Leaving for vacation, with no clue where you’re headed
Plus: Private indoor golf club headed to SouthPark; Charlotte book clubs battle it out; September's hot rezonings🔥; Pineville coffee shop switch
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Could you put planning an entire vacation — including the destination — in the hands of someone you’ve never met? Surprise travel companies take the decisions out of vacations.
This is the moment at the Charlotte airport in July when Audrey Nicholes and her mom, Jodie, learned where they were headed for a three-day vacation. The mother-daughter duo flew to Austin, Texas, with the help of Pack Up + Go, a national travel company that specializes in surprise trips.
by Cristina Bolling
Jodie Nicholes considers herself “as type A as they get,” but when she found herself hankering for a carefree weekend getaway for herself and her 16-year-old daughter Audrey this summer, she decided to try something new, and out of character: She hired a company to plan a surprise vacation, keeping her in the dark even about her destination until departure time.
Nicholes, who works in advertising, learned about the surprise vacations concept a few years ago when as a field producer for the Charlotte office of NBC News she researched the concept for a story about unusual types of travel.
In the market for a mother-daughter trip, she booked a long weekend with Pack Up + Go, a national company based out of Pittsburgh that specializes in surprise travel. They sent Nicholes a 25-question survey about her likes and dislikes, the dates she wanted to travel, her budget, and a list of places she visits frequently.
The result was a whirlwind 3-day trip to Austin, Texas, which Nicholes said was exactly what she and Audrey needed: a mix of fun activities, good food, off-the-beaten-path sightseeing an even a little extra time to squeeze in a quick college tour.
“I like schedules. I like itineraries. I like knowing my day from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and everything in between,” Nicholes said. “To release some of that control was hard, but cathartic and exhilarating.”
How it works: Surprise travel is a small but growing segment of the vacation industry, and it speaks to what exhausts and frustrates many of us about our current hustle-bustle lives — we are decision fatigued.
So while the idea of putting one’s precious vacation time — and money — into the hands of total strangers may seem risky, taking off the planner hat and turning it over to someone else can seem like one way to get some sweet relief and adventurous fun.
Five days before their July departure date, Nicholes got an email from Pack Up + Go with the weather forecast for the mystery place she’d be traveling, as well as the types of clothes she and Audrey would want to pack. As (bad) luck would have it, the highs for their destination would be 100, 101 and 103.
“I laughed and said, ‘This is God’s way of punishing me for giving up control,’” Nicoles recalls.
Three days before departure, an envelope arrived via certified mail with flight and hotel information, restaurant gift cards, Uber cash, activity reservations and information on things they might want to do in their free time. They left it sealed, so they could be surprised on the day of the trip.
An email arrived the day before the trip telling Nicholes what time she and Audrey should arrive at the airport to check in for their flight. She’d given Pack Up + Go her airline frequent flier numbers and hotel loyalty account information, and they made the reservations with her account information but were able to keep the trip information from showing up in her travel apps.
Nicholes said she and Audrey were tempted to rip open the envelope before heading to the airport, but they stopped themselves. Once they got inside the terminal, though, Audrey did the honors.
Their $2,000 travel budget got them flights to Austin, two nights in a well-located Aloft hotel, a $100 Uber credit, a paid-for fancy dinner and two tours, including a bike-and-brew tour. (Nicholes wrote on her Pack Up + Go survey that she loves craft beer.)
Mother and daughter also checked out a few items on Pack Up + Go’s list of suggested things to do, including a ghost tour, an amphibious duck tour and a visit to Congress Bridge at sunset to watch thousands of bats fly out into the night sky.
Different types of trips: Pack Up + Go isn’t the only travel agency that offers surprise travel, but it’s one of the most popular.
CEO Lillian Rafson founded the company in 2016 when, as a 23-year-old, she realized that surprise travel had taken root in Europe but was a foreign concept in the United States.
The company only plans trips within the United States (Rafson is passionate about the economic benefits of tourism on U.S. cities), and they’re broken down into four categories: airplane trips, drives to a city, drives to an outdoorsy area or staycations. Trips are booked by professional travel advisors, not a computer algorithm, she said.
Rafson told The Ledger that her target audience has turned out to be broader than she originally anticipated.
“We see a lot of people who say, ‘I’m typically the planner in my friend group or my family, and I want to be surprised,’” she said.
“As adults, there are so few times in our lives when we’re genuinely surprised in a good way. It’s a fun way to treat yourself,” Rafson said. We see a lot of couples celebrating their anniversaries, engagements, birthday trips. Friends who live across the country, and it’s hard to figure out logistically when and where to go. So, we take that burden off of travelers.”
Mystery vacations aren’t for everyone. Giving up so much control can be tough for a lot of people, and frequent travelers can’t use airline miles or hotel points when they book with travel companies like Pack Up + Go.
But Nicholes said she’s game for another mystery trip.
“We saw things and we did things we wouldn’t normally have done,” she said. “And we didn’t have to think about it.”
Cristina Bolling is managing editor of The Ledger: cristina@cltledger.com
Today’s supporting sponsors are T.R. Lawing Realty…
… and Landon A. Dunn, attorney-at-law in Matthews:
Private social club for golfers headed to Apex SouthPark
Intown Golf, an Atlanta-based members-only indoor golf club, is scheduled to open a location in Apex SouthPark in spring 2023, according to a company brochure and documents recorded in local land records.
The 13,000 s.f. facility will include golf simulators and instruction, a bar and restaurant, a large covered patio and an outdoor putting green, according to a brochure released to The Ledger. Apex SouthPark sits across from SouthPark Mall and includes the Hyatt Centric hotel, SouthPark Church and apartments.
Intown Golf describes itself as an “immersive golf experience” with TrackMan golf simulators that “offers a convenient and weather-proof setting where you can play 18 holes in 45 minutes, day or night, rain or shine,” according to the brochure.
Club initiation fees range from $3,500 for members under age 35 to $8,500 for families. Monthly dues range from $150 to $360.
Intown Golf currently has one location open in Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood, according to the company’s website, which lists Charlotte, Nashville, Austin, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and midtown Atlanta as other cities with information about future openings “coming soon.” — CB, LB
Battle of the book clubs: Charlotte Mecklenburg Library hosts competition to show readers that the library is ‘more than just books’
Nearly 1,000 Charlotteans across 177 book clubs are currently participating in the city’s first-ever “Book Club Madness,” a tournament created by Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Foundation to connect local readers with the resources available to them at the library.
It’s also a way to show readers that the library is “more than just books,” said Maggie Bean, marketing and communication specialist for the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Foundation.
Here’s how Book Club Madness works: Clubs complete a series of five challenges to score points for their team and have to log their points before the challenge’s end date. Challenges consist of tasks like visiting a library branch, rating a book on the library’s website and checking out an e-book, all of which either correspond to one, two or three points depending on the difficulty. (Think basketball scoring.)
Book clubs that score at least 100 points will be entered into a drawing for a table at the 2022 Verse & Vino event on Nov. 10, which is the library foundation’s signature fundraiser. The winning book club will also win an exclusive private audience with a featured author of their choice at the event, which includes an array of New York Times bestselling authors.
Bean said participation has been strong, and thousands of points have already been logged. The competition began on Sept. 14 and the final challenge ends Oct. 12.
“Members of book clubs are often advocates for strong public libraries, and we wanted to create something that would resonate with them,” Bean said in an email to The Ledger. “Book Club Madness highlights some of the best our library has to offer while making the journey of discovery a lot of fun.” —LB
Now available: September’s hot rezoning action, with townhome and apartment plans
It’s time once again to take an inside peek at development in Charlotte — by examining the rezoning petitions filed last month.
Some of you surely ask: “Huh? Why list rezonings?” Yeah, we know some people might think rezoning petitions are less click-worthy than, say, restaurant openings or restaurant menu changes or restaurant health inspection grades or boujee home sale listings.
But we think that knowing what developers are building — maybe near you — is more relevant to your life. Would you rather know about plans for 200 townhomes built close to your neighborhood, or a new Mexican restaurant in a part of town you’ve never been to?
Last month, for instance, developers submitted plans for:
A residential development on the site of the old Collinswood Language Academy on Scaleybark Road
200 apartments near Billy Graham Parkway
188 townhomes in Mallard Creek
194 townhomes near Reedy Creek Park, in the east Charlotte/University City area
There was also a plan submitted by NoDa restaurant Goodyear House.
We make these sneak peeks available only to our paying members. It’s like an early warning system for potential rezoning battles. There are several of those that lie ahead in the coming months — in SouthPark, near Providence High School and elsewhere — and some residents first learned of them in our monthly rezoning round-ups.
Enjoy! –TM
You might be interested in these Charlotte events
Events submitted by readers to The Ledger’s events board:
Saturday: Charlotte Parent School Fair, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Junior Achievement of Central Carolinas, Charlotte. The Charlotte Parent School Fair is the perfect chance for parents to learn about the best public and private schools all in once place! The fair features schools, vendors, information sessions, a balloon artist, and story time! Pre-register and be entered to win prizes! Free event.
Oct. 16: Writing with Bearden: An Ekphrastic Workshop with Charlotte Lit, 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts, Charlotte. Learn about the fascinating tradition of ekphrasis — or “writing about art” — with faculty from Charlotte Lit. See examples and learn tips before giving it a try yourself. No experience or special materials required. Registration is required and online. Free event.
Nov. 4-6: The Enneagram Workshop, Nov. 4th from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Nov. 5th & 6th from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., at The Enneagram Center, Charlotte. Everyone is talking about the Enneagram! In this three-day weekend workshop, you will gain insights into your personality to understand why you do what you do. You will learn how to improve your relationships and resolve conflicts with your friends, family, and colleagues. Early bird pricing: $275 until Oct. 14th. Regular pricing: $295.
◼️ Check out the full Ledger events board.
➡️ List your event on the Ledger events board.
In brief:
New park proposed for NoDa: A 12- to 14-acre county park is being proposed for NoDa along Cullman Avenue and 36th Street, near the light rail and NoDa’s commercial center. The land the park would sit on is part of a floodplain. (Axios Charlotte)
CATS service suspended: The Charlotte Area Transit System will close its light rail and streetcar lines next weekend for maintenance. CATS officials say crews will repair track beds, signal crossings, and signal systems. Service will be suspended starting Saturday, October 15 at 2 a.m. and will restart on Monday, October 17 at 5 a.m. During that time, CATS will provide buses to shuttle people between the Lynx Blue Line and CityLYNX Gold Line stops. (WFAE)
Pineville coffeeshop changing hands: Popular tea and coffee shop Unwind Tea & Coffee closed on Main Street in downtown Pineville earlier this month, and it will be replaced with a Waterbean Coffee location later this fall, according to letters posted on the door. Unwind Tea & Coffee owner Wendy Favreau wrote a heartfelt thank-you letter to customers notifying them of the closure, and Tony Vo, owner of the Cornelius-based Waterbean chain also posted a letter, saying, “when we saw this location was up for sale, we knew right away that this was where we wanted our next location to be.”
Woman trapped under bus near uptown: Rescue officials had to lift a motorcoach-style bus to free a woman who had become trapped underneath it on Sunday evening. The incident happened at Cedar and 4th streets. The woman was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. (WBTV)
Tough loss for the Panthers: The Carolina Panthers dropped to 1-4 Sunday, with a home 37-15 loss against the San Francisco 49ers in front of a sea of red 49ers jerseys and empty blue seats. Perhaps the most disastrous play of the evening came when Panthers quarterback Baker Mayfield overthrew a pass to Christian McCaffrey, resulting in a 41-yard pick-6 by 49ers defensive back Emmanuel Moseley. (Sports Illustrated)
Taking stock
Unless you are a day trader, checking your stocks daily is unhealthy. So how about weekly? How local stocks of note fared last week (through Friday’s close), and year to date:
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Staff writer: Lindsey Banks; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire, CXN Advisory; Contributing photographer/videographer: Kevin Young, The 5 and 2 Project