Charlotte, NC

Last night, we found a superb Italian Restaurant, DeMarco's Italian Grill, 1741 Gold Hill Road near the Charlotte/Fort Mill KOA. They had a very tasting house dressing, which was different from anything we'd ever had, and the bread! Delicious! And the main dish was great too.

We opened the Museum of the New South this morning in Charlotte. The museum covers the history of this area from the Civil War through the Civil Rights movement. Economically, this area went from primarily tenant farmers growing cotton to entire families in mill towns working in the cotton mills. After the civil war, the restrictions that you had to own at least 100 acres to vote went to universal suffrage for males, allowing quite a few blacks to hold office. Then in the 1890’s, the poll tax ($2 paid in the spring, when you needed money to plant), and literacy tests (what does the right habeas corpus mean?) were added, preventing blacks and most poor whites from voting. In the early 1900’s the official segregation began – different schools, and public accommodations. The museum spent a lot of space showing how typical people lived from unpainted wooden shacks to company housing. After World War II, blacks started going after their rights, through a series of court decisions and defiant actions (sit-ins at lunch counters) they eventually gained equality. Charlotte has become the second biggest banking center in the U.S. with Bank of America and Wachovia two of the major banks headquartered here.