Things to Do in Charlotte

Drawing from the more frightening pages of the area's history, Carolina History & Haunts’ guides lead lantern-lit tours of eerie and haunted locales. The “Nightmares Around Elm Street” tour sends groups through the specter-laden streets of Greensboro, while the Beyond the Grave tour braves uptown Charlotte’s paranormal avenues to learn the fates of the less fortunate and possibly even witness a prankster ghost grabbing a dog's tail as it's chased.

Carolina History & Haunts partners with local businesses to give tour goers discounts on accommodations and food, and large groups are eligible for discounted pricing and private tours.

During childhood, the sloped handlebars of kids’ bikes often made a perfect seat for riding a friend around town. Fast-forward to today and the grown-up Party Pedaler, a large bike craft that seats up to 14 people, eschews handlebars for a flat bar top that holds elbows, drinks, and listens to you boast about how much faster you’re going than everyone else. This rolling, people-powered bike rolls through custom routes or a choice of four pre-planned treks through the Queen City. In the South End, crawlers cruise along mills and warehouses and into eclectic pubs and restaurants. North Davidson’s art district boasts funky galleries and theaters, and in Uptown, wheels push past cultural institutions such as the Fillmore and the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Designed and built in Oregon, the party bike saddles up to 10 pedalers and cradles up to four more on a back bench. Speakers and iPod hookups fuel the cycling, as do BYO beverages and snacks. Most of the bar-crawl routes make four stops, giving riders ample opportunity to sample what local bartenders are mixing up.

Instructors at Charlotte Martial Arts Academy pride themselves on building confidence and self-discipline in their adult and youth students learning judo, jiujitsu, and other martial arts. These qualities are foregrounded in the Academy creed, which emphasizes "discipline, honor, peace, and respect." Not only does every class cover the proper way to kick, punch, and karate-chop a block of wood into two perfectly whittled black belts, but each also includes lessons on health and fitness. Safety, however, is always the top priority. Though a number of distinct martial arts styles are taught, instructors also combine techniques to equip pupils with the skills for real-life self-defense scenarios.

Senseis Michael Price and Mary Roberts don't merely call upon their years of experience when they're on the mat; they also train continuously to keep their self-defense and teaching skills sharp. In addition to their class curricula, they also also host private birthday parties where a karate lesson, cake, and decorations create a memorable occasion.

Bigtime Moonbounce's inflatable jumpers resemble racecars, birthday cakes, and castles, and give youngsters ample hopping room to release pent-up energy. Or they can try out a combo bouncer–modeled after castles, balloons, and basketball courts–to jump and then race down a safe and colorful slide. Obstacle courses offer more opportunities for competition as kids navigate their way through an inflatable train or hustle through a giant car. In addition, Bigtime Moonbounce enhances parties with croquet equipment, rope for a tug of war, and empty sacks for potato-sack races that don't require a raw potato-eating contest beforehand. After a long day of jumping and gaming, guests can reenergize with a snack from one of Bigtime Moonbounce's cotton candy, popcorn, or snow-cone machines, which are available for rent.

Travels in Wine Tours' co-founders, Kimberlee Young and Derek Schuler, share their love of wine, food, and travel with curious tourists through tours designed and led by certified sommeliers. Epicurean scenic tours of boutique wineries, personalized luxury Napa vacations, and custom weekend getaways marry viticultural education with flavorful indulgence as guests take in picturesque panoramas of vineyards that stretch to the horizon before curving upward and forming bridges to the moon.

Charlotte Krav Maga's team of 13 instructors know that most people are fighting something. That something might be a vicious bully, persistent weight gain, or a less tangible entity such as fatigue or non-Euclidian geometry. No matter what it is, they're confident they can help. Their diverse knowledge of fighting techniques stretches around the world, from Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to Krav Maga, a self-defense system developed for the Israeli armed forces. In addition to earning belts and certifications in numerous forms of martial arts, the teachers possess years of real-world experience that they use to help others cultivate strength, discipline, and confidence. These goals also inform the studio's Krav Maga classes, which reveal simple self-protection techniques that can be applied if a person is approached by a lone assailant or a nunchuck-wielding octopus.

In addition to imparting defense strategies to students aged 4 and older, the team teaches Fit to Fight, a training program that blends muay thai, boxing, and wrestling into a fun-and-functional workout. Classes and one-on-one training take place in a gym equipped with full-size heavy bags, Lifeline power jumpers, kettlebells, battling ropes, and monkey bars.