Charlotte Travel Guide

For visitors to Charlotte hotels, the Carolina Raptor Center is a fun and educational experience for the whole family. The center has been around since the late 1970s and is dedicated to environmental education and the conservation and rehabilitation of birds of prey—or raptors. Guests from Charlotte hotels will enjoy seeing the many species living at the center, including hawks, owls, eagles, falcons and vultures.

Bird watchers from Charlotte hotels can find lots to do during their visit to the Carolina Raptor Center. The center is an outdoor facility where visitors from Charlotte hotels can enjoy on a self-guided tour. The nature trail winds through the grounds where guests from Charlotte hotels can observe the raptors in their aviaries. In addition, the center offers live presentations about the raptors on the weekends.

Visitors from Charlotte hotels can learn a lot about these incredible creatures as they tour the facility. At many of the birds’ aviaries, you can read about their individual stories as to how and why they are living at the center. Guests of Charlotte hotels will learn that some birds were injured or orphaned and are on their way to being healthy with care from the center’s professionals.

On your way out, be sure to stop by the gift shop to take home a memento of your visit. The center is open Tuesdays through Saturdays year-round to visitors from Charlotte hotels, excluding some holidays. For more information, see your concierge at the Embassy Suites Concord/Charlotte.

Visitors of Charlotte hotels who want to spend some time appreciating cultural activities will certainly want to spend a day at the Mint Museum of Art. Originally, the museum served as the first branch of the United States mint, creating $5 million in gold coins from 1836 until the start of the Civil War. It opened to visitors of Charlotte hotels in 1936 as North Carolina’s first art museum.

Today, the museum is open to the public, including guests of Charlotte hotels, and it features a beautiful collection of fine and decorative arts, historic costumes, and contemporary art and photography. Visitors from Charlotte hotels can tour the museum’s permanent and special exhibitions year round. Currently, guests of Charlotte hotels can view the Andy Warhol “Cowboys and Indians” exhibit.

Another interesting sight for guests of Charlotte hotels to visit is the Mint Museum of Craft + Design, located nearby the Museum of Art. North Carolina has a rich tradition of crafts, and the permanent displays here showcase crafts such as ceramics, fiber, glass, metal, and wood. Visitors from Charlotte hotels will also see beautifully handcrafted chandeliers and a stunning glass wall.

For more information on the Mint Museums, guests at Charlotte hotels, such as the Embassy Suites Concord/Charlotte, should contact their concierge.

At the University of North Carolina Charlotte Botanical Gardens, visitors from Charlotte hotels can immerse themselves in some of the most beautiful plant life in the eastern United States. The Botanical Gardens opened in 1966 as a living classroom for students at UNC-Charlotte. Today, the Gardens are open to the public, including guests from Charlotte hotels, in order to promote the knowledge and appreciation of plants.

Visitors from Charlotte hotels will enjoy visiting all three areas of the Gardens. First, take a stroll through the Van Landingham Glen, a seven-acre woodland garden. Here, guests of Charlotte hotels will find the beautiful native plants of the Carolinas, along with the stunning rhododendron garden. Visitors from Charlotte hotels will relax as soon as they step into the Glen, as a peaceful, calm mountain woods feeling takes over. Throughout the Glen, guests of Charlotte hotels will see over 1,000 native plants, shrubs, wildflowers, and ferns.

Next, guests of Charlotte hotels can visit the Susie Harwood Garden, a beautiful collection of ornamental landscape plants, and Asian garden, along with a pond and waterfalls. The Susie Harwood Garden offers visitors from Charlotte hotels a variety of colorful blooms, including wildflowers, tropical plants, azaleas, lilies, and even a butterfly terrace. The foliage changes with the season, so this garden is impressive any time of the year.

Finally, visitors from Charlotte hotels will want to allow plenty of time to see the McMillan Greenhouse. This structure consists of eight glasshouse rooms and features some of the most unusual and exotic plants from around the world. Guests of Charlotte hotels will be especially impressed with the orchid display. Here, there are also palms, a rock garden, spice and fruit plants, and the Dinosaur’s garden—a collection of primitive plants.