Helene devastated WNC in September 2024, she created The Path Forward collection with 50% of her proceeds being donated to ongoing WNC relief efforts.

In addition to being an artist, Reynolds is an attorney and risk management executive at Bank of America. She previously served as an officer in the US Army and practiced law in Charlotte.

While Reynolds thrives on the challenges of her work at Bank of America, she also has a passion for sharing her vision of the world through her paintings.

“My work tells the story of our deep connection to each other through our love of nature and the sense of awe and reverence we feel in the mountains,’’ says Reynolds, who plans to open a gallery with her fiancé in Asheville in November, with a show featuring WNC artists impacted by Hurricane Helene.

The Path Forward collection is showing at Carolina Fine Art in Charlotte through April. Her work is also at Horizon Fine Art in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and at BabetteReynolds.com.

shop

Ann Sacks opened a design studio at Morrison shopping center. The showroom highlights Ann Sacks’ ceramic, concrete, porcelain and stone tile collection and its sister brands, which include Kallista and Kohler plumbing. The studio is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Queen & Cotton opened in NoDa, selling graphic tees, trucker hats and other apparel featuring original designs. Husband-and-wife duo Travis Blain and Tal Benamor started the brand in 2021. Blain’s designs, inspired by the West Coast surf and skate scene, incorporate Charlotte’s pop culture, sports and brewery scene.

Seemingly Overzealous

eat + drink

Vegan ice cream shop Seemingly Overzealous will open its third location on East Boulevard in Dilworth, next to Sunflour Baking Co.  Tommy Bahama Marlin Bar opened at SouthPark Mall, in the West Plaza area near Dick’s Sporting Goods and The Container Store.

Palestra Boutique Spa at Apex SouthPark debuted a new yoga studio in collaboration with Alight Yoga. Offerings include yoga, reiki, sound baths and other holistic experiences.

Queen & Cotton

ALL THINGS GIRLY

LoveShackFancy is popping up at Phillips Place for four months this spring and summer. The uber-popular, ultra-feminine brand is known for its flowy floral dresses, skirts and accessories with romantic details like ruffles, bows and playful patterns.

$2,200,000

“We love our Southern girls so much, and North Carolina has embraced the world of LoveShackFancy in the most beautiful way,” said LoveShackFancy founder and creative director Rebecca Hessel Cohen, who started the brand in 2013. The pop-up opened April 25 in the 1,865-square-foot storefront across from Peter Millar at 6822 Phillips Place Court, Ste. G. Store hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Sat. and Sundays from noon-5 p.m.

Founder Rebecca Hessel Cohen

COMING TO COTSWOLD

Sycamore Brewing is adding a 7,000-square-foot location at Cotswold Village in southeast Charlotte, along with an 11,000-square-foot beer garden. The new addition will directly face Randolph Road, across from the Chick-Fil-A in the current Visionworks space and parking lot. The Cotswold

location will be designed with families in mind, making space for brunches, live music and kid-friendly activities. “We’re thrilled to expand into Cotswold and create a place where people can relax, connect and enjoy what we do best,” Sycamore co-founder Sarah Brigham said in a news release. The brewery is expected to open in summer 2026. SP

painting & remodeling services

With an intuitive eye for design and a commitment to fine craftsmanship, John Castano founded Avid Painting in 2004. His detailoriented project management skills, welcoming personality and reliable, meticulous team have made Avid the Charlotte area’s premier company for painting and cosmetic remodeling services.

Say goodbye to multiple contractors, frustrating project delays and inconvenient scheduling hassles. Avid offers a turnkey, white-glove process, ensuring projects are stress-free and streamlined. From color consultation to custom carpentry, tiling and molding to interior/exterior painting, Avid’s trustworthy team can take care of your home or business from top to bottom — guaranteeing the work is done right, on time and exceeds your expectations.

Avid’s commitment to customers goes beyond individual projects to serving the Charlotte community. The company is a member of the Interior Design Society of Charlotte, The Preservation Society for The Duke Mansion, the Home Builders Association of Greater Charlotte, the Latin American Chamber of Commerce of Charlotte and many other worthy organizations in the Charlotte area.

Get started with Avid with a free, onsite consultation and receive a detailed estimate within one to two days.

Elevate your space with experienced professionals who produce reliable, beautiful results.

May HAPPENINGS

For more arts happenings this month, view our 2025 Arts Preview online at southparkmagazine.com.

Lovin’ Life Music Fest

May 2-4 More than 50 musical acts play in uptown at First Ward Park over three days. Headliners include Gwen Stefani, Dave Matthews Band and Benson Boone. Tickets start at $129 plus fees.

South Carolina Strawberry Festival

May 2-3 Celebrate the first fruits of summer with live music, food trucks, shopping, a fun zone and more. There are contests, too: See who can eat the most strawberry doughnuts, ice cream or hot wings. Walter Elisha Park, Fort Mill.

Art in the Garden Tour

May 3-4 This annual fundraiser for the Charlotte Garden Club showcases six private gardens, from Providence Park to Montibello. Tickets are $35.

Small Batch Concert Series: Alan Mearns

May 8 Classical radio station WDAV wraps up the spring music series with Alan Mearns, a classical guitar virtuoso and composer, at Free Range Brewing in NoDa. Reserve seats at wdav.org.

FOLLOW THE MUSIC ...

to these outdoor venues all spring and summer.

SOUTHPARK AFTER 5

Thursdays starting at 5 p.m.

Bring a chair or blanket and enjoy free concerts at Symphony Park through May 22. Grab a bite or drink and take in the free hands-on art experiences each week. No outside beverages or coolers.

RIVER JAM

Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights

This series at the Whitewater Center hosts more than 80 concerts through September. Expect local and national bands with sounds of Americana, roots and soul. Daily parking fee is $12.

THE AMP

The music ramps up in May at this amphitheater in the heart of Ballantyne. Highlights this month include Yacht Rock Revue (May 14) and Wilco (May 15).

ROOTED RHYTHM CONCERT SERIES

Thursday evenings

Head to Anne Springs Close Greenway in Fort Mill to take in nature and live music all summer. Bring a chair or blanket to relax and grab food and refreshments from The Greenway Canteen’s food truck. The first concert is May 8. Tickets are $7 per adult; parking is $5.

Sunday in the Park with George

May 9-10 Queen City Concerts presents this Stephen Sondheim musical inspired by a famous Georges Seurat painting and the artist himself. It’s a story about life, love and the creation of art. Tickets start around $25, Booth Playhouse.

Black and White at Jerald Melberg Gallery

May 10-June 21 This group exhibition features works in black and white, a palette thought to evoke feelings of nostalgia, elegance or stark realism. Works by Donald Sultan, Brian Rutenberg, Tula Telfair and others will be on view.

Meck Mile

May 10 All ages and all experience levels are welcome to run, walk, skip or dance their way through Memorial Stadium. The daylong festivities include food, cheer stations, live music and a kids zone. Registration costs vary.

PGA Hope TEE-OFF Concert

May 16 | 6 p.m. Enjoy food trucks, craft beverages and live music from Sol Fusion at Symphony Park. Tickets start at $25.28.

Secret Gardens of Fourth Ward

May 17-18 | noon-4 p.m. Take a self-guided tour of private gardens in picturesque Fourth

Ward, with food and cocktail tastings along the way. Tour stops include the soon-to-open Spaghett and the Dunhill Hotel, plus an open house at McNinch House, with live jazz on the porch. Tickets start at $30.

Les Misérables

May 20-25 It’s still the most popular musical in the world. Set against the backdrop of 19th century France, Les Mis tells a sweeping story of broken dreams and unrequited love, sacrifice and redemption. Belk Theater; tickets start around $46.

Coca-Cola 600

May 25 Festivities during this Memorial Day weekend tradition at Charlotte Motor Speedway include military appreciation events, a pre-race concert by Old Dominion, plus driver appearances.

PHILDANCO!

May 28 The Philadelphia Dance Company was founded during the Civil Rights Movement to provide opportunities to Black dancers. The Gantt Center brings this dynamic group to Knight Theater. SP

Scan the QR code on your mobile device to stay updated on events at southparkmagazine.com.

RESPONSIVE, RESULTS-DRIVEN TAX EXPERTISE

Emphasizing e ectiveness and e ciency, Culp Elliott & Carpenter, P.L.L.C. provides unmatched transactional and tax law expertise paired with client-centered representation.

Successful individuals, entrepreneurs, and business owners deserve cutting-edge tax advice and guidance—and that’s what they get at Charlotte-based Culp Elliott & Carpenter, P.L.L.C. Founded in 1982, the experienced law rm provides innovative and e ective tax, legal, and nancial solutions backed by more than four decades of experience.

“We believe in developing lifelong relationships with our clients. As their mosttrusted advisor, we strive to add value to their companies

“We believe in developing lifelong relationships with our clients. As their most-trusted advisor, we strive to add value to their companies and lives.

and lives,” says W. Curtis Elliott Jr., partner. at’s why the rm’s tenured partners, attorneys, and certi ed public accountants work hard to help family-owned, entrepreneurial businesses minimize their income and estate tax liabilities.

“Taxes can drastically cut pro t margins and threaten a business’s viability,” says Elliott. “ e estate tax burden alone can be formidable for those transitioning a family business from one generation to the next.”

“But we like to say it’s a voluntary tax,” adds tax and

Forbes, Fortune & Entrepreneur

real estate partner John “Jody” Carpenter. “Most people don’t like paying taxes. When business owners want to avoid heavy estate and income taxes, they choose Culp Elliott & Carpenter. We’ll structure the ownership of their entities and assets to legally preserve and protect their wealth.”

Client-Centered Solutions

At Culp Elliott & Carpenter, tax experts provide clientcentered solutions paired with dedicated service. It’s one reason many clients have been with the rm for over 35 years, says Elliott.

“We get to know our clients and develop long-term, personal relationships that let us understand their goals and objectives,” he explains.

With a curated team that upholds the rm’s high standard of integrity and client con dentiality, the practice serves a diverse range of transactional, tax controversy, and estate planning clients across all 50 states.

“I enjoy tackling tough problems for clients and helping them solve their tax challenges in the best manner possible,” Elliott says. From complicated commercial transactions to complex tax scenarios, the Culp Elliott & Carpenter team stands far above the competition— especially when negotiating fair and reasonable settlements with the IRS and state taxing departments.

“Most tax lawyers don’t want to see the inside of a courtroom, but we thrive on providing vigorous trial representation in the U.S. Tax Court on large, complex cases,” says Elliott, who leads the rm’s tax controversy and litigation e orts.

W. Curtis Elliott Jr. and John “Jody” Carpenter

An expert in 1031 exchanges, partnership tax strategies, Quali ed Opportunity Zones, and other complex real estate tax issues, Carpenter spearheads Culp Elliott & Carpenter’s commercial real estate practice, where clients receive transactional representation and sophisticated tax advice. e rm also achieves signi cant e ciencies with computerized document drafting systems.

“I’ve enjoyed practicing alongside my partners for more than three decades, and that’s something most attorneys can’t say,” Carpenter says. “But it’s a testament to our strength. And we’ll continue leveraging that experience for every client, every day.”

SUSPENSE ON SUNDAY

Tanglewood, the fabled municipal course in Forsyth County, featured down-to-the-wire drama with two of pro golf’s most legendary figures at the 1974 PGA Championship.

by Michael J. Solender

After Lee Trevino carded an opening-round 73 (3 over par) at the 1974 PGA Championship at Tanglewood Park’s Championship Course, nearly one-third of the field — 43 players — were ahead of him on the leaderboard. It was an inauspicious start for the 34-year-old, a four-time major champion who had already won the U.S. Open and British Open twice. That week, heavy rain had prevented the rough from being mowed, leaving the dense Bermuda grass tougher than ever at Tanglewood, a municipal course in Clemmons, just outside Winston-Salem.

A STORIED COURSE

Tanglewood is only 85 miles from Charlotte’s Quail Hollow Club, host of this year’s 107th PGA Championship. The 1974 PGA Championship marked only the second time the prestigious event had been held in North Carolina. The first was in 1936 at Pinehurst No. 2, when the tournament used a match play format. Owned and operated by Forsyth County Parks & Recreation, Tanglewood had earned the respect of professional golfers who had played there. Over the years, the course hosted the 1986 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship (won by Billy Mayfair) and

1974 PGA Championship trophy ceremony

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the Senior Tour’s Vantage Championship from 1988-2002.

Spanning 1,110 acres, Tanglewood is the largest park in Forsyth County, with fishing, tennis, gardens, horse stables and an aquatic center. Originally part of land claimed by Sir Walter Raleigh for Queen Elizabeth in 1584, the property was acquired in 1921 by William Neal Reynolds, the brother of tobacco magnate R.J. Reynolds. In 1951, Reynolds willed the land to the citizens of Forsyth County.

Golf arrived at Tanglewood in 1958 when renowned architect Robert Trent Jones Sr. designed the Championship and Reynolds courses, along with a celebrated Par 3 course (which opened in 1960). In a 2018 renovation of the Championship course, greens were converted from bent grass to Bermuda and the bunkers were redesigned and restored. All three courses are open to the public.

“A FANTASTIC SET OF GREENS”

“Several characteristics make Tanglewood a great venue for championship golf,” says Mike Wilcox, the park’s head golf professional. “There are multiple lake holes that require almost every club in the bag. It’s well-bunkered, and the greens are exceptional, with tough pin placements. It’s just a fantastic set of greens for 18 holes of golf.”

While most Americans likely remember August 9, 1974, as the day Richard Nixon resigned the presidency, Trevino was focused on climbing the PGA Championship leaderboard. After a slow start on Thursday, he caught fire on Friday, shooting a 4-under 66, climbing to a tie for sixth place.

Using a borrowed putter that he found in the attic of his Bermuda Run rental home, Trevino found magic with the flatstick, recording just one 3-putt during the tournament. His third-round 68 put him at the top of the leaderboard.

Entering the final round, Trevino held a one-stroke lead over golf legend Jack Nicklaus and South African Bobby Cole. As Cole faded, Nicklaus made a charge, but Trevino held his ground, maintaining his one-shot lead heading into the 18th hole.

TREVINO HOLDS HIS NERVE

In a recent interview, Trevino recalled his nerves before putting out on the 18th. “I remember putting out for par before Jack putted because I looked at him and said, ‘Listen, if you don’t let me putt, I’m going to pass out.’ I was so nervous,” Trevino said. Nicklaus graciously allowed the small break in etiquette, and Trevino holed his final putt to claim the Wanamaker Trophy.

Tanglewood holds a special place in Trevino’s heart. He returned there in 1993 to win the Senior Tour’s Vantage Championship. “Tanglewood is one of the best hidden gems around,” Trevino has said. “For people who haven’t played it, they need to go and play there. It’s magnificent. I just absolutely love it.” SP

Want to play Tanglewood’s Championship Course? The course is located at 100 Clubhouse Circle, Clemmons. Rates are $38-66. golf.tanglewoodpark.org

Tanglewood’s Championship Course

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MAY BOOKS

Notable new releases

compiled by Sally Brewster

My Friends by Fredrik

Backman

Most people don’t even notice them — three tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier in the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world. Twenty-five years earlier, in a distant seaside town, a group of teenagers find refuge from their bruising home lives by spending long summer days on an abandoned pier, telling silly jokes, sharing secrets and committing small acts of rebellion. These lost souls find in each other a reason to get up each morning, a reason to dream, a reason to love. Out of that summer emerges a transcendent work of art, a painting that will unexpectedly be placed into 18-year-old Louisa’s care. She embarks on a surprise-filled, cross-country journey to learn how the painting came to be. Louisa is proof that happy endings don’t always take the form we expect in this stunning testament to the transformative, timeless power of friendship and art.

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

Alice Scott is an eternal optimist still dreaming of her big writing break. Hayden Anderson is a Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud. And they’re both on balmy Little Crescent Island to write the biography of a reclusive octogenarian, Margaret Ives, a former tabloid princess and daughter of one of the most storied (and scandalous) families of the 20th century. Margaret invites them both for a one-month trial period, after which she’ll choose the person who’ll tell her story. But the problem is, Margaret is only giving each of them pieces of her story. Pieces they can’t swap to put together because of an ironclad NDA and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they’re in the same room. And it’s becoming abundantly clear that their story — just like the tale Margaret’s spinning — could be a mystery, tragedy or love ballad … depending on who’s telling it.

Run for the Hills by Kevin Wilson

Ever since her dad left them 20 years ago, it’s been just Madeline Hill and her mom on their farm in Coalfield, Tennessee. While it’s a bit lonely, she sometimes admits, and a less exciting life than what she imagined for herself, it’s mostly OK. Then one day, Reuben Hill pulls up in a PT Cruiser and informs Madeline that he believes she’s his half sister. Reuben, left behind by their dad 30 years ago, hired

a detective to track down their father and a string of other half siblings. And he wants Mad to leave her home and join him for the craziest kind of road trip imaginable to find them all.

Fever Beach by Carl Hiaasen

“The afternoon of September first, dishwater-gray and rainy, a man named Dale Figgo picked up a hitchhiker on Gus Grissom Boulevard in Tangelo Shores, Florida. The hitchhiker, who reminded Figgo of Danny DeVito, asked for a lift to the interstate. Figgo said he’d take him there after finishing an errand.” Figgo, it turns out, is the only hate-monger ever to be kicked out of the Proud Boys for being too dumb and incompetent. Figgo’s already messy life is about to get more complicated, thanks to two formidable adversaries. Viva Morales is a newly transplanted Floridian, a clever woman recently taken to the cleaners by her ex-husband and now working at the Mink Foundation, a supposedly philanthropic organization, and renting a room in Figgo’s apartment. Twilly Spree has an anger-management problem and way too many inherited millions of dollars. Viva and Twilly are plunged into a mystery — involving dark money and darker motives — they are determined to solve, and become entangled in a world populated by some of Hiaasen’s most outrageous characters.

The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong

One late summer evening in the post-industrial town of East Gladness, Connecticut, 19-year-old Hai stands on the edge of a bridge in pelting rain, ready to jump, when he hears someone shout across the river. The voice belongs to Grazina, an elderly widow succumbing to dementia, who convinces him to take another path. Bereft and out of options, he quickly becomes her caretaker. The unlikely pair develops a life-altering bond, one built on empathy, spiritual reckoning and heartbreak, with the power to transform Hai’s relationship to himself, his family and a community on the brink. Following the cycles of history, memory and time, The Emperor of Gladness shows the profound ways in which love, labor and loneliness form the bedrock of American life. SP

Sally Brewster is the proprietor of Park Road Books, 4139 Park Rd., parkroadbooks.com.

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GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

The legendary newspaperwoman who changed my life by Jim Dodson

According to latest government projections, a record 3.7 million high school kids and 4.1 million college students will graduate this spring. In a world turned upside down by partisan politics and unpredictable economics, worries about the future are understandable.

Once upon a time, I was there myself, waiting for the direction of my life to present itself. In late spring 1976, America’s bicentennial year, I was enrolled in a new MFA writing program at UNC Greensboro and working part time for my dad in advertising until I could figure out what to do with my life. America was slowly coming out of a powerful recession, and job prospects were thin on the ground.

Sadly — or maybe not — I turned out to be a lousy ad salesman. I could talk up a storm with my old man’s clients but never quite close the deal.

I also had an alternative plan of caddying for a year on the PGA Tour, which proved to be a bust when I was assigned a wisecracking CBS TV star for the Wednesday celebrity pro-am who’d never played the game. He told vulgar jokes to young women in the crowd and roguishly passed gas loudly to amuse the gallery. After a long and humiliating afternoon fetching my client’s lost golf balls from creeks, backyards and thorny bushes, he handed

me a $2 tip and advised with a wink, “Don’t spend all that in one place, Sonny.”

I hurried straight to the Sedgefield Country Club bar with just that in mind.

At that early hour, the bar was empty save for an elderly gentleman nursing a cocktail. As I drank my beer, to my shock and delight, I realized the man at the end of the bar was none other than Henry Longhurst, the celebrated Sunday Times golf writer and CBS commentator — one of my literary heroes.

“Young man,” he spoke up with his charming grumble, “you look like I feel most mornings when confronting myself in the bathroom mirror.”

When I mentioned my horrible afternoon of caddying for a farting buffoon who killed my dream of working on the Tour, Henry “Longthirst” simply smiled. He asked what other options I had in mind. Confessing that my heart wasn’t into my graduate studies, I boldly commented that my real goal was to someday become a golf writer.

Longhurst nodded and slowly rose, placing a fiver on the counter. As he headed to the door, he placed his hand on my shoulder and said quietly, “Well, young man, if you do decide to write about this ancient game, you will find no shortage of rogues,

bounders and peculiar characters, but also inspiring champions and some of the finest people on Earth. Good luck to you, then!”

I was thrilled by this encounter, taking it as a sign that the universe would deliver something good down the fairway of life.

A few days later, I received a phone call from Juanita Weekley, the managing editor of the city’s beloved afternoon newspaper, where I’d interned for two summers. She invited me to drop by for an interview.

“Be here at 5:30 sharp,” she said. “But don’t get your hopes up. You have lots of competition.”

I found her alone in her office the next afternoon. “Come in and close the door,” she said in her famous no-nonsense way.

Mrs. Weekley was a newspaper pioneer, the first woman to edit a major newspaper in the state, who reminded me of Lou Grant, the crusty editor from The Mary Tyler Moore Show. As I sat down, she pointed to a stack of folders on her desk. “These are applications from half a dozen outstanding candidates for this job … My question to you is, why should I even consider a skinny white kid from the west side of Greensboro?”

Brazenly, I replied, “Because I’ll write circles around them all.”

Madam Weekley did not appear amused. Instead, she reached over her desk, picked up the wickedest-looking letter opener I’d ever seen and tapped it slowly on her desk.

“OK,” she said after a long pause. “I’m going to take a chance

on you. But listen closely. If you’re not the best damn writer in this newspaper in a year, I’ll chase you out of the building with this thing.”

I spent the next year writing like mad to avoid being run off by her sharp tongue and even sharper letter opener. At one point, however, Mrs. Weekley called me into her office and handed me the keys to a wheezing, 1970 Day-Glo orange AMC Pacer staff car and instructed me to drive a 75-mile circumference around the Gate City, searching for “good stories about country life” for the Sunday paper.

“Think of it this way,” she said. “You’ll be our version of Charles Kuralt, writing about rural life and colorful characters you meet along the way. It’s right up your alley.”

She wasn’t wrong.

Over the next six weeks, roaming the backroads of the western Piedmont and the Blue Ridge foothills country, I found an assortment of fascinating small-town stories and colorful folks to write about, including several homegrown artists, a brilliant Yaleeducated physician running a clinic in an impoverished mountain town, an award-winning poet, a famous moonshiner and a talent-show winner whose mom invited me to marry her daughter after she graduated from high school. I politely declined.

Looking back, it was the best job any rookie reporter ever had — one that shaped my life.

My “country” tales won a major newspaper award and landed me a staff job at the Sunday magazine of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Two decades later, I was back in my hometown on a national book tour for my bestselling memoir, Final Rounds

I stopped off to say hello to the pioneering woman who took a chance on me way back when, and bring her a signed copy of my book.

Weekley was in declining health. But her face lit up when she opened the door. We hugged and sat for an hour, and I thanked her for not running me off with her letter opener.

As she walked me to the door, she took my hand. “I knew you were going to be a superb writer,” she said, holding back tears. “I just didn’t want you to know that! I couldn’t be prouder of you, dear. Hiring you was one of the best things I ever did in my career.”

I kissed her cheek and thanked her. “It would never have happened,” I said, “without you.”

Juanita Weekley passed away in 2003. Gone but never forgotten. SP

Jim Dodson is a writer in Greensboro. His 17th book, The Road That Made America: A Modern Pilgrim Travels the Great Wagon Road, will be published on July 1 and is available for pre-order on Amazon.

We’ve all been there: so sure that this is the time we’re finally going to start that new habit — or kick an old one. But somehow, we find ourselves stuck. Why? Because change is hard! The Stages of Change Model, developed by psychologists James Prochaska and Carlo DiClemente, explains why change doesn’t just happen overnight. It’s a process, and understanding this can help us work with our brains instead of against them.

Our brains like routine and comfort. They crave the familiar, even when what’s familiar isn’t necessarily good for us. That’s why breaking old habits and forming new ones isn’t just about willpower but understanding the psychology behind it. When we recognize what stage of change we’re in, we have a better chance of pinpointing what to do next.

In stage 1, called “precontemplation,” people don’t even realize they need to change. They’re blissfully unaware that there’s a problem or issue, or in full-blown denial. Often in this step, one needs to improve their self-awareness. If you keep running into the same problems, practice some honest, deep self-reflection.

Stage 2 is “contemplation,” where people start to believe there might be a problem. They begin to realize that something needs to change, but they’re still on the fence. They weigh the pros and cons, and while they see the benefits, the effort seems overwhelming. Here, instead of focusing on what you’ll lose, focus on what you’ll gain. Change feels a lot less scary when it’s connected to your values.

Stage 3 is “preparation,” in which we’re more committed to making a change and even actively planning how to do it. Maybe we’re researching, setting goals and gathering supplies. Maybe we even start experiencing small shifts. You absolutely want to give yourself credit for preparing, but don’t get stuck in the “planning trap” where you never actually take action.

Stage 4, “action,” is where the rubber meets the road. You’ve committed, and you’re following through with building habits gradually. Remember here: progress over perfection. Change isn’t instant, and setbacks happen. The key is consistency and continuing to put in the effort.

WHY CHANGE IS HARD

Breaking old habits — and forming new ones — is a process. by Juliet

The last stage, stage 5, is “maintenance,” in which you’ve made the change and stuck with it for a while. It’s starting to feel like a normal part of your life. Keep reinforcing the habits that helped you get here. It can also help to surround yourself with supportive people who keep you accountable.

Of course, there is sometimes a sixth stage of “relapse” where, despite your best efforts, you slide back into old habits. A setback isn’t a failure, it’s just part of the process. You can learn from it, adjust and get back on track.

With change, you can learn to take one step at a time, one choice at a time. Knowing where you are in these stages can help you work smarter, not harder. Approach change with more patience, strategy and self-compassion. Instead of giving yourself a hard time for struggling, recognize that struggle as a natural part of the process and keep moving forward. The more you practice a behavior, the easier it becomes. Because of neuroplasticity (the brain’s ability to rewire itself), each time you take a step toward change, no matter how small, you’re reinforcing new neural pathways that make the behavior more automatic over time.

Juliet spoke with Mike Gminski, former Duke University/NBA athlete and a basketball analyst who now shares his journey in sobriety. Below are excerpts from their interview, lightly edited.

For a lot of athletes, when they leave college or the professional space, they struggle since their identity has to shift.

When I retired, only 40 players in the history of the NBA had played that long or longer. Only 3,500 players have ever played in the NBA. That’s how small the club is. People’s dreams can end suddenly. I fulfilled all my dreams, but my career was over and I was 34 years old. That’s a lot of life left to live. And your brain is wired to be the best, and all of a sudden, here you are, faced with “what’s next?” You have this life to live and expectations of yourself, and how do you replace that? It’s a real struggle for a lot of guys.

Talk to us about the differences between playing collegiate and professional basketball.

The hardest thing for me was that I was really young. I had

Lam Kuehnle

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just turned 17 when I got to Duke. My age caught up to me in my rookie year in the NBA, playing against grown men. When I got into that new environment, everything seemed to be going really fast. In my third year, it finally slowed down and I felt comfortable. Let’s pivot to your story around substance use.

I started drinking at 15. Along the way, the athlete in me said,

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“I don’t need any help.” I went through so much grief and trauma, and I kept drinking because I didn’t know how to cope and didn’t know how to ask for help. People gave me a pass for a couple years after my intense grief. The people around me couldn’t make me do what they wanted me to do desperately … Silence and isolation almost killed me. I won’t remain silent anymore. And I won’t remain in isolation anymore. In 2017, my Duke teammates saw where I was heading and tried to intervene, but I went off the grid for three years. I didn’t want to hear it from the people who were trying to help me. My pride and ego were still in the way. But that intervention in 2017 served a purpose. By me saying to those guys, “I know I have a problem,” served a purpose. Once you say you know, you can’t say you don’t know. Later, when my son compassionately staged an intervention, I was ready.

That’s part of the recipe for healing and sobriety: the relational piece.

All I can do is tell my story and let whoever is listening use it as they will.

What are the top things you’ve gained in sobriety?

Gratitude, humility and being of service. SP

Juliet Kuehnle is the owner and a therapist at Sun Counseling and Wellness. The full interview of Kuehnle’s “Who You Callin’ Crazy?!” featuring Mike Gminski can be found on Instagram @YepIGoToTherapy or wherever you stream podcasts.

Dr. Woo J Choe

Mike Giminski

A Symphony of Global Flavors in the Heart of Charlotte SEAGRILL

At Sea Grill, dining becomes an experience—a harmonious fusion of European elegance, Japanese precision, and modern American creativity. Led by two acclaimed chefs—one with over a decade in Europe’s most celebrated kitchens, the other a master of Japanese cuisine with more than 20 years of expertise—our menu is a celebration of craftsmanship and innovation.

Indulge in signature dishes like fresh truffle pasta, delicately tossed tableside in a 75-pound wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano, or our whole salt-baked branzino, presented with a dramatic tableside fire show. Our sushi program showcases pristine fish flown in directly from Japan twice a week, ensuring unparalleled freshness and authenticity. At the bar, artistry continues with cocktails that surprise and delight—try the Wasabi Martini, Oceanic Elixir, or Black Pearl for a one-of-a-kind sip.

Coming Soon: The Wine Dinner Redefined

An exclusive 11-course tasting experience, masterfully paired with exceptional wines and Champagne. A curated journey designed to elevate every sense:

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Reserve your table. Elevate your expectations.

ANNIE LEIBOVITZ / WORK is generously presented in Charlotte by Truist. Individual sponsorship is kindly provided by Jennifer and Alex Bauer, Mary and Walter Beaver, Hillary and Fairfax Cooper, Laura and Mike Grace, Jill and Mark Kelly, Noelle and Mark Mahoney, Staci and Jeff Mills, Mary and Dick Payne, Beth and Drew Quartapella, Mary Anne (M.A.) Rogers, Kati and Chris Small, Leigh-ann and Martin Sprock, Ann and Michael Tarwater, and Charlotte and John Wickham. The Mint Museum is supported, in part, by the City of Charlotte and the North Carolina Arts Council. ANNIE LEIBOVITZ / WORK is organized by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas. IMAGE: Annie Leibovitz, Bruce Springsteen on tour, Paris, 2016. Photo courtesy of the artist ©Annie Leibovitz.

THE PERFECT MATCH

Rory McIlroy and Quail Hollow Club

by Ron Green Jr.

It has been 15 years since that electric Sunday afternoon at Quail Hollow Club when Rory McIlroy formally introduced himself to American golf society.

McIlroy was still two days shy of his 21st birthday, and he was one hour removed from having played a round for the ages. Not only had McIlroy won the Quail Hollow Championship

for his first PGA Tour victory, he had done so by shooting a closing 10-under par 62 that crackled with a Zeus-like thunder. By finishing with six consecutive threes on his scorecard — the last one a 40-foot birdie putt that had McIlroy punching the air as his curls danced around the edges of his cap — the game’s new star had arrived, trailing sparks.

Rory McIlroy at the 18th green during the final round of the 2021 Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club

In the quiet of the Quail Hollow locker room after a Champagne toast with members, McIlroy stood between two rows of lockers, talking to his parents on the phone, the impending magnitude of his performance still settling over everyone.

The Earth was moving.

Television commentator David Feherty, a native of Northern Ireland like McIlroy, had walked the finishing stretch with the winner and said as he left the 18th green, “That’s the most impressive thing I’ve seen in a very, very long time.”

So it began, at least here in the United States, a golf story midway through its second decade that is painted in primary colors and piercing emotions.

This month, McIlroy returns to Quail Hollow Club, where he is now a member, and where he has won the annual PGA Tour event four times. This visit is different. Oh, so different. It’s the year’s second major, the PGA Championship, being played at a spot McIlroy has more than once called “one of my favorite places on Earth.” And now he’s got a green jacket hanging in his closet after winning

the Masters in a sudden-death playoff over Justin Rose, ending a nearly 11-year drought since his last major championship victory and making him just the sixth player to complete the career Grand Slam, joining Gene Sarazen, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Tiger Woods.

Fourteen years after losing a 4-stroke lead in the final round of the Masters, McIlroy’s victory sent him to his knees sobbing in relief and resonating throughout the golf world.

“It’s the best day of my golfing life,” said McIlroy, who had too much practice explaining his near-miss losses in major championships. “I’m very proud of myself. I’m proud of never giving up. I’m proud of how I kept coming back and dusting myself off and not letting the disappointments really get to me. Talking about that eternal optimist again. Yeah, very proud.”

When asked late last year if he knew where the 2025 PGA Championship would be played, McIlroy answered, “Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, and I cannot wait.”

Such is the tie that binds McIlroy to Charlotte — and, by ex-

Quail Hollow Club

tension, North Carolina — though his last competitive start in the Tar Heel State ended with one of the most emotionally devastating losses in his career, his runner-up finish to Bryson DeChambeau in the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2.

“It was a great day until it wasn’t,” McIlroy would say later.

McIlroy led by two strokes with five holes remaining and left brokenhearted, haunted by short misses on the 16th and 18th greens when it appeared he would end a decade-long drought in the majors. Instead, McIlroy drove away alone and silent and, while DeChambeau celebrated his victory, there was a bittersweetness in the summer air at Pinehurst that McIlroy, so beloved and so close, had been denied again.

As Tiger Woods stepped back and Phil Mickelson stepped away, McIlroy has grown into, arguably, golf’s biggest star. Part of it is the majesty of his skills, a mesmerizing blend of power and panache. Another part, the one that may define McIlroy, is the charismatic connection that has been forged in the fire of soaring successes and aching disappointments.

McIlroy has won 29 PGA Tour events, including five major championships and two Players Championships, and there are still questions about the ones that got away. He is judged against an almost impossibly high bar, one he set for himself with his own brilliance, and it comes with an emotional attachment from his fans that runs deeper than anyone else in the game.

McIlroy is charismatic, vulnerable, magnetic, thoughtful,

battle-scarred, curious, sharing and generous. Fans don’t just watch McIlroy play, they sign on for the ride, investing in him because he has so often returned that investment, whether with his thank-yous, his outspokenness or his natural charm.

Think of McIlroy and a library of images comes forward.

There he is hugging his father, Gerry, after his 8-stroke victory in the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club, barely two months removed from his final round collapse at the Masters.

A year later, laying his head back and letting the ocean breeze blow across him, he walked the final hole of another 8-stroke victory at the 2012 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island.

Then, in a sweet and touching moment, handing the Claret Jug to his mother, Rosie, after winning the 2014 Open Championship at Royal Liverpool.

There he is hoisting the FedEx Cup trophy in 2016 and 2019 and again in 2022.

Side by side, there’s McIlroy in tears after a gutting performance in a Ryder Cup loss at Whistling Straits in 2021, and another of him showering his European teammates in Champagne after wins in 2018 and 2023.

Walking stoically up the 18th fairway at the Old Course in 2022 after failing to make a birdie in the final round of the Open Championship, knowing he had the Claret Jug in his grasp again — until he didn’t.

Had any of us been there to see it, there was McIlroy alone in

Quail Hollow Club

New York City after his U.S. Open loss at Pinehurst, quietly walking The High Line for what he called a reset, “finding the joy in the small things in life.”

And now, having shed the awesome burden of time, there he is finding tears and joy, kneeling on the 18th green at Augusta National.

As golf has been torn apart by the battle between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf in recent years, McIlroy has often been at the nexus of the fiery debate about what is right and wrong, good and bad, possible and unacceptable. He wanted to be part of the solution, understanding that the PGA Tour’s money-heavy response to LIV Golf’s excesses benefited him as much as anyone. McIlroy was sharply critical of LIV’s approach, and his press conferences often became touchstones for how the establishment (meaning the PGA Tour) viewed what was happening.

Gradually, McIlroy tempered his stance, and while he vowed his lifetime allegiance to the PGA Tour, he sought harmony even as his role in the behind-the-scenes discussions diminished. His goal, it seemed, was to find the greater good, and he said as much.

“I have always said I will answer questions honestly. I don’t want to change that about myself. I think people appreciate that about me,” McIlroy said.

The day after McIlroy won the 2010 Wachovia Championship, I walked into the Charlotte Observer office, where I worked at the time, and more than one person asked who the kid was who won the golf tournament on Sunday.

“Probably the next great one,” I told them, not because I have a particular eye for talent, but seeing McIlroy in that moment pulled back the curtain on the future. “One of these days, you will remember he won his first one at Quail Hollow.”

With the return of the PGA Championship — it was played here in 2017 — the inevitable question arises: Can Rory still win majors in bunches, as he did to close out the 2014 season? Perhaps for an answer he can look to Sarazen, the first golfer to complete the career slam before there even was such a thing — when Sarazen won the Masters in 1935, the tournament was little more than an infant. McIlroy allowed nearly 11 years to roll past between major titles. Sarazen won three majors in 1922-23 and suffered a nine-year drought until he won four more from 1932-35, the last coming in Augusta. Can the newest member of the career Grand Slam club equal the fortunes of the first?

Here we are, 15 years after McIlroy’s first triumph in America. There are flecks of gray in his hair, but the boyishness remains, tempered only slightly by the years and the demands.

After winning his second Players Championship in March, McIlroy was asked if he still connects with his inner child when he wins.

That familiar smile crossed his face.

“Ten-year old Rory would think this is really, really cool,” he said.

He’s not the only one. SP

McIlroy at the 2024 U.S. Open in Pinehurst

Here FORE it!

Preppy styles are trending — and always in fashion when it comes to golf. Style editor Whitley Adkins mixes and matches for spectator looks that are sure to turn heads both on and off the course.

styling and production: Whitley Adkins

photographer: Olly Yung

photographer assistant: Peyton Gee

hair and makeup: Jami Svay

models: Elena Malicki , Directions USA, and Cooper LaRue , Marilyn’s Agency

styling and production assistant: Sydney Gallagher

set assistant: Heather Sendler

Cooper is wearing: Johnnie-O blazer, $698, Johnnie-O shirt, $158, Paul Simon pants, $315, and shoes by Peter Millar, $250, all from Paul Simon Charlotte.

Elena is wearing: Dress by Stine Goya $515, scarf by Hunter Bell, $98, shoes by Ganni, $475, and necklace by Primaura, $105, all from Thirty-One Jane; Smythe blazer, $895, from Five One Five.

Cooper: Shirt by Europann, $245, and pants by B Settecento $298.50, both from Bruce Julian; shoes by Veja, $145, and sunglasses by Maui Jim, $249, both from Paul Simon Charlotte

Elena: Dress by Simkhai, $545, hat by Favorite Daughter, $40, sunglasses by Staud, $99.95, all from Thirty-One Jane; striped shirt, $268, Veronica Beard Charlotte; shoes, model’s own

Elena: Vest, $548, shorts, $398, and jacket, $898, all from Veronica Beard Charlotte; earrings by Primaura, $55, and scarf by Vilagallo, $105, both from Chosen; sunglasses by Staud, $99.95, Thirty-One Jane; Silvia Furmanovich mirror, $880, Tiny Gods; shoes, model’s own Cooper: Sweater by Far Afield $160, and pants by Barena, $350, both from Tabor 1968 Porsche Targa courtesy Dr. Phillip Greene

Elena: Top by Suncoo, $125, and scarf by Vilagallo, $105, both from Chosen; skirt by Le Superbe $395, bag by Clare V., $435, and sweater by Jumper 1234, $202, all from Five One Five; Primaura earrings, $85, and shoes by Freda Salvador, $325, both from Thirty-One Jane

Cooper: Shirt by Far Afield, $172, pants by Barena, $350, and shoes by Common Projects, $505, all from Tabor

On location at Reid’s Fine Foods

OPPOSITE PAGE

Cooper: Shirt by Patrick Assaraf, $95, and shoes by Veja, $145, both from Paul Simon Charlotte; pants by Gruppo Berlin, $99.50, Bruce Julian

Elena: Blazer, $695, Veronica Beard Charlotte; top by Ganni, $345, shorts by Agolde, $148, and bag by Staud, $350, all from ThirtyOne Jane

On location at Selwyn Pub

OPPOSITE PAGE

In the moody-but-energetic family room, walls are painted in Deep Jungle by Benjamin Moore, paired with Iron Ore for the trim and molding. A vintage chartreuse settee sourced by April Carlisle and blue velvet swivel chairs from Slate Interiors create space for intimate conversation. The vintage pencil reed table was an Eastover roadside find.

Adkins is wearing an Oscar de la Renta gown from the private collection of Pam

and Oscar

earrings.

A pair of “Circa East” Henredon nightstands and vintage mirrors, along with a handwoven coverlet and his-and-hers 1950s chalkware dancer table lamps were all sourced at The Chinoiserie Squirrel. A melange of vintage designer pillows sourced by Brooke Werhane plays harmoniously with a lowcountry sunset painted by Adkins’ mother, Beth Lee, in a frame found at Habitat ReStore for $10.99. High-gloss lavender walls accented by black doors and trim create a calmingyet-inspiring ambience. The Stockholm chandelier and doubled-up velvet drapes, both from IKEA, create a luxe feel on a dime.

A STYLIST’S SANCTUARY

Whitley Adkins’ home is a curated mix of beauty, nostalgia and whimsy — a place where style meets soul. by Caroline Portillo photographs by Chris Edwards

fashion styling + interiors: Whitley Adkins set stylist: Brooke Werhane hair + makeup: Elizabeth Tolley production + set assistant: Sydney Gallagher greenery by City Stems

Stowe

de la Renta

A vintage dining table with a curved lucite base is paired with postmodern deco-style black lacquer dining chairs sourced by Melanie Gregory of Swank Home Interiors.

Adkins’ grandmother’s vanity, a favorite inherited piece, serves as an unexpectedyet-stylish buffet. The vintage Chinese screen was

purchased at an estate sale, and the cheetah candlesticks were a surprise gift from a friend. The rug is from interior designer Ashley DeLapp, and the coral chandelier is from Ballard Designs.

Wardrobe from Tabor Ribeye steak from Melvin Hill Meats

to one of Adkins’ favorite childhood pastimes. The nesting tables originally belonged to her great-grandmother, Willa. The rug is from Krazy For Rugs.

Adkins is wearing an MSGM blouse and vintage Valentino denim skirt from the private collection of Annie Totten and an Ojai fringe beaded cape by RENATA by Renata Gasparian. Earrings and bracelets, Noelle Muñoz Jewelry; vintage belt from Hong Kong Vintage; Resistol hat, set stylist’s own; See by Chloe shoes

Whitley Adkins felt an instant connection the moment she saw the listing for the cream-colored cottage on Sharon Road.

There was a lot to love about the Olde Georgetowne townhome she previously shared with her two sons. It was big enough that she’d converted a sitting room into an artful home for her expansive wardrobe and creative pursuits.

Yet, the 1,900-square-foot home in Myers Park beckoned her. She loved its covered front porch and floor-to-ceiling front windows, ideal for her favorite pastime: people-watching. She was smitten with the arched doorways, vintage mail slot and the fretwork in the stairwell.

The owners had given the circa-1925 house a traditional, stately look: Oriental rugs, a four-poster bed, leather-bound books on the built-ins. But when Adkins stepped in the front door, she felt a creative energy pulsing beneath the eggshell-white walls. The home

needed a release valve. Adkins got the keys on her birthday four years ago.

Since launching the Queen City Style (later rebranded as Whitley Adkins) in 2011, Adkins has evolved from a newbie fashion blogger with big ambitions to SouthPark Magazine’s style editor, a stylist to some of the city’s chicest denizens, and a de facto artistic talent scout.

Her singular style is evident in her home, where a neutral exterior conceals a jewel-box interior. Inside, Adkins has curated a visual feast of Old Hollywood meets whimsy, high fashion meets nostalgia.

“With my interior-design style, just like my fashion style, I love to mix, to create tension,” says Adkins. “I want people to stop and look and think, ‘I’d never put those two things together, but I really like it.’”

Adkins loves her living room’s natural light and vibrant color

Kim Moore and Nancy Targgart of Cashion Hill Design arranged the furniture for conversation in the living room. The vintage chairs, swan table, velvet ottoman, cocktail table and lotus lamp were purchased from Ariene Bethea of Dressing Room Interiors. The ceramic cheetah and vintage crowned cranes are from Holly Loeffler’s Cruzana. The Diora Baird photograph is by Stephanie Vovas, and the chevron pillows are made of 1980s Brunschwig & Fils silk fabric. Cynthia Rowley roller skates are a nod

scheme — the purple velvet ottoman, the burnt sienna pillows, the rich teal velvet couch she got for a steal at a Potato Sack warehouse sale. But the family room at the back of the home is always the crowd-pleaser.

With kelly-green walls and a glossy charcoal ceiling and trim, the room was inspired by a vintage green-and-white sofa and a 1970s needlepoint tiger wallcovering. In this room are two of Adkins’ most prized possessions: black-and-white portraits of her

sons, Hank and Worth, now 17 and 14, taken by her dear friend and collaborator Richard Israel.

Nearly every piece in her home has trickled in over time — a collection of hand-me-downs, gifts, thrifted finds, bartered goods and roadside treasures, all harmonized by Adkins’ artful touch.

“Yes, I like beautiful things,” she says, “but I’m not attracted to a high-dollar amount simply for the sake of donning a label. If you just walk into a store and buy a designer gown and you pair it

Flocked with Japanese maples and lenten roses, the home was inhabited for 60 years by an avid gardener. With a shared appreciation for all things nostalgic, Adkins’ fiance made the clothesline out of cedar posts reclaimed from her grandparents’ South Carolina farm.

Adkins is wearing a vintage Mexican wedding dress from House of Landor. On the clothesline: items from East 8th Vintage and the private collection of Pam Stowe

with designer shoes, well, where’s the styling in that? The designer’s artistry is on display, and of course that is lovely, but I want to use that as a canvas to elevate and personalize.”

There’s a story behind nearly every object in Adkins’ home. The pencil-reed end table in the family room was found on the side of the road. The burlwood console was a gift for planning a 6-yearold’s birthday party. Brass candlestick holders flanking the livingroom fireplace, a thank you from Jane Brown of Assemblage at Slate

Interiors, after Adkins mentored her son, who’s now pursuing his dream of fashion photography in New York City. Even the collection of matchbooks and vintage brooches in a bowl on the coffee table serve as conversation starters.

Adkins’ design aesthetic, like her editorial shoots, is chic and sophisticated without taking itself too seriously. In the primary bedroom, chunky cowrie-shell necklaces adorn the lamps, and an ornate parlor chair from her great-grandmother holds a “Classy

Bougie Rachet” needlepoint pillow from Furbish. Above the livingroom fireplace hangs a stunning oil painting of young Adkins and her mother, its gravitas tempered by drink coasters featuring Matthew McConaughey’s infamous mugshot.

Like the Slim Aarons book on her ottoman, Adkins’ home carries a warm sense of nostalgia. In the downstairs hallway, framed greatest hits from her editorial shoots sit alongside sepia-toned portraits of her parents on their wedding day.

That love of nostalgia is what inspired her to bring a vintage vanity, her most beloved piece, in the dining room to serve as a

The built-in banquette creates a cozy breakfast nook that doubles as an at-home workspace. Cushions and valances are covered in Schumacher’s Dovetail in navy, sourced from Bob Tapp and made by Kathy Posla of Slipcovers by Kathy. The walls, cabinets and trim are painted in Sherwin-Williams Setting Plaster. The framed photograph is a favorite moment from Adkins’ 2023 SouthPark Magazine fashion editorial at The Greenbrier.

buffet. The vanity had belonged to Adkins’ grandmother, Martha Whitley, who was a stylist and buyer for an upscale boutique. Adkins recalls running her hands over the silk scarves stored inside it and poring over the photographs her grandmother taped to the mirror. Adkins admires it every day.

“Who doesn’t love memories?” she says. “It’s an opportunity to daydream, to let your memories be brought to life. Let all those joyful things surround you all the time.”

In the gallery wall of the primary bathroom, a framed print reads: “I’ve never done that before so I should definitely be able to

Adkins

wearing

vintage dress from the private collection of Evelyn Brown via Pam Stowe.

do that.” That ethos of experimentation is a hallmark of Adkins, and it captures the spirit of the room, curated one detail at a time.

Adkins found the tiger oak dresser for $500 on Facebook Marketplace in Boiling Springs and had it converted to a bathroom vanity with a marble top. She sourced the mirror in Bennettsville, South Carolina, added vintage art deco sconces, and splurged on Moroccan tile from Palmetto Tile in South End. But the pièce de resistance is hanging from the ceiling: a disco ball.

“As far as my style aesthetic and philosophy goes, I think experimentation is so rewarding,” says Adkins. “It doesn’t create

fear. It creates excitement.”

Then there’s Adkins’ favorite room in the house: the downstairs powder room. The walls are covered in Makelike’s “Lush,” a confection of coral-colored mushrooms and gilded fern leaves. The vibe is equal parts glamorous and trippy, enhanced by a cheeky mirror featuring a Saturday Night Fever-era John Travolta above the toilet.

Beside the sink is a framed selfie of Adkins with Laryn Adams, the late style maven and owner of ChezElle, the SouthPark boutique that Adkins featured in her first SouthPark Magazine photo shoot a decade ago. The pair are posing with musician Rob Garza of lounge

Makelike’s “Lush” wallpaper in red reflects the stylist’s love of nature in the bohoglam powder room. The painted ceiling, trim and doors (Benjamin Moore Black) are a nod to Adkins’ love for art deco style. The Celerie Kemble mirror is from Dashing Trappings; artwork is by Kathi Graves. The wallpaper and Worlds Away vanity were sourced by Grey Joyner Interiors.

frame a vintage

purchased from The

in Bennettsville, South Carolina. The 1900s tiger oak dresser was purchased on Facebook Marketplace and transformed to a bathroom vanity. A vintage flower sconce from Dressing Room Interiors and a pair of deco sconces from Cruzana cast a moody glow. A French neoclassical bronze bench from Cruzana and disco ball are a nostalgic nod to girlfriends getting ready together. Alemais dress and vintage blouse from the private collection of Pam

band Thievery Corporation, after Adkins and Adams ran into the band before a concert at Neighborhood Theatre. Later, the sound guy handed them the night’s set list, which Adkins framed and hung on the bathroom wall. It’s a reminder that a life well lived is made up of

unforgettable nights with unforgettable people. “This house has a soul,” says Adkins. “And I want to pursue things that have soul — a career that has soul, relationships with people who have a soul. I am meant to pursue things that have meaning.” SP

WHITLEY’S RESOURCE GUIDE

Contractor: David Rucker, Myers Park Fix-It

Wallpaper: Vicki Turner, Vicki’s Custom Walls

Florals: Foxglove Fine Flowers, City Stems

Tile: Palmetto Tile

Painting: Dennis Wilk, DR Wilk Contracting

Upholstery, carpet and rug cleaning: Modern Upkeep, White Knight Steamer

Slipcovers and sewing: Kathy Posla, Slipcovers by Kathy

The primary bath is inspired by two of Adkins’ favorite interior designers, Kelly Wearstler and Pierce & Ward. Moroccan tiles

mirror

Oyster

Stowe; earrings by Kristin Hayes Jewelry Crown cake from Frosted and Fabulous by Adelaide

KICKING THE HORNET’S NEST

Celebrating Charlotte’s 250-year-old spirit by

Gayvin Powers

This May, the phrase “MecDec” will be popping up all over town. It isn’t the latest app, or a trending dance on TikTok. It’s the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, written by some of Charlotte’s most respected leaders and signed on May 20, 1775. That’s right, local rebels declared themselves “free and independent” a whole 15 months before the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The MecDec — aka “MeckDec” or “Meck Dec” — is Charlotte’s story.

MecDec lore is full of treasonous letters, political intrigue and bare-knuckled brawlers. The local Scots-Irish militia developed a fierce reputation given to them by Gen. Cornwallis in the Revolution, who’d burned Charlotte, dubbing it a “hornet’s nest.” That was long after 1775, when local settlers had reached a breaking point from unjust taxation, a double-cross from King

George III that denied their children an education, and the heavy loss of life at the Battle of Lexington. This is the story that put backcountry Charlotte into the forefront of the Continental Congress and the king.

If you’re unfamiliar with the MecDec story, here’s a quick recap: On May 19, 1775, locals had gathered at the Mecklenburg County Courthouse when the brutal news of the Battle of Lexington was announced. They debated until 2 a.m., ending with a response that was life-altering: They’d created their own Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. At noon on May 20, Col. Thomas Polk read the MecDec by the courthouse door. This simple, passionate act set in motion a series of accusations, denials and betrayals that has haunted the United States for 250 years, making the MecDec the first U.S. conspiracy theory.

CAPT. JAMES JACK’S HISTORIC RIDE, 1775

KEY

Capt. Jack’s probable route

Main roads (1775) Secondary roads (1775)

While some challenge the existence of the MecDec, we do know with certainty these five indisputable facts.

One: Twenty Mecklenburg Resolves outlined their independence from King George on May 31, 1775. While the Resolves are said to be a part of the MecDec, their full meaning is unclear. The Resolves were confirmed, but the MecDec, because no original copy exists, is based on eyewitness testimony only.

Two: Capt. James Jack, owner of a local tavern, was charged with delivering four letters (either the MecDec or the Resolves) to the Congress in Philadelphia. He arrived in Salisbury on his first

“The

day of riding. At the General court, Col. Kennon read the MecDec (or Resolves) into record.

Three: Jack’s ride is confirmed by Royal Gov. Josiah Martin, who referenced the Resolves in a letter to the Earl of Dartmouth on June 30, 1775.

Four: Captain Jack rode 550 miles with the British Army and loyalist militia patrolling land. If he were caught, he would’ve been hanged in the gallows. Every person listed on the documents he carried, including his family, would have been killed and their lands confiscated. A perilous journey indeed, considering that Paul Revere was caught after 12 miles, and Captain Jack rode 50 times Revere’s distance in hostile territory.

Five: While in Philadelphia, Jack delivered two copies of the letters to William Hooper and Richard Caswell, North Carolina delegates. Two more copies were left — one for Joseph Hughes, the third N.C. delegate, as well as one perhaps for the house speaker.

Meanwhile back in Mecklenburg, the countrymen hadn’t known the Congress had extended an olive branch to King George, hoping for reconciliation following the battles of Lexington and Concord. Following Congress’ actions with the king, Captain Jack received a letter that claimed Mecklenburg’s declaration was “premature.”

Dissension traveled fast. Mecklenburg was the first, but not the last town, to draw up Resolves in 1775, including Wilmington and others. The political climate in North Carolina, known for being almost impossible to govern, had reached a boiling point, with Gov. Martin fleeing New Bern. On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of

Independence was signed.

Years after Captain Jack’s harrowing ride, attempts to uncover precisely what documents he presented to Congress (the MecDec or the Resolves) have taken writers, historians and other curiosityseekers down a million and one rabbit holes, involving espionage, slander and various presidents.

If Cornwallis thought Charlotte was a “hornet’s nest,” a swarm awakened in 1819 when John Adams, the second U.S. president, read a reprinted article about the MecDec in the Essex Register He quickly rattled off a letter poking at his frenemy, Thomas Jefferson, the third U.S. president and author of the Declaration of Independence. The implication was that Jefferson had plagiarized parts of the MecDec in writing the Declaration of Independence. “Had I known about it, I would have commented upon it from the day you entered Congress till the fourth of July, 1776,” Adams wrote.

In his response on July 9, Jefferson stated that he believed the document was “spurious.” But, it was too late — Adams had already sent another letter on July 15 to Rev. William Bentley, stating that Jefferson “has copied the spirit, the sense, and the expressions of [the MecDec] verbatim, into his Declaration of the 4th of July, 1776.”

The confrontation between Adams and Jefferson fueled a juicy debate between the two emotionally charged men, with their integrity at stake. Although overwhelming personal testimony and oral history were in favor of the MecDec, it was also a moot point since the original document was destroyed in a house fire on April 6, 1800.

But the MecDec’s story doesn’t end with a fire and two bickering

Spirit of Mecklenburg” by Charlotte sculptor Chas Fagan depicts Capt. James Jack’s historic ride. The statue was unveiled in May 2010 near uptown.

presidents. The hoopla about it had become so publicly heated that in 1831 the N.C. legislature set up a MecDec commission to investigate its legitimacy. The commission found that the MecDec was true.

Despite the commission’s results, several eyewitnesses and historians who’ve praised its rich oral lore, people still agree and disagree about the MecDec’s legitimacy.

You decide. Here are several unresolved threads that still exist regarding the MecDec.

TOP 7 UNRESOLVED DETAILS

One: Historians dispute what was in Captain Jack’s satchel. The document he carried was read into record in Salisbury. Where is the record? According to Scott Syfert, author of The First American Declaration of Independence? The Disputed History of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence of May 20, 1775, it was already resolved. “Why would you need to go to Congress with a message if it was nothing of importance?” Syfert says.

Two: It is believed that Captain Jack carried four copies of the MecDec. If three copies went to North Carolina delegates, who received the fourth copy? Did John Hancock, the first signer of the Declaration of Independence and the house speaker, get a copy? Where is the copy today?

Three: Syfert uncovered a Raleigh Register and NorthCarolina Weekly Advertiser article that republished a toast given at a Charlotte celebration for President Jefferson’s election in 1801. The toast states, “The citizens of Mecklenburg, being the first in their Declaration of Independence, may they ever be the first in resisting usurpation by defending their civil rights.” To Syfert, it confirms the local belief of the MecDec.

Four: Recently, Syfert discovered the Marquis de Lafayette, on a tour of the United States in 1824-25, gave a speech at the Governor’s Palace citing, “the State of North Carolina, its Metropolis, and the twentieth of May, 1775, when a generous people called for independence and freedom, of which may they more and more forever cherish the principles and enjoy the blessings.” Clearly, the MecDec was discussed publicly.

Five: “The Smoking Gun.” In 1837, Andrew Stevenson, the U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain, checked out a newspaper article on the MecDec by Gov. Martin in Dispatch 34 that had been archived in London.

Knowing this, David Fleming, Author of Who’s Your Founding Father? One Man’s Quest to Uncover the First, True Declaration of Independence, traced Stevenson’s footsteps to the British National Archives. He found that Dispatch 34 had two lines written in pencil that read, “A Printed Paper taken out for by Mr. Turner for Mr. Stevenson, August 15th 1837.” It was never returned.

Fleming continues, writing, “Stevenson, that red-headed son of a gun. He found it … He actually found the MecDec … Then he got rid of it.”

A MecDec marker, which will be on view at the Charlotte Museum of History as part of the Meck Dec 50 exhibit opening May 22

PHOTOGRAPH

If Stevenson found information that absolved Jefferson of plagiarism, why wasn’t it published? Why did the MecDec article in Dispatch 34 disappear?

Six: If the MecDec was a “hoax,” as some have said, why did four presidents and a first lady visit MecDec celebrations? Those dignitaries include William H. Taft in 1909, Woodrow Wilson in 1916, Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954, Lady Bird Johnson in 1968 and Gerald Ford in 1975. Why was the MecDec date placed on the state flag? Or the Great Seal of North Carolina?

Seven: If North Carolina’s commission in 1831 confirmed that Mecklenburg first declared independence, why isn’t it wellknown or widely celebrated in the 21st century?

Perhaps in time, those unresolved points will be answered. What is certain is that Charlotte carved out her identity during a fragile time in history. Its leaders unified to protect their families, becoming a legendary hornet’s nest. They risked everything by adding their names to a declaration that could’ve signed their death warrants. They signed anyway.

Today, many are still unaware of Charlotte’s rich history and sacrifices that turned a backcountry village into a modern city. Syfert says it best: The history “gives you a sense of grounding about Charlotte that you wouldn’t have otherwise. It’s the authentic story of Charlotte.”

May is the perfect time to rediscover the rebels who declared themselves “free and independent” 250 years ago — before it was popular. Take a walk through Charlotte’s legendary past. Grab a pint of Captain Jack pilsner at Olde Mecklenburg Brewery, stroll down Little Sugar Creek Greenway to see his statue by Charlotte artist Chas Fagan, or listen to a reading of the MecDec at Independence Square on May 20. SP

AUTHOR’S NOTE: A special “thank you” to Scott Syfert, who helped this new-to-Charlotte author navigate the MecDec’s multilayered web. The MecDec has so many tendrils, it’s easy to get lost, spending countless hours digging through the archives. The topic questions the fabric of what is known about history and a once beloved president whose character is called into question. It’s also a great reminder about how ordinary people do extraordinary acts that make history.

REBEL READING

Read more of Charlotte’s fascinating history by local authors.

The First American Declaration of Independence? The Disputed History of the Mecklenburg Declaration of May 20, 1775 by Scott Syfert

Who’s Your Founding Father? One Man’s Epic Quest to Uncover the First, True Declaration of Independence by David Fleming

Mecklenburg, First and Forever Free, a children’s book by Julie Lentz Fogg and illustrated by Jolenna Mapes

REVOLUTIONARY THINGS TO DO AROUND CHARLOTTE IN MAY

The MecDec Trek, May 4, 1-4 p.m.

Take an urban hike with a MecDec theme, highlighting 14 important local landmarks. jessebrowns.com/event/urban-hike-in-charlotte/

Charlotte Liberty Walk

A self-guided audio tour of uptown Charlotte 551 S Tryon St., charlottelibertywalk.com

Meck Dec 250 exhibit opening, May 22

Explore an interactive diorama of Charlotte in 1775, documents and artifacts from the Revolutionary era, and memorabilia from past MecDec celebrations.

Charlotte Museum of History, 3500 Shamrock Drive, charlottemuseum.org

For more details on the following events (and others), visit may20thsociety.org/events

MecDec Express, May 10, 3-5 p.m.

Author David Fleming leads a brew-infused guided bus tour of historical sites, with a stop at the Charlotte Museum of History. Meet at Lost Worlds Brewing Charlotte, 1100 Metropolitan Ave.

Captain Jack Bike Tour, May 18, 3-6 p.m.

BYOB (Bring your own bike) for this annual historic bike ride. Olde Mecklenburg Brewery, 4150 Yancey Road

Moot Court Debate, May 19

High school students debate the authenticity of the MecDec. Charles Jonas Federal Court House, 401 West Trade St.

20th Anniversary of Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence: Commemoration Ceremony, May 20

Celebrate the 1775 declaration at this annual event.

Independence Square, at the intersection of Trade and Tryon streets

5th Annual Captain Jack Dinner, May 20, 5-8 p.m.

This year’s dinner features an appearance by writer Andrew Waters.

Olde Mecklenburg Brewery

When you think Tim McGraw

How music connects us to our memories essay by Cate Stern illustrations by Keith Borshak

Iwas 22 years old when my dad and I drove together from Washington, D.C., to Texas. I’d recently gotten engaged to my boyfriend — a Marine in flight school — and planned to move into his condo 1,600 miles away in Corpus Christi. I don’t recall exactly how we decided my dad would join me on the trip, but I always assumed he wanted to make sure I arrived safely. We left early on a Thursday morning. A clunky Garmin StreetPilot, perched precariously on the dash of my sedan, guided us from D.C. through Virginia. With grand plans to sample as much barbecue as possible between Tennessee and Texas, we dined exclusively at Subway that first day, operating under the shared delusion that turkey subs on wheat fell within the purview of health food.

We reached Nashville in the early evening and checked into our hotel, a garish but fantastic spot for fans of fake boats traversing fake rivers around islands of real restaurants located within a real hotel. I loved it. My dad informed me that we’d be hanging out with a family friend — a priest named Tom. He lived in Nashville and wanted to show us around.

We met at a honky-tonk on Broadway, where over drinks and the sound of live music my dad explained, “Tom married your mom and me.” He had a habit of mentioning important details like this in a casual manner, like he was telling me “the keys are on the counter” or “we’re running low on milk.” I was 13 and passing him a basket of dinner rolls when he told me that he’d been married once before.

The next day, I was already thinking about leaving Nashville, eager to press on to Texas to see my fiancé. But we’d planned to spend another full day in town, and someone — probably Tom — had secured tickets to see the Grand Ole Opry that night. Not only was I ready to get on the road, I knew approximately two Brad Paisley songs and who Dolly Parton was, which is to say I was less than enthused about joining my dad and Tom-the-priest for a concert billed as a “live country music radio broadcast.”

I didn’t then appreciate the Grand Ole Opry’s legacy and relevance: Hank Williams, Patsy Cline and Willie Nelson are just a few of the legends to have graced the stage of this century-old show. My dad, Tom and I sat in the first few rows, which resembled pews and lent to the sense that we were about to witness something holy. Jim Ed Brown — another country music legend about whom I was then ignorant — hosted the show, and a father-daughter bluegrass trio, the Whites, was the first musical act to perform.

When Brown announced the next artist — “Here is Ms. Taylor Swift!” — a 16-year-old girl in a white sundress with blond curls cascading over her shoulders took the stage to sing a song she’d written called “Tim McGraw.” Swift’s lyrics detailed a relationship’s end and how music connects us with our memories — the immediate way a song can send us back to an exact moment.

Teary-eyed after her performance, I had to admit Tom had been right to insist on seeing the Opry. Something about the venue — the intimacy of the immediate setting — and the combination of established and new artists playing there felt magical. I snapped a picture on my camera, thinking maybe I’d hear Swift on the radio after her first album was released the following month.

Over the next few days, my dad and I manifested our barbecue dreams with stops in Memphis, Little Rock, Austin and San Antonio, before we landed in Corpus Christi. After we unloaded the car, my dad, my fiancé and I walked the beach across the street and had dinner together. My dad flew home the next morning, leaving me to navigate this new stage of life. Long after we saw her debut, Swift wrote a song about the conflicting emotions associated with being 22 years old. Looking back, I can see some of that in my younger self: The freedom of early adulthood was at once thrilling and terrifying.

Last year, my eldest daughter and I planned our first trip together, and we settled on visiting Nashville. Like so many 11-year-olds, she was a Taylor Swift fan, and she loved the story of how her grandfather and I had witnessed her Opry debut in 2006.

As we rolled our bags into the hotel where my dad and I had stayed 18 years earlier, I was struck by how much remained the same: the humidity from the fake rivers still hung in the air, and the restaurants sat on islands as I remembered. Some things were new, like the massive water park within the hotel called “SoundWaves” and the fact that I was almost two decades older, returning with a child of my own. Things were missing, too. My dad had died in 2021, and Tom had passed just two years before him.

On our first night, my daughter and I ate dinner at a Dolly Parton-inspired rooftop restaurant, complete with multiple bachelorette parties, a mirrored ceiling and a DJ who strongly resembled a Blues Brother. On the patio, which was decorated in pink and green furniture, we snapped photos with a gigantic, pink replica of Dolly’s head.

The next day, we toured the Country Music Hall

When we drove across the country in 2006, I wasn’t thinking, ‘this will make a great memory’ or ‘someday I will treasure this.’ … But I’m guessing my dad knew better; he understood where this all was going. “ ”

of Fame and Museum, where we admired Elvis’ gold Cadillac and hovered over glass cases of handwritten song lyrics. We saw Taylor Swift’s “Tim McGraw” — the song she sang when my dad, Tom and I saw the Opry — scrawled on lined paper in purple ink. When we reached Eric Church’s notes on his song “Carolina,” my daughter laughed at the way Church had circled the words “Elk River” and then written “Creek?” in the margin, as if he’d have to research the exact nature of the hydrological feature when he had more time.

“River?” I said. “Creek?” my daughter responded, her voice inflected like she was Eric Church trying to get to the bottom of this, before shrugging. “Doesn’t matter. We’ll figure it out later.”

That evening, my daughter donned her new cowgirl boots and hat and together we walked from the hotel to the Grand Ole Opry. Inside, we slid into our row, and soon the show opened with the Opry Square Dancers, an energetic troupe that clogged across the stage dressed in red costumes. We all cheered as they broke off into pairs and danced to the fiddle. Grammy-winning artist Jeannie Seely sang next, followed by 22-year-old Matt Schuster, who made his Opry debut that night with a haunting cover of Billy Joel’s “Vienna.” It’s a song about growing older and savoring the day rather than just seizing it. My daughter eased forward, enchanted by Schuster’s powerful performance, and I hoped she’d tapped into the same thrill I’d felt when I saw Swift play on that stage — the energy of an accomplished generation of artists welcoming new talent on the rise.

Now that I’m closer to my dad’s age at the time of our trip, I wonder what he thought of his daughter making major life commitments at such a young age. Although he didn’t show it, he must have been nervous for me. After all, his first marriage had ended in divorce in his early 20s. But maybe he was also wary of how our relationship would change the deeper I marched into adulthood. He didn’t have to drive me to Texas. I could’ve shipped my car and flown down or enlisted a friend to join me. When we drove across the country in 2006, I wasn’t thinking, “this will make a great memory” or “someday I will treasure this.” I simply needed to get to Corpus Christi. But I’m guessing my dad knew better; he understood where this all was going.

A year after our trip, my daughter will walk in the room and say, “River?” And I’ll respond, “Creek?” She’ll shrug and say, “It’s OK. We’ll figure it out later.” In the car, she plays Taylor, Beyonce, Olivia and Sabrina, but when she turns on Schuster, I’m back there at the Opry, enjoying the magic of live music with my little girl. And then for a flash, I’m 22, sitting between my dad and Tom, watching an artist on the precipice. We are the past and present tethered by song. SP

NEWBERRY OPERA HOUSE

A stage like no other

Nestled in the heart of Newberry, South Carolina’s charming historic downtown, Newberry Opera House is a must-visit destination for anyone seeking world-class performances in an intimate and historic setting.

From operatic melodies and dynamic plays to iconic concerts and family-friendly shows, the Opera House offers an NYC-level cultural experience with the charm and warmth of a small Southern town. Pair your visit with Newberry’s walkable downtown, delicious dining and unique shops for the perfect getaway.

Plan your trip to Newberry, South Carolina, and experience why Newberry Opera House is a true treasure for the arts. We believe that the arts have the power to inspire, connect and transform communities. From thought-provoking stories to unforgettable music, this season offers something for everyone. Visit NewberryOperaHouse.com for tickets, upcoming performances, and more.

1201 McKibben Street, Newberry | 803.276.6264 | NewberryOperaHouse.com

SHOW SPOTLIGHT

May 14 | 8 p.m.

Five For Fighting Live with String Quartet

May 24 | 8 p.m.

Warren Peay

June 20 | 8 p.m.

Listen To Her Heart: A Tom Petty Tribute

June 27 | 8 p.m.

Emily Ann Roberts

August 22 | 8 p.m.

A Thousand Horses

See the full schedule on our website

stay the course

Bucket list: These dreamy golf resorts deliver fairways to heaven and memory-making rounds. by

Michael J. Solender

With the world’s best professional golfers huddling at Charlotte’s Quail Hollow Club this month for the PGA Championship, many less-celebrated (read: mere mortal) golfers dream of exploring championship-quality venues to elevate their own game.

We’ve teed up three stunners you can play, each with a pedigreed course design, amenity-rich resort offerings and a top-tier golf experience that is anything but par for the course.

QUIVIRA LOS CABOS + PUEBLO BONITO GOLF & SPA RESORTS

Cabo San Lucas

Setup: Quivira Golf Club, designed by Jack Nicklaus, is one of North America’s most visually stunning yet eminently playable resort courses. Voted one of Golf Digest’s Top 100 Courses in the World in 2022, it sits at the southern tip of Cabo San Lucas, where the Sea of Cortez meets the Pacific on Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula. The course layout is both awe-inspiring and seemingly

impossible, rising nearly 400 feet above sea level and carved into a granite hillside. Quivira ascends above the ocean like a solitary kestrel, with jagged cliffs and lush fairways serving as hunting grounds for members and guests.

Ocean views are present on every hole — even the expansive practice area offers Instagram-worthy vistas, paralleling the Pacific. During late winter, migrating humpback, gray and blue whales can be spotted, adding an extra thrill to each round.

“We worked with the canvas of Mother Nature to create one of the most spectacular courses in the world,” Nicklaus said of Quivira.

With multiple tee boxes and immaculate maintenance, Quivira is incredibly user-friendly. The course routing and sight lines offer fair opportunities to score, with few forced carries and plenty of chances to go low.

Antonio Reynante Vega, director of golf, captures the essence of Quivira with the story behind its name, which comes from the mythical city where streets are paved with gold and the land is rich with treasures. “This is a course that touches your soul,” Reynante

PHOTO BY BILL HORNSTEIN, COURTESY QUIVIRA GOLF CLUB

Vega says. “Golfers leave here with a special, satisfying experience they’ll remember for a lifetime.”

Stay & play: “Beyond Hospitality” is more than a tagline at Pueblo Bonito Pacifica Golf Resort & Spa — it’s an ethos. The staff embodies this philosophy, offering a blend of high-touch service and amenities that create a casually elegant atmosphere, delighting guests at every turn.

The oceanfront adults-only resort is one of several lodging options at Quivira. The 47 Towers suites offer an all-inclusive resort-within-a-resort with 24-hour butler service; private terraces; fully stocked mini-bar with premium wine, beer, and sodas; a pillow menu; and VIP lounge.

The resort’s Armonia Spa offers wellness-focused massages and signature experiences such as a healing ritual based on Baja’s ancestral practices. The resort also features a state-of-the-art fitness center with ocean views and a vast beachfront perfect for early-morning or late-afternoon runs.

Above: Quivira Golf Club. Below: The Towers Lounge, Pueblo Bonito Pacifica Golf Resort & Spa

Dining: More than a dozen restaurants and bars are available to Pueblo Bonito Pacifica guests. At LaFrida, head chef Anaisa Guevara brings contemporary flair to classic Mexican dishes. Guevara works her magic with a bounty of local produce to create dishes such as soft-shell crab tostadas, lobster and corn chowder, and duck mole with squash puree. Peninsula is a beachfront fine-dining venue featuring Mexican cuisine with an international twist. Specialties include short rib pozole, pan-seared sea bass and roasted salmon with yellow mole. The Market at Quivira is inspired by the great European food halls and presented in a hacienda-style setting. Fun dining options extend from Asian hawker-style to Italian to Mexican street food, along with ice cream, chocolates and tasty baked treats.

Local knowledge: Early tee times don’t require skipping breakfast at Quivira, as “comfort stations” throughout the course (included with your round) offer snacks like breakfast burritos, pulled pork sandwiches, muffins, rolls, coffee, juices, bloody marys, beer, sodas and a full bar.

GETTING THERE: Nonstop flights from Charlotte through American Airlines are offered daily to Los Cabos International Airport; the resort is a 45-minute drive away. SP

OMNI LA COSTA RESORT & SPA

Carlsbad, California

Setup: La Costa is one of SoCal’s most storied golf destinations for a reason — make that many reasons. It’s the legendary scene of Darren Clarke’s match play takedown of Tiger Woods at the 2000 World Golf Championships final. The courses here (North and South) ranked in the 2024 Top 100 Courses You Can Play by Golf.com, are the host for NCAA Division I men’s and women’s championships through 2028, and were awarded Best Resort Golf Course Renovation for 2024 by Sports Illustrated

Only 35 minutes north of San Diego International Airport, La Costa is known for its dry, sunny climate, gentle warm breezes and some of the best resort golf on the planet. Omni La Costa’s North Course was originally designed by Dick Wilson in 1965. Last year’s renovations led by Gil Hanse included eco-friendly updates and the addition of six tee sets ranging from 4,500-7,500 yards. The South Course features a parkland-style design and a history of victories by legends like Gary Player, Tom Watson, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods.

Stay & play: The hotel offers 500+ guest rooms, including villas and suites. A multimillion-dollar renovation in 2024 emphasizes the resort’s historic Spanish architecture with a nod to outdoor living. La Costa’s spa and wellness programs have been known since 1965 as the “original destination for mind, body and sport.”

Dining: Several on-site eateries include local favorite Bob’s Steak & Chop House, a popular steakhouse known for extra-tender, juicy steaks and their fabled giant glazed carrot (yes, really).

Local knowledge: Beacon’s Beach in nearby Encinitas is a non-touristy spot for a seaside stroll with great sunset views.

GETTING THERE: American Airlines offers several nonstop flights to San Diego International Airport. La Costa is about a 40-minute drive from the airport.

Oceanfront pool, Pueblo Bonito Pacifica Golf Resort & Spa

Quivira Golf Club

OMNI PGA FRISCO RESORT & SPA Frisco, Texas

Setup: Omni PGA Frisco debuted in 2023 with the christening of two 18-hole championship courses: Fields Ranch East and Fields Ranch West. These premium tracks designed by Gil Hanse and Beau Welling, respectively, are situated on the former 2,500acre Bert Fields Headquarters Ranch, a traditional Texas cattle ranching operation.

Pros play here, with the East course hosting the 2025 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and the 2027 PGA Championship — the first men’s major championship in the DFW area in more than 60 years. And in 2029, The Senior PGA Championship is set to tee off.

The resort also caters to novice players and guests seeking a less formal environment, with unique offerings including:

• The Swing: A 10-hole, par-3 course designed by Hanse and Welling, requiring only a wedge and putter. Distances range from 45-100 yards, and the course is lit for evening play, perfect for short-game practice or introducing beginners.

• The Dance Floor: A lighted 18-hole, natural-grass putting course on 2 acres — one of the largest in the world — great for pre- or post-round fun.

• The Lounge by Topgolf: A virtual experience with games like “zombie dodgeball” for a twist on the traditional game.

Stay & play: There are 500 guest rooms and suites just steps from each course. Ten four-bedroom Ranch Houses are designed for families or buddy trips. Contemporary Texas style welcomes with expansive views, soft tartans and earthen tones. Mokara Spa delivers zen with 20 treatment rooms, relaxation lounges, saunas, steam rooms, a private pool and a spa café.

Dining: From casual to elegant, there are 13 venues for on- and off-course dining, from The Apron (Texas and California fare for breakfast, lunch and dinner) to Trick Rider — a rodeo-themed bistro with steaks, seafood and lively libations. Yee-haw!

GETTING THERE: Just 30 minutes from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, golfers can easily make a midday tee time when leaving CLT in the morning.

Omni La Costa Resort & Spa

Fields Ranch East Trick Rider

BEYOND THE BEACH

From a soothing spa to activities galore, Wild Dunes Resort in Isle of Palms, South Carolina, has perks to please all ages.

by Cathy Martin

Traveling with extended family is fun — at least for a day or two. But a big beach house filled with grandparents and cousins can start to feel a little crowded after a while — unless you have plenty of diversions.

That’s where Wild Dunes shines. There’s the beach, of course — Wild Dunes sits on 2.5 miles of coastline at the northern tip of Isle of Palms, South Carolina — and the resort’s four on-site pools. But there’s also a highly ranked tennis and pickleball center, two Tom Fazio-designed golf courses (with one undergoing renovations), a serene and spacious spa, bike paths, boutiques and more.

The oceanfront resort just 17 miles from Charleston has been a perennial favorite among families since it opened in the 1970s. Recent additions like the Sweetgrass Inn and Spa (opened in 2021) and Nest rooftop bar (2022) only add to the appeal.

STAY

Nestled in the heart of a gated residential community, Wild Dunes is a paradise for families, with four distinct lodging options for groups of all sizes

The Hyatt-owned Sweetgrass Inn is the resort’s newest accommodation, with 153 modern, comfortable rooms and a subtle coastal motif. Overlooking a bustling pool and adjacent to a plaza filled with shops, a market-café and an art gallery, the hotel buzzes from morning to night. For a quieter stay, the 93-room Boardwalk

Inn offers a more tranquil vibe, overlooking the resort’s adults-only pool lined with private cabanas.

Other options include the Residences at Sweetgrass — oneto three-bedroom condominiums in the heart of the resort — and 175 rental properties, including oceanfront homes.

EXPLORE THE RESORT

Oysters are a lowcountry staple, and Oystercatcher restaurant in the Sweetgrass Inn lobby serves them three ways: grilled, fried or on the half shell with a seasonal mignonette. If you’re not sure which one is for you, Shuck & Savor is a weekly experience for guests to learn more about the history and varieties of oysters in a casual setting. Guests gather around the bar for a chef-led tasting of the briny bivalves, from raw to fried to baked with caramelized shallots and lemon butter. It’s one of a slew of recurring and seasonal activities here, from shopping pop-ups to holiday-themed events.

With 12 clay courts and five pickleball courts, the tennis center is a hive of activity. Wild Dunes is consistently lauded as one of the top tennis resorts in the United States. Even if you’re new to the game, the pros here will get you on the court in no time. I didn’t know a dink from a drive until pickleball pro Mike Delaney enthusiastically — and patiently — guided our group of mostly novice players through a fun and fast-paced lesson that had me hooked from the start.

Given the resort’s focus on families, the Spa at Sweetgrass is pleasantly peaceful. It’s easy to make a day of it here, relaxing in the large outdoor “garden” with a plunge pool and shady cabanas, or in the bright and airy indoor lounge. Beyond traditional treatments like massages, facials and salt scrubs, the spa also offers floating sound baths and reiki sessions for energy healing and stress relief. Bliss out after your treatment in a zero-gravity lounger or heat things up in the infrared sauna, and finish your spa day with a vitamin C-infused shower.

With so many amenities, it’s easy to stay put within the comfortable confines of the resort. But the coastal ecology surrounding barrier islands like Isle of Palms is what makes the Carolina coast so special. To explore the local waters, the concierge at Wild Dunes can arrange for a fishing or kayaking excursion or an eco-tour for an up-close look at seabirds and bottlenose dolphins. You might even make a stop at Boneyard Beach, a haunting but striking stretch of sand lined with driftwood and dead trees that’s a not-so-subtle reminder of the effects of beach erosion.

Boardwalk Inn Pool

The Spa at Sweetgrass

travel | getaways

EAT+DRINK

There are more than a dozen dining outlets at Wild Dunes to satisfy your cravings, from Hudson’s Market & Café for breakfast or lunch on-the-go to Tacos & Tequila, a food truck in a colorful Airstream trailer near the pool deck.

You can enjoy a leisurely breakfast al fresco at Coastal Provisions, a restaurant in the Boardwalk Inn highlighting regional fare like Geechie Boy grits and Charleston’s Own Marsh Fire hot sauce.

Dine inside or on the patio at Oystercatcher, a tapas-style

restaurant with an emphasis on fresh local seafood. Resort chef Rob Frederick has a secret that gives the menu a hyperlocal twist — a rooftop garden where he grows his own okra, cucumbers, tomatoes and herbs — and hosts the resort’s own apiary with five busy bee hives. Honey from the hives infuses everything from dishes to desserts to the “Healthy Buzz” cocktail, a refreshing citrusy concoction made with your choice of gin or bourbon. SP

GETTING THERE: Wild Dunes Resort at Isle of Palms, South Carolina, is a 3.5-hour drive from Charlotte. Learn more at wilddunesresort.com.

Sweetgrass Inn Pool

Sweetgrass Plaza

CAROLINA

A monthly guide to Charlotte’s parties and galas

Dancing with the Stars of Charlotte

Benefiting local healthcare nonprofits

Knight Theater March 21

A dazzling night to dance for a good cause. Page Curtin, Rafael Rodriguez, Susan May and Reggie Hairston all received awards. The evening raised more than $600,000 for Go Jen Go, Katie Blessing Center and Novant Health’s breast health center. photographs by Daniel Coston

Janey and Rudy Resendz

Kurt Coleman and Molly Grantham

Susan May with Trevor Guthrie

Page Curtin with Dmitriy Solomakha

Reggie Hairston with Darinka Divljak

Amber Tracewell and Rivers Williams

Philip and Amy Blumenthal Hunter and Joy Widener

Wish Ball

A monthly guide to Charlotte’s parties and galas

Benefiting Make-A-Wish Central & Western N.C.

Revelry at Camp North End

March 7

It was a night filled with wishes coming true. Patrons and supporters helped raise more than $2 million to help children through life-altering health journeys.

photographs by Daniel Coston

Meredith and Jamie Boll

Tommy and Julia Santiago

A monthly guide to Charlotte’s parties and galas

LAWA Gala for Education

Benefiting Latin Americans Working for Achievement

The Casey March 22

An evening of dinner and dancing raised more than $235,000 to support education and quality of life programs for Latinos in the Charlotte region.

photographs by Daniel Coston

Francisco and Jeannette Alvarado

Regina and Nick Wharton

Manuel and Ana Rey

Emily Scallan and Jimmy Sanchez

A monthly guide to Charlotte’s parties and galas

All-In to Fight Cancer

Benefiting cancer research

Fillmore Charlotte

March 6

Fans of card games and good times made this another successful Texas Hold’em poker tournament to help families navigating cancer. photographs by Daniel Coston

Top 3 finishers

Laura Yeates and Mike Buccialia

Keith Luedeman and Audrey Hood

Cam and Jen Dyer

Kory Eubank and Paige Whitney

Jeff and Lindy Gignac

THE DAILY BEAST

THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL

The HEARTest Yard Ungala

Benefiting The HEARTest Yard Steak 48 Feb. 24

The Olsens and friends raised more than $330,000 to support local families of children with congenital heart disease. photographs by Taylor Christie Photography

Mayor’s Masked Ball

Benefiting UNCF Charlotte Convention Center March 8

Mayor Vi Lyles welcomed guests to the Crown Ballroom to support the United Negro College Fund. Local honorees Carlenia Ivory-Cantey and Marvin Ellison shared the spotlight with the legendary singer Charlie Wilson. photographs by Daniel Coston

Jonathan and Natalie Stewart

Joey and Brittany Logano

Dale and Amy Earnhardt, Greg and Kara Olsen

Brandt Bronico

Andy and JJ Dalton

Charlie Wilson

Lester and Rubye Wallace

Randii and Kristerpher Smith

Paula and Terrence Allison

A NEW SPLASH OF COLOR IN SOUTHPARK

A sculptural artwork by Mary Carter Taub adds a touch of whimsy to the lawn at SouthPark Regional Library. story and photograph by Sharon Smith

There’s a new piece of eye candy outside SouthPark’s library. It’s a magnet for kids, and there’s no judging any grown-ups who also find themselves drawn to the life-size kaleidoscope of colors.

The name, Loop de Loop, is a whimsical nod to The Loop, SouthPark’s 3-mile urban trail being built in phases, which includes this stretch along Carnegie Boulevard. The name also speaks to the sculpture’s lively loops and playful waves.

Artist Mary Carter Taub recalls witnessing a pleasant surprise one day when the installation was almost complete. “A minivan pulled up and out bounced two kids who needed no ‘user’s manual’ on how to engage with the work,” Carter Taub says. She goes on to describe how they climbed on and had a grand time darting around the loops.

The Arts & Science Council commissioned Carter Taub for the

project, which included collaboration among SouthPark Community Partners, City of Charlotte, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library and the SouthPark Association of Neighborhoods.

Carter Taub, who lives in Chapel Hill, has created several pieces of public art outside civic institutions but says libraries are among her favorite spaces. For SouthPark, she knew vibrant colors had to be part of the project. During her first site visit, the artist noticed “little pops of color punctuating the interior” and a more buttoned-up, neutral exterior. It made for what she calls a “perfect visual contrast for brightly-colored artwork.”

A nondescript grassy area along the sidewalk is now a destination point outside a bustling community space.

And we are here to enjoy it. SP