Things to do in Charlotte: Rent-A-Bike

So ever since I moved to Charlotte almost 2 years ago I have wanted to try the really neat rent-a-bike system they have all over town.

This past week the weather has been fantastic so after a nice 'Taco Salad Tuesday' dinner, me and the hubby ran off to Freedom Park to try this:

It was so much fun! They say the key to happiness as an adult is to get back into things you loved as a child. I can't remember a day after school where I didn't ride my bike so, needless to say, I had a big smile on my face the entire time. I'm so glad I finally tried it. I briefly mentioned that I wanted to try this bike rental system last summer on the blog, so it's been a long time coming.
Procrastinators unite! Tomorrow.

So here's how it works. It's called the Charlotte B-cycle system and there are 'bike stations' all over town. Check out their website for a full map of bike stations. The stations will look like this:

When you arrive at the bike station, you will need to enter your information and swipe your credit card at the kiosk to unlock a bike. The kiosk will look like this:

Just plug in your information, pay $8, pick a bike and get cruisin'!

It's that easy!

Tips:

1. The pricing is confusing. $8 is the 'Access fee' which gives you 24 hours of usage time, BUT you have to pay $4 every 30 minutes. Confusing I know. So say I rented the bike at 1:00PM. It will cost me $8 until 1:30. If I rent the bike from 1:00-2:00, I will pay $12 total. Basically they add $4 to every 30 minutes after the first half hour. And if you're even more confused, my apologies. I promise it's not so bad ;)

2. Freedom Park is beautiful and has great bike paths, but very crowded in the evening. It is the inner city park and many inner city families rush there after work to get some outdoors time in.
Be good at dodging humans or go in the morning.

3. You do not have to return the bike at the same station you rented it at! You can rent a bike in North Charlotte and return it in South Charlotte. Awesome.

4. Bring hand sanitizer.



And now it's time for my evening walk! Later friends. Hope it's greening up where you are :)

PS. If you're looking for more fun activities to do in Charlotte, check out my 'Things to do in Charlotte' series! Featuring the Pinterest Popular Food Truck Friday which is still amazing.
You have to try the Papi Queso grilled cheese truck. I'm going tonight. #drool

Part 1:
Food Truck Friday & Strawberry Picking

Part 2:

 Segway Tours & Anne Springs Greenway

Part 3:
Carowinds!!

Part 4:
Discovery Place, Whole Foods Market & Epicentre

Spring.

I currently have Echosmith's new song 'Bright' constantly playing in my head.

The birds are loud. Things are green. And I spend my days here...

I live for this season.

The blog has been quiet lately but life sure hasn't. I just got back from a work trip to Illinois actually...

If you remember I was here for two weeks at the end of last Summer.
While it wasn't nearly as pretty, and I was only here for a week this time, I still had an awesome experience.

There's absolutely nothing like driving down those flat roads listening to some good music...

I feel so lucky that I get to come home from my frequent trips to a home that I love. To a tiny apartment that has cheap furniture but is rich in love and joy. To a tiny Southern town filled with Northern transplants that love and appreciate this gorgeous Spring weather just as much as I do.

With this new season comes new thoughts. I find I'm growing and evolving just as fast as the tulips.
I have a burst of strong motivation to try new things and visit new places.
I've got a list about a mile long.

Just this past weekend I tried a new coffee! A coconut latte from Starbucks, of course.
It was divine.

We actually went OUT for dinner at a new restaurant this Friday, too!
This never happens. We are firm believers of a home cooked meal.

It's called Tupelo Honey Cafe in Southside Charlotte and it was the bee's knees.
All pun intended.

So far in the 3 short months of 2015 we've gone to more concerts (of all varieties, I might add. G-Eazy for the win.) learned even more about healthy eating, and volunteered our weekends to causes we really care about.

I have big plans this Spring and Summer. I just know so many fun things are going to transpire. Things I plan but also spur of the moment, completely unexpected things. I'm so excited!

I want to go Here. I want to storm chase in Oklahoma. I want to try THIS and run through Lavender fields in Washington. I want to spend a Summer weekend visiting friends and family in New England.

I want to try so many new things and always be on the road to the next adventure. But I also want to learn how to relax, take things slow, and live in the moment without being bothered by the past or worrying too much about the future....

In the next few months we will depart our beloved 'first place' and upgrade to something bigger.
We will celebrate 2 years married and go on many new adventures.
I can't wait to document it all.


"Life is good.
And that's the way it should be"

Are you trying anything new this Spring?

<3

Pump the Brakes

Hey Steph how you doin'
Where ya been?
Probably planning a new trip
Cuz here I go again....

So I realize that I used to blog, like, 2-3 times a week and now I'm lucky if I get behind this keyboard a measly once a week...
Sorry.

I've pumped the brakes on blogging for a cornucopia of reasons..

Mostly because I realized that I enjoy being outside SO much more than sitting on my ass.

Mitch also recently got me a FitBit exercise device thing that counts how many steps I take a day, helps me keep track of all the calories I eat, etc. It's awesome! I love challenging myself and checking my stats throughout the day. I know that if I were to continue blogging as much as I have been, I would definitely not meet my goal of 10,000 steps a day.
Fitness > Blogging.

And you know what else I love?
My husband.

I've been spending a lot more time with him whether it's going on walks or going off road exploring new, quaint, Southern towns...

This man is an angel from above let me tell you.
He wraps my disgusting poison ivy legs in the CVS parking lot just so I can run errands in comfort

I'll spare you the photo of them unwrapped.





Oh and hey! I did the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.
I've said before; I have a love/hate relationship with social media.
And this is one thing I love about it.
Can you believe how much money they've raised!?

I think it's also important to realize that this is just one of several awful, life changing diseases out there.
Depression, Autism, Aspbergers & Epilepsy are a few that personally affect my family and I.



It was so much fun filming and editing this video.
I think I'll start documenting trips this way!

Other than that my friends, I have no other excuses for my blogging absence! I've really just been enjoying the natural beauty of the South. Being outdoors with the natural world and away from social media, awful news and the unoriginality of society is truly what keeps my spirits so high. I thrive off moving to the beat of my own drum. I was born in Southern Indiana and so many sights and smells down here bring back such fond childhood memories. I'm in heaven, really.

I spent a lot of my life living in New England. There is no denying that it is a very beautiful place.
But, for me, it always felt like I was wearing two left shoes. I always knew it wasn't where I belonged. My spirit doesn't mesh with the energies up there; it never did. I feel myself when I smell honeysuckle in Spring. When I hear wind chimes as a soft warning of an incoming storm. The loud noise of summer bugs paired with the beautiful sight of a swarm of lightening bugs...that is my home. The thought of New England being an annual Summer vacation spot, though, sounds absolutely perfect.

For now, I'll be down here enjoying stunning sunsets with the peach trees
;-)


My friends! I want to stay in touch more so than once every week or 2. I am regularly on Instagram posting just about every single day. It's a great place to quickly share photos and details of my adventures. Please follow me there
@freespiritfun1 <-- don't forget the #1 ;)

Oh and also, we  have a huuuge trip coming up!! We're going far, far away from the South...
AND I CANT WAIT. I live for exploring new places.
You know I'll be blogging about it once we return.
But in the mean time....here is your clue:

Image via Pinterest

Southern Sunday

The South, although covered in poison ivy, is so beautiful.
I can sit here with border line elephantiasis legs and still say that.

Last weekend I was browsing a local pro photographer's Pinterest board trying to find picturesque places in the area to take some photos.

BOOM.

Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden.
A beautiful 20 minute drive from our apartment to Belmont, NC.

When we approached this place we heard faint, African style drums playing over loudspeakers.
Jumanji style.
Heart = won.


Lucky us, they had a 'ZimSculpt' event taking place with local artists from Zimbabwe showcasing their Shona sculptures. We chatted with the artists for a little while, they were so kind. Always willing to answer every question I threw at them - which was everything from:
'Is it difficult to create a feathered texture into the stone?'
to, most importantly,
'Do you like cats?'

The rest of the garden was nothing short of a scene from Alice in Wonderland.
Peaceful, natural beauty every where we turned...

This place is awesome. They have acres of land covered in professionally designed gardens, trails along the lake, an orchid greenhouse...it's truly the perfect place to spend a Sunday.

They decorate the gardens for the holidays in December - I've already wrote down in my agenda for my birthday:
1. BUY PEPPERMINT HOT CHOCOLATE @ STARBUCKS.
2. GO TO DANIEL STOWE GARDENS
3. NEVER LEAVE.

I hope you all had a great week. Mine was full of itching & scratching, duck feeding, and of course, nightly walks to catch a beautiful sunset and count my lucky stars for another day of life.

Cheers <3

25 & Feelin' Alive

Here we are in the heart of Summer.
It's warm every day, ice cream is a regular food item, I have poison ivy and Taylor Swift released a new single.


Life. Is. Good.


I've been out & about a lot lately taking all sorts of photos.
I don't like to call myself a photographer....because, well, I'm not.
I like to call myself a Day Dreamer.

I was always that kid who got in trouble at school for staring out the window too much.
These ideas for photos pop into my head out of nowhere. Usually when I'm listening to music.



And then I go out and bring them to life.

A lot of times once I'm out in the world taking these photos, I will stumble upon some pretty amazing, unplanned things.


Like this:

Talk about right place right time.
I was amazed. I think trains are so cool. Plus this one said 'SOUTHERN' all over the cars.
Beautiful reminder that I am no longer a slave to New England winters
;-)

a few minutes after this we heard a loud cracking sound coming from the woods that made us stop dead in our tracks and just stare at each other with open mouths, patiently waiting for another  clue as to what was happening ....
BOOOOOM.
Huge tree fell in the woods.
What are the odds!?

I love cattails. I was so happy to see them all over the place down here because they are a magical reminder of wonderful childhood memories growing up in the Midwest. That and I'm a bonafide cat lady.

Not sure what I love more about these photos; the fact that I am so genuinely happy over a weed or the fireflies that made an appearance in the background...

I've officially lived through all 4 seasons down here and I must admit I like what I see.
It is warm from February-November. The Summer seems endless.
Finally.

I go on nightly walks, mostly by myself, as a time to recuperate and detox myself from all the negative energy from the day. It's been working out quite well, and I have new friends that recognize my voice...

One of my usual walks is a nice trail around a pond and these two goofballs are there every night.
They come running every time they hear me say
'Well Hello there!'
It's the cutest thing ever.

They tried to follow me home last night. They wobbled behind me up this gravel hill towards my car.
If I didn't live in an apartment they would be quacking around my backyard right now.
Getting chased by my 25 cats...
Moving on.

Everything is so green here! Ivy lines all of my favorite trails. It gets out of control in the Summer and I love it

We've also seen some mystical creatures we didn't know exist this Summer.
Like life size mushrooms.
Also,when my mom was in town the other week, on our way home from the grocery one night a RED WOLF ran out in front of our car!! It was so cool! We went to the local nature center the next day to ask if the red wolf inhabits this area - sure enough, they do. But they are extremely rare.
Omen?

The next night my mom and I both had dreams of lizards.
So weird.
But anyway.



I'm loving my time here in the South. I'm not sure if it will be forever --  I'm just going to enjoy the red barns, warm breezes, and delicious peaches while I'm around.
:-)

And on that note...
I'm off to feed my ducks.