You might be old in Charlotte if...

Plus: Top news of the week: Early voting underway; Business group rallies for transit tax plan; 'Humpy' Wheeler dies at 86; UNC Charlotte seeks to add AI major; Latino festival canceled over ICE fears

Good morning! Today is Saturday, August 23, 2025. You’re reading The Charlotte Ledger’s Weekend Edition.

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Today’s Ledger is sponsored by VIA Health Partners, which delivers compassionate and comprehensive care to patients with serious illnesses. As the Carolinas' largest independent non-profit hospice and palliative care provider, we serve over 5,000 patients daily, spanning 38 counties.

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Spotting the signs you’re ‘vintage’ in Charlotte. From the original Phat Burrito to BB&T Ballpark.

The Spectrum Center was formerly known as the Time Warner Cable Arena (from left), back when the Charlotte Hornets were the Charlotte Bobcats. McCormick & Schmick's restaurant was located at 200 S. Tryon St. in uptown, and Truist Field was known as the BB&T BallPark back in the day. (Time Warner photo courtesy of Gregor Smith on Flickr, McCormick & Schmick's photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and BB&T BallPark photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

by Colleen Brannan

I’ve lived in Charlotte for 20 years. Not long enough to remember skating at Eastland Mall or Providence Square in its heyday, but long enough to remember opening night at BB&T Ballpark before it was Truist Field, and to give people directions using landmarks that no longer exist. “Head down South Blvd, past where the old Phat Burrito used to be.”

Google confirms I’m middle-aged, which would assume I’m living past 100? I still wear jeans with zippers, know how to scan a restaurant QR code and go to concerts with current artists, though I do love a throwback show.

Just last month, I saw 80-year-old Rod Stewart with an unbuttoned blouse (his, not mine) and 38 Special, still belting out bangers on tour after 50 years.

Still, the evidence is piling up — ads, invitations, even mailers hinting I might be vintage.

Inspired by the great philosopher Jeff Foxworthy, I’ve compiled this list of signs.

You might be old if:

• You own multiple pairs of readers. Kitchen. Car. TV remote.

• You hold your phone at arm’s length to read a text. The font is pumped up to 18, and you still send misdirected texts.

• You can no longer tolerate loud restaurants, other people’s small children or barstools without back support. “Get off my lawn” is next.

• You won’t wait in line for anything. Not the bathroom, post office or even free cone day at Ben & Jerry’s. The DMV is the lone exception when online is not an option.

• You’ve raced into a room and forgotten why. Then remembered. Then forgot again. Then blamed sleep deprivation or a new medication.

• You now travel with Tums, hand sanitizer and a jacket “just in case.” And you use all three.

• You brag about never wearing heels ever again and own fashion sneakers in every color.

• You get excited when your AARP magazine arrives. Last month, they covered 5 Ways to Thwart a Text Scam, or so I heard.

• You say “the Facebook” or “the Twitter.” And will never acknowledge X.

• You cringed learning the movie “Jaws” turned 50 this year and “The Sopranos” 25!

You might be old in Charlotte if:

• You’ve been invited to a financial planning dinner at The Palm or Del Frisco’s and considered going for the cheesecake.

• You get glossy brochures from 55+ communities promising “active adult living” (vs. what I’m doing right now?) plus calls from people offering to buy your house “as is.”

• You’re fine with a 5 o’clock dinner reservation at hot new spots like Spaghett or Leluia Hall. You also avoid restaurants with bad parking and would never dine at 9 p.m.

• You can recite all three Big Ben Pub locations. You remember where you were when the first one on Providence Road burned down and was replaced by a Verizon store.

• You can recount the rise and fall of the Epicentre, built on the site of the old Charlotte Convention Center. From bustling nightlife to multiple foreclosures. Now, it’s Queen City Quarter.

• You call buildings by their old names… Wachovia or Time Warner Cable Arena. Or nicknames like One Wells Fargo, aka The Jukebox.

• You leave concerts at PNC, Skyla and Spectrum Center before the encore to beat traffic. You’re also offended by ticket prices and won’t sit on the lawn with drunk hooligans.

• You remember when the light rail was new and thrilling. Raise your hand if you ever rode it just for fun!

• You recall some of Charlotte’s juiciest scandals that put the Queen City in the national news: John Edwards/Rielle Hunter, General Petraeus/Paula Broadwell, Mayor Patrick Cannon/City of Charlotte.

• Your preferred gym is the Marion Diehl Rec Center. (Shoutout to my friend Kim McMillan for this one.)

• You miss Anderson’s Restaurant any time power breakfasts come up and agree no pancake house hits the same.

• You mourn all the uptown lunch spots like Dean & Deluca and McCormick & Schmick’s that are no longer with us.

So yes, I might be adding another ring to the tree trunk in September. But I’ve also lived here long enough to remember when South End was mostly warehouses, the Common Market was edgy, Ballantyne didn’t have a Bowl and not every coffee shop doubled as a co-working space. I may be aging out of cool, but I’m still on the invite list … for a walk-in tub demo.

Looking north along Camden Road, 1994, it was hard to imagine its transformation into what would become South End. (Photo courtesy of Charlotte Center City Partners)

I also know where to get a $2 beer and play pool for a buck (shoutout to my new fave Two Buck Saloon on Monroe Road), when to leave Panthers games to avoid the gridlock and how to traverse uptown on rainy days without going outside.

And if that free steak dinner comes with a slideshow on tax shelters? I’ll take the filet medium rare and a booth near the door, please.

Colleen Brannan, the owner of BRANSTORM PR & Marketing and an award-winning 35+year PR professional, believes you’re as old as you feel. For her, some days that’s 25 and others 80. Connect with her on LinkedIn or Instagram.

➡️ What’s your best “You might be old in Charlotte if…”? Email Colleen or leave a comment:

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Today’s supporting sponsor is VIA Health Partners, which delivers compassionate and comprehensive care to patients with serious illnesses. As the Carolinas' largest independent non-profit hospice and palliative care provider, we serve over 5,000 patients daily, spanning 38 counties.

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This week in Charlotte: CMS campus upgrades to start; NoDa gets new grocery store; Warehouses join ‘quality’ trend; UNC Charlotte pushes for AI major; Second chief sheriff’s deputy resigns

On Saturdays, The Ledger sifts through the local news of the week and links to the top articles — even if they appeared somewhere else. We’ll help you get caught up. That’s what Saturdays are for.

Education

• UNC Charlotte wants to add an AI major: (Ledger 🔒) UNC Charlotte is seeking approval to launch a new bachelor’s degree in artificial intelligence next year —one of the first in the state and among fewer than 20 nationwide.

• Universities boost lobbying as funding cuts loom: (Open Campus) Duke University and UNC Chapel Hill spent nearly $780,000 more on federal lobbying in the first half of this year compared with 2024, pushing for priorities like research funding, student visas and Pell grants. 

Politics

• Early voting starts: Polls opened Thursday for early voting in the city of Charlotte primaries. According to the Mecklenburg Board of Elections, 157 people voted on Thursday and 126 on Friday. Early voting continues Monday through Friday next week from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Hal Marshall Center uptown. Early voting dates, times and locations here. Check out The Election Hub for more information on voting and candidates. (It’s a free local election guide!)

• Second chief deputy resigns from Mecklenburg Sheriff’s Office: (Charlotte Observer, subscriber-only) Chief Deputy Christopher Allen resigned Monday in a two-page letter accusing Sheriff Garry McFadden of creating a “toxic and abusive environment.” 

Local news

• NoDa gets new grocery store: (Observer) At 7 a.m. Friday, a long line formed to get inside the new “highly anticipated” Sprouts grocery store, which opened at 36th and North Tryon streets in NoDa. 

• Latino festival canceled: (Observer) Organizers of the Hispanic Heritage Festival of the Carolinas said they will not hold the festival this year, saying “the current immigration climate has created a challenging environment for large Latino events in our city.” 

• Camera removed from Enderly Park stirs safety concerns: (WCNC) A mobile surveillance camera that helped deter drug activity in West Charlotte’s Enderly Park has been removed, prompting fears illegal behavior could return. 

Business

• Bank deal: (Business North Carolina) Virginia-based TowneBank is buying Raleigh-based Dogwood State Bank in a $476M deal. 

• Truist outlines five-year growth plan: (Biz Journal, subscriber-only) Truist Financial Corp. announced Wednesday it will expand in high-growth markets, including Charlotte, with a five-year plan to open 100 branches and renovate more than 300 others. 

• Local TV merger: (Associated Press) Nexstar — the country’s largest owner of TV stations, including WJZY (Fox 46) — agreed to acquire Tegna, the owner of WCNC (NBC6), in a deal valued at $6.2B. The deal still needs approval from federal regulators. 

Sports

• In memoriam: (Charlotte Observer, subscriber-only) Howard “Humpy” Wheeler Jr., a NASCAR pioneer who served as president and general manager at Charlotte Motor Speedway, passed away peacefully on Wednesday evening. 

• Tennis superstar buys stake in Charlotte soccer team: (WSOC) Tennis legend Martina Navratilova has joined Carolina Ascent as a minority owner, bolstering the women’s pro soccer club as it heads into its second season.

From the Ledger family of newsletters

Monday 

• Crisis Assistance Ministry turns 50. Plus: N.C. universities step up lobbying spending; Toppman review of Three Bone Theatre's “Electricidad”; Black Political Caucus sticks with endorsements; Ajmera way ahead in fundraising

Wednesday (🔒)

• UNC Charlotte wants to add an AI major. Plus: New American Airlines lounge opens at CLT; Charlotte hospitals battle for operating rooms; Nonprofit for deaf children to lay off staff

Friday (🔒)

• Finding purpose in an east Charlotte laundromat. Plus: SCarowinds to charge $10 for haunted houses; Life lessons from Charlotte legend Humpy Wheeler; “You Ask, We Answer” on uptown park security guards

Transit Time

• Charlotte leaders rally support for transit plan: Business group plans $3M+ campaign to persuade voters called “Yes for Meck”

Fútbol Friday

• Development paying off for Charlotte FC: Defender Adilson Malanda bound for England at season's end as Charlotte cashes in again during summer transfer window

Real Estate Whispers

• Warehouses are joining the ‘flight to quality’ trend. Plus: Tenant buys office building; Charlotte's growth; Beacon Partners offloads $300M+ in Pineville; Charlotte vs. Raleigh train stations

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