This week has been a love letter to spring. Mid-80s, breezy, the kind of weather that makes you forget every brutal August afternoon you've ever lived through. (Yes, mid-80s in mid-April. We'll worry about August later.) We've been outside constantly, and Jamie has officially fallen in love with the new water table we picked up at Costco. He's been at it for hours every day, mostly transferring water from one cup to another with the focused intensity of a man counting cash. Worth every penny.
Last weekend we hit Charlotte SHOUT! for the first time, and it delivered a very on-brand Charlotte mix of high and low. David found a food truck doing soft serve at 11am, which ticked all the boxes of his ideal morning. Jamie firmly declined to try the giant spinning tops you can sit in (shocking no one). And we wandered The Green to see the art installations, where Jamie's clear favorite was a big Easter egg packed with rubber ducks. This is SHOUT!'s final weekend (it wraps Sunday 4/19), so if you've been meaning to check it out, now's your moment.
This week's issue has a guest contributor (!), a Davidson day trip you'll want to bookmark, a stroller-friendly trail discovery, and a stacked On Our Radar. Let's get into it.
🌱 What We’re Doing
Your week in Charlotte, planned.
This week is a lot, in the best way. Earth Day lands on Wednesday and the celebrations spill across both weekends, strawberry season is in full swing (Hall Family Farm and Hunter Farm are both open), and Saturday alone has 16+ events that range from a real rodeo in Mint Hill to a combat robot tournament at UNC Charlotte. Plus Charlotte SHOUT! wraps Sunday, so this is your last chance for the rubber duck Easter egg if you haven't been yet.
✨ A few standouts:
Earth Day at Anne Springs Close Greenway, with free kayak rentals, reptile encounters, and pony rides across 2,100 acres
Davidson's Earth Day Festival on the Town Green, perfect to pair with Natalie's day-trip blueprint below
Baby & Toddler Prom (!!!) at the Pineville Library, which is exactly as cute as it sounds
Secret Gardens of Fourth Ward tickets go on sale 4/17. The annual self-guided tour through Fourth Ward's private gardens runs May 16–17, noon to 4. It sells out, so set a reminder.
Bumps & Bagelsis back May 3 at New Moms School Ballantyne. If you'll be at least 22 weeks pregnant, this is the one. Registration always fills up fast. Sign up now or be sad later.
Discovery Place Kids is coming to Matthews, and they want your input. Two public listening sessions: Monday 5/12 from 3:30–5:30 at Matthews Elementary, and Tuesday 5/13 from 6–8 at Matthews Town Hall. If you live east, show up.
Mom League Charlotte's next Moms Night Out is 4/30 at Suffolk Punch South End. Open to past, present, and future Mom League moms! If you've been meaning to try a Mom League event, this is your sign.
🌳 Where We're Playing
One place we loved this week.
A Day in Davidson (Guest Edition)
This week's review comes from my friend Natalie, a fellow Charlotte mom and stay-at-home mom to her two girls, Claire (3) and Katherine (1). She took both girls up to Davidson for a weekday adventure: a tiny playground behind Kindred, a sculpture-filled walk through the Davidson College campus, a library detour for the baby, and a $6 kids' meal at Milkbread. She walked away with a 10/10 day and a real recommendation.
Heads up: Natalie is a rookie contributor and forgot to take any photos, so the images here are mine and Google's. We will train her up.
Thanks, Natalie! Want to guest-write a future issue? Hit reply.
🔖 Worth a Bookmark
For your next stroller walk.
The Backlot Trail in South Park. I just learned about this one and I'm planning to try it this weekend, so consider this a real-time bookmark. The Backlot Trail is a short paved greenway (about a third of a mile, 10 feet wide) that opened in October 2023 as the first phase of a longer connector project. It links the South Park Loop to Park Road Park, and from there you can hop onto the Cross Charlotte Trail (X-CLT), which runs from NoDa all the way to the South Carolina state line. Translation: once you're on it, you've got real options.
The whole point of the trail is that it gives you a safe, mostly tree-lined way to walk between South Park and Park Road Park without playing chicken with Park Road traffic. If you've ever tried to cross Park Road on foot with a stroller, you understand. There's a pedestrian crosswalk and traffic signals built in. Future phases will eventually extend it down to McMullen Creek Greenway near Governor's Square off Carmel Road, but that funding hasn't been secured yet.
Plug 3302 Woodbine Lane into your GPS for the trailhead. Sounds perfect for a stroller jog, a "let's just walk and see how far we get" kind of morning, or a coffee-and-stroll with a friend.
Report back if you've been on it. I'll do the same next week (hopefully).
Here's to mid-80s afternoons, guest contributors who say yes, and Saturdays so packed you have to triage.
That's it for this week. Thanks for being here, and a huge thank-you to Natalie for the guest review! If you've been thinking about writing one yourself, reply and let me know. The door is open.
💚 Emily
Founder, The Charlotte Sprout
P.S. Jamie spent 14 minutes yesterday inspecting a single dandelion. Spring is doing the parenting for me.
Help The Sprout grow. If one idea made your week easier, please forward this email or tag @thecharlottesprout so more Charlotte parents can find us. 🌱
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