This story begins with a podcast and some concrete. My friend Prince and his friend Jaycob had a podcast (SHOUT OUT TO “The Dogfathers”!) for quite a few years. During a 2020 episode, Jaycob mentioned a concrete artist he discovered in the Charlotte, North Carolina area. As always, when someone mentions something they think is cool, I feel the need to immediately check it out to see if I think it’s cool too! The concrete artist, Shamila, produces her work under the company name of Queen City ‘Crete. She’s been slinging concrete since 2018. At the time when the podcast episode came out, she just had a website and sold her products at some local brick and mortar stores in the Charlotte area. However, she eventually ended up opening up a store of her own with some other entrepreneurs called Concrete Jungle. After checking out her instagram page (@queencitycrete), I fell in love with her products and immediately started buying things and having them shipped to New Hampshire. My sister Lauren, once she saw what I had ordered, became a repeat customer as well. For the last few years we have spent lots of money on products from QCC. But shipping concrete from North Carolina to New Hampshire gets expensive, especially with the amount of products Lauren and I were ordering. So once we found out about the store Shamila opened, we started tossing around the idea of taking a road trip to Charlotte so we could just load up my car with all the things we wanted to buy.
Along with our shopping habit, Lauren and I also both love going to breweries, so for our road trip, we decided to hit up some cities where we could find some great breweries. We planned to take about a week for the trip breaking up the long drive and visiting some of our cousins along the way.
Our first stop when we left New Hampshire was White Plains, New York, where one of our cousins lives. Before meeting up with her for dinner, we went to a brewery downtown – Wolf and Warrior. It was cute and the beers were pretty good. My favorite was their Patagonia Argentinian Golden ale – light and crisp! We met our cousin Eileen for dinner at another pub and then the three of us went to a larger, more well known brewery in the area. Captain Lawrence was a very cool spot, but it was so busy! The outdoor area was very spacious, but it was packed and it took a while to get our beers. I got a flight of all lighter beers. My favorite kinds of beers are light and crushable! I enjoyed all the beers here but especially the Crispy Cream cream ale.
The next morning we started on a long stretch from New York to Charlottesville, VA. Lauren and I are both big fans of Dave Matthews Band, who got their start in Charlottesville, so we were excited to see if we saw any nods to the band in the city. We got into town early afternoon and checked into our hotel, which was centrally located to all the places we wanted to go. We had a lot planned so we got to work as soon as we arrived. We walked over to South Street brewery first. It had a pretty good vibe and a great menu. We ordered a bunch of appetizers to split but the fried cheese curds were our favorite. We both got flights and were able to order a lot of tasters (I had six). While I liked all the beers I had, my favorite was surprisingly the Imperial Satan’s Pony, an imperial red ale. Once we had our fill here, we walked to West Main Street, a cute cobblestone street that was for pedestrians only. We went to Rockfish Brewing and sat outside with our flights. The pours here were very generous and all the beers were good!
Our next brewery was further away but since it was so nice out we decided to walk. Starr Hill Brewery was probably our favorite in Charlottesville. The bartenders were really friendly, they had a great playlist and their merchandise selection was expansive. And, when it came to the beers, they had a beer called the Warehouse Pils, which was brewed as a celebration of the Dave Matthew’s Band 25th Anniversary show, which we thought was awesome. It was also hard to pick a favorite here – I rated three of them the same so will mention them all. One was the Warehouse Pils mentioned above, another crisp, clean beer. The Murphy’s Gold lager was just a classic lager, refreshing and smooth. And in a surprise twist, they also brewed a Watermelon Cucumber hard seltzer. This was definitely one of the best hard seltzers I’ve had as it tasted fresh and not like it was made with artificial ingredients.
Our final brewery stop of the day was at Random Row. Sadly we didn’t love a lot of the beers here and by this time, we were so full from all of our other stops that we didn’t finish our full flights. I did really enjoy their Crown Lager though! While we were full from all the beers, we still wanted something to eat before calling it a night so we went to Ooey, Gooey, Crispy, a gourmet grilled cheese joint. If you are reading this and are going to Charlottesville, please do yourself a favor and stop here. I got The Big Abe (Gouda and bacon marmalade) and Lauren got That Rich ‘Wich ( Brie, truffle butter and crushed potato chips). They were both delicious but the one Lauren got was top notch!
The next morning we drove by the UVA campus, which was stunning! Definitely a lot different than the college I went to. We were heading to Charlotte, North Carolina from here and while the morning was a little overcast and rainy, it cleared up fairly quickly. The route we took was absolutely beautiful. We drove through rolling hills and farmlands. We also discovered that Virginia had a wine trail – who knew? It was a few hours drive but it was picturesque. Our first stop after lunch was Concrete Jungle!
We were so excited to finally meet Shamila but unfortunately she couldn’t be at the shop the day we went due to family obligations but Lauren and I both bought a ton of stuff and some plants from another of the store owners. In keeping with the theme of the trip, after we went shopping, we went to a brewery nearby called Wooden Robot. This was another favorite of ours from the trip! It was in a cool location with a lot of unique artwork. Again, all the beers in my flight were delicious. My two favorites were the Pops’ Pilsner and the Summer Vibes Pale Ale.
As usual with the trips I plan, I try to pack in as many activities in a day as possible so we don’t waste any time and see as much as we can. So after the brewery, we freshened up quick and went out for a nice dinner at Habberdish. We both had the chicken and waffles and split the Mac and cheese. After, we walked to a fun cocktail bar, Idlewild, where there is no drink menu. You tell the bartender the flavor profiles and liquors you liked and they create custom cocktails specifically for you. It was a very trendy spot and the drinks were great.
The following day we were going to spend a full day in Charlotte. Again, it was a lot of eating and drinking! Jaycob, who I mentioned earlier, suggested checking out Hello, Sailor, a restaurant on the shore of Lake Norman. It was about 20 minutes outside of the city. We got there right when they opened. It was a beautiful warm day and we sat outside on the deck overlooking the water. The decor and style of the restaurant was so adorable. It reminded me of a stylish mid-century modern lounge. We both got Fróse to drink and each got the kale salad. I ordered a side of their fried chicken tenders to add to the salad and it was definitely a great move. Everything was delicious! We really enjoyed our meal and the atmosphere.
After lunch we headed back to the hotel to drop off our car and then got an Uber to Rosie’s Coffee & Wine Garden. The inside was small but quaint. We each got a glass of wine and then went outside to wander through the gardens. From there we walked to Optimist Hall. This reminded me a lot of Krog Street Market in Atlanta. It was a large open market in an old brick mill building – it used to be Charlotte’s largest textile mill and was built in 1892! Most places were food vendors but there was also a stall selling pet-related items, a plant store and a paper goods/gift store. There was a brewery located in the market as well but unfortunately it was closed when we were there.
After spending sometime here, we got an Uber back downtown to Charlotte Beer Garden. This was a multilevel restaurant and bar that offered over 400 types of beers. During our travels, we obviously wanted to try as many local beers to where we were staying as possible, so this was the perfect stop. We were able to get multiple flights of multiple North Carolina beers. We also got food here, typical pub fare, but it was all really good.
The following day we started the journey back up north and headed to Richmond, Virginia. We were staying in Scott’s Addition, an area we had heard that had a lot of breweries. This area of Richmond was industrial but still had it’s charm. It was a little gloomy out and had been raining but we decided to walk anyway since that’s the best way to see a new city! Our first stop was Brambly Park, a bar, winery and restaurant that had a huge outdoor seating area and event space. We got some wine and a snack (the Parmesan Truffle Fries were to die for!). After, we walked to our first brewery of the day – Ardent Craft Ales. Their beers weren’t my favorite of our trip but I did enjoy both of their Pilsners – the Ardent Pilsner and the Italian Pilsner.
From here we went to Strangeways Brewing. It was an interesting space and we were pretty much the only ones there when we first arrived but they had a great playlist and offered lots of tasters in our flights so we were happy. Lauren was excited because they offered a lot of sours. My flight wasn’t as full as hers, but I still had a variety of options. My highest rated from this brewery were the We Stand With Ukraine Ukrainian Golden Ale, The Last Vaquero-Mexican Lager and the Frosty Boi Cold IPA. Next up on our list was Blue Bee Cider. They shared a building with Truckle Cheesemonger so we enjoyed a few ciders and some cheese boards. To be honest, by this point I stopped keeping track of what I was drinking so I can’t remember what I enjoyed the most here.
The next day we got sourdough bagels from Chewy’s Bagels and we loved them! We were heading to Queens, New York to visit our cousin Katie and her husband Eric. We thought we’d get up there early afternoon but of course, being in New York, we hit tons of traffic and were very delayed. After dropping our stuff off at Katie and Eric’s, the four of us headed into Williamsburg for dinner and to meet up with the aforementioned Prince, who I hadn’t seen in a few years! It was fun getting to catch up with friends and family. Lauren and I stayed the night at Katie’s place and rested up for our final day driving back to New Hampshire.
It was a fun sister trip and I’m so glad we got to go support Shamila at her store. I’ve spent so much time talking to her over Instagram messaging that it feels like we actually know each other!
Would you do a multi-day road trip just to support an Instagram friend or have you done something similar? Let me know below!
📍I acknowledge the lands mentioned in this post are the ancestral lands of the Mohican, Wappinger, Munsee Lenape, Schaghticoke, Monacan, Manahoac, Cheraw, Sugaree, Mánu: Yi Isuwa (Catawba), Powhatan and Canarsie people.
The Adventures of Suze 
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