Flat Williz in Washington, D.C.

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Flat Williz with the Washington Monument, MLK Memorial, and the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Flat Food Dragon and Jwit in North Carolina

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Hi Otters,

Just before the holiday break, I brought Flat Food Dragon and Flat Jwit on a trip with me to Charlotte, NC. My work was hosting a big event there, so I flew out from the Portland airport all the way across the country to Charlotte.

Charlotte is the largest city in North Carolina and the 16th largest city in the United States. It is full of tall skyscrapers downtown that are home to major banks like Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Ally, U.S. Bank, and more. It is also the home of NASCAR and has many professional sports teams like the Charlotte Panthers (football) and Charlotte Hornets (basketball).

Our event was at a place called the Mint Museum, an art museum in the Uptown district of Charlotte. The Mint was established in 1936 as North Carolina’s very first art museum. Our event was called The Wellbeing Summit and we were on the fifth floor of the building. We hosted 100 leaders from cities all across the United States and Canada to discuss how we could fight against racism and build a world where everyone has a fair shot at wellbeing.

We were in Charlotte for three days and spent almost our entire time at the Mint Museum, but I found a few hours on our last day to explore the city. I learned about a great Charlotte brownie cookie recipe. I stumbled upon a fun sign claiming Charlotte, NC is “the center of the known world” and showing the directions to many other Charlottes in the world (apparently there is a Charlotte, MI and Charlotte Harbor, FL and Charlotte, IA to name a few). I saw books and Christmas trees and a farmers market. I even found an elementary school just like the ELC!

On my last day, I saw something that really surprised me — check out this small pink robot with heart eyes rolling down the street. These robots are all over Charlotte and know how to navigate downtown, stop at traffic lights, and share the sidewalk with people. If you live in the neighborhood and want a coffee delivery, you can call up one of these.

It was time to head home so we hopped on CATS — the Charlotte Area Transit System — and traveled back to the airport. Check out this map of where all the trains and buses go, their trains looks just like the MAX. Then we were off in a plane to Portland, a quick stretch break on the carpet at PDX Airport, and a drive home to Forest Grove. Hope you had a great holiday break!

- Zach (Claire’s dad)