Sara

DH and I will have one day in Charlotte in late October, visiting my MIL who lives there. Flying in on a Thursday morning, we all take off on Friday for a weekend in Charleston. My MIL wnts to make sure we have something interesting to do the day we're in Charlotte, but really has no idea what. I did a little research, and found the Mint Museums, which could be good - looking for 2 -3 hours of engagement (MIL has a low tolerance for museums, we could spend hours). Does anyone have an idea which would be more interesting? I'm interested in arts & crafs, and thought that might appeal to MIL, so that one sounded appealing, but I wondered how worthwhile it is. We enjoy art museums, too (not so sure about MIL), but have been to several excellent ones in Boston, SF, and NYC in the past year, not sure how the Charlotte one would compare (but willing to find out if told it's good). I'd love to know which is better for our purposes, in the opinion of any of you Charlotte-savvy Fodorites.

Any oher suggestions are welcome, too. We enjoy botanical gardens, and know of a couple in the Charlotte area, but don't know if they're worth visiting in late October.

Gretchen

The Museum of Craft + Design is a lovely small museum. I don't know what the current exhibition is. It is not "arts and crafts" (as in artsy craftsy), but the area of art where art and design cross. You could also take in the Museum of the New South, just a few blocks away uptown.
The other Mint has an exceptional collection of pottery and ceramics/porcelain if that is your interest. Plus other very nice exhibits, of course.

kathleen

Charlotte's Discovery Place has a special traveling exhibit up through Oct 28th that has gotten rave reviews --Bodyworlds. Friends saw it in NYC a short while ago and other friends saw it here in Charlotte. It may not be for everyone, but it looks facinating to me and we're planning on getting there before it closes. The Dunhill hotel has a package price that includes admission, I believe. Here's a link, then you'll have to proceed to it specifically.


http://www.discoveryplace.org/

Gretchen

Good idea. They say it is incredible. DGS loved it.

Sara

Thanks, Gretchen and Kathleen. The Museum of the New South sounds as if it could be interesting, I hadn't heard of it. I took a look at their web site. I'm glad to hear that the Mint Mueum of Craft and Design is worthwhile. Maybe we'll take in both museums if we have time, since you say they're near each other.

I'm sure that "Bodyworlds" is really fascinating and worthwhile. However, we deliberately gave it a miss when it was near us at the Boston Museum of Science recently, despite great reviews. The whole idea just creeped us out a little too much. Thanks for the suggestion, though, I'm sure it's a really educational exhibit, and well done.