Remote support for family stuck in Charlotte

August 4, 2024 12:51 PM

My wife and our two kids (aged 11 and 7) have been in North Carolina for the past few days, and were scheduled to fly back this afternoon. Hurricane Debby had other plans, and their flight was just cancelled. They're rebooked for tomorrow evening, and have a hotel room reserved in downtown Charlotte, but their luggage is missing, and at this point I'd say it's a 50-50 shot the rebooked plane takes off. Tomorrow is also my wife's birthday.

I feel absolutely awful that she's going to be stranded with two small-ish kids (they're generally great kids, but any two small humans will start to test one's patience when bored and cooped up inside), and am looking for suggestions for things I can do to help her out from far away. Does anyone with more knowledge of the city than me have any ideas? Inexpensive entertainment ideas, kid-friendly attractions downtown, spas that have childcare, and seafood restaurants that serve decent raw oysters (both kids' and my wife's favorite food) are my first thoughts, but I'm literally open to anything. One caveat: I don't think I want to have anything delivered to their hotel room unless it can be consumed there, because they don't have a suitcase to transport it home in.

posted by Mayor West to Grab Bag (9 answers total)

Yikes, been there. Well, in terms of entertaining things to do with kids, the Discovery Place Science should be pretty entertaining for the kids, and honestly, the NASCAR Hall of Fame is surprisingly fun, even if you hate NASCAR. Both pretty close to the very downtown of downtown.
posted by General Malaise at 1:10 PM on August 4

A few years ago similar thing happened in Charlotte and my luggage was lost. It was a huge bummer but turned out to be a blessing in disguise as I didn’t have to recheck it and was easily able to skip that massively long line that was literally out the door. Just a small bit of different perspective on the lost luggage bit. For entertainment: at that age it’s just kinda cool to be in a hotel (does it have a pool?).
posted by Sassyfras at 1:18 PM on August 4 [2 favorites]

I’d definitely have them go to Discovery Place Science and then dinner (or lunch) at Sea Level NC.

The Uptown (as Charlotte calls downtown) Target isn’t great, but is a quick Uber ride if they need to buy some clothes/toiletries/etc
posted by raccoon409 at 1:22 PM on August 4

Thirding Discovery Place. My mom was a volunteer there when I was a kid, and I pretty much grew up running around it. There's active stuff for kids who need that and also sit and watch stuff for kids who need that. And it's air conditioned and dry and safe, which may be the biggest considerations for a tired parent.
posted by hydropsyche at 2:14 PM on August 4 [1 favorite]

Amelie's! I was in Charlotte for a conference and went to Amelie's every day of my trip. Delightful and probably something that 7-11s would find delightful also (and they do birthday cakes).

iirc that's within a reasonable walk of the Mint Museum and some other interesting spots. Charlotte also has a light rail that is fun to ride if anyone wants to venture out of the downtown (sorry, "uptown") area.
posted by knotty knots at 2:56 PM on August 4

Does the hotel have an indoor pool? My kids would happily spend hours in the hotel pool and be exhausted afterwards. Sleep on the plane!
posted by JohnnyGunn at 10:02 PM on August 4 [1 favorite]

And room service! See if they can deliver some treats. Phone the hotel and ask to speak to room service, explain the situation and ask if they have any ideas.
posted by Barbara Spitzer at 10:35 PM on August 4 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks y'all! Discovery Place was a hit, the pool at the hotel kept everyone happy, DoorDash delivers Starbucks orders to hotel rooms, and everyone successfully got on the plane last night.
posted by Mayor West at 10:30 AM on August 6 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Also I made this cake, and had it ready with candles when we all got back from the airport late last night. A++ would eat strawberry cream cheese frosting with strawberry cake again.
posted by Mayor West at 10:32 AM on August 6 [1 favorite]