I arrived at Joe’s at about 10:50, and we set out for Charlotte at around 11:00. At about an hour into the trip, we had ham sandwiches on yeast rolls — leftover from my Thanksgiving dinner at Vivian’s. Yum!
In Charlotte, I realized that I hadn’t noted the exit to take to get to the Morgan Hotel & Suites. I’ve stayed there several times now, so I always think I know the way. But you have to exit I-40 to one other highway before you take exit 6A off that one.
Thanks to a free long distance cell phone plan, and a still-stored phone number from this morning’s call to the hotel to check on some amenities, I was reminded that you take 
, then exit 6A.
Somehow, I took a “To 77 S” exit instead of, I guess, waiting for the just plain 77 S exit, and after a few, “This really doesn’t look familiars,” we came upon the 
sign.
We made a U-turn and got on 77N, where within a few miles, we came upon the E. Woodland Road exit, Exit 6A.
We couldn’t pull into the hotel parking lot the way we have in the past. There’s the beginning of a highway ramp there now instead!
Though it wasn’t any where near 3:00, we checked into our first of what would end up being three rooms.
When we opened the door to our first room, we found a king-sized bed in the bedroom. This would not do, as Joe and I are sistahs, so do not sleep together.
Downstairs I learned the hotel’s lingo for what I should have reserved, which was the “Double Suite,” not the “King Suite.” I thought the King referred to the size of the room, not the bed. A “double suite” to me sounds like a suite twice the size than what you would expect. Oh well.
We were graciously moved to Room 236, a Double Suite.
We unpacked, and then set out to find a coffee shop with free Internet access. Before we’d left the room, we’d checked the phone book for Panera Bread places, but were surprised to find only three listed in all of Charlotte, with none really being convenient.
We waited patiently at the front desk while someone was being checked in to ask the person behind the counter if they knew of a convenient place with free wi-fi service. It took a little longer than I have patience for (which will surprise no one who knows me), and during that time, the guy who was being checked in just kept staring at Joe and me. We thought, “We’ll see you out tonight at the bar, I’m sure, missy.”
He finally walked away, and we asked our question. Before the person to whom we were speaking could respond, Missy turned right around, and offered that there was an 
place just up South Blvd. (There really should be an apostrophe after the “s” in “Brothers,” but I’m not going to digress.) Ooops. Too late.
The clerk didn’t know of any places herself, so we headed down South Blvd., and did come to the Einstein Brothers Bagel place, but it was closed. Fortuitously, just beyond Einstein’s was:
There was no indication that they had free wi-fi inside, but we checked, and they did! We spent a good hour or so here, and it became our new best coffeehouse for the weekend.
We had dinner at Harper’s, which is right in front of the hotel. We had the Six-Cheese Penne Pasta, which was out of this world, and unbelievably, the recipe is on their website, and their BBQ Chicken Pizza. We each ate half of each.
On the way back up to our room, I asked on a lark, “Do you have wireless access in this hotel by chance?”
Much to our surprise and delight, they did, but we found out that you can only get reception in the rooms in the middle of the hotel. We were on one of the ends.
“Tomorrow morning, before check out time, come downstairs, and we’ll check you out of 236 and move you to 420.” Woohoo!
Tonight was “Fetish Night” at the Charlotte Eagle, but one was hard-pressed to be able to pick out any fetishes.
We saw four or five guys from Raleigh there, none of whom said hello to us. One, in particular, whom we know fairly well, certainly enough to say hello to each other, purposely avoided us all night long. We were so tempted to walk up to him and bust him, but we were just as happy not speaking to him.
Perhaps the least interesting thing of the night was indeed seeing Missy from the hotel there. She just stares too much.
By far the most interesting thing of the night was learning that we could run a tab at the bar. Joe drank beer, and I drank my signature drink, Bourbon & Diet Coke, all night, and we ended up with a total bar bill of only $39. Not too shabby. Nothing like earning frequent flyer points while drinking.