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Out with the old, in with the new: A list of New Year’s Day brunch parties in Charlotte
BY CHYNA BLACKMON
There is a long list of New Year’s Eve parties, dinner specials and more around Charlotte on New Year’s Eve 2023 — but the fun doesn’t have to stop when the ball drops. If you want to ring in the new year after the after party, several local restaurants are also continuing the celebrations with special New Year’s Day 2024 events, too. Whether you want brunch, a late lunch or both, here’s a list of where you can continue the party on New Year’s Day:
ANGELINE’S
Location: 303 S Church St, Charlotte, NC 28202 On New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, Angeline’s will be serving a special brunch. From ricotta toast and eggs benedict to pizza and sandwiches, Angeline’s will have a lot to offer.
Time: 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
Cost: Varies, as items are a la carte.
Make reservations online via OpenTable.
LINK & PIN
Location: 155 New Bern St, Charlotte, NC 28203 Location: 9723 Sam Furr Rd, Huntersville, NC 28078
Location: 8128 Providence Rd #1200, Charlotte, NC 28277
Start your new year off with a special brunch from Link & Pin. All three area locations will be serving brunch favorites, including candied jalapeno bacon, deviled eggs, chicken and waffles and more.
Time: 11:30 a.m.-4 p.m.
Cost: Varies, as items are a la carte. Make reservations online at linkandpin.com.
SIXTY VINES
Location: 1415 Vantage Pk Dr #100, Charlotte, NC 28203 Raise a glass to 2024 with a vineyard-inspired meal at Sixty Vines on New Year’s Day. The South End restaurant’s Wine Country Brunch will feature small bites, shared plates, boards and more along with sustainable wines on tap and hand-crafted cocktails.
Time: 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Cost: Varies, as items are a la carte. Make reservations online at sixtyvines.com.
STIR CHARLOTTE
Location: 1422 S Tryon St Suite 130, Charlotte, NC 28203
In addition to a special midnight toast on New Year’s Eve, the local restaurant is also hosting a New Year’s Day brunch. Enjoy made-from-scratch dishes, including avocado toast bites, breakfast burgers and waffles, plus mimosas, Bloody Marys and other brunch favorites.
Time: 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Cost: Varies, as items are a la carte. Make reservations online via OpenTable.
TOWN BREWING CO.
Location: 800 Grandin Rd, Charlotte, NC 28208 Town Brewing is kicking off 2024 with a New Year’s Day celebration. The local brewery will be offering food and drink specials for you to enjoy while jamming out to live music by the fire pits.
Time: 12 p.m.
Cost: Free
Read more here: Out with the old, in with the new: A list of New Year’s Day brunch parties in Charlotte
Mortgage rates are dropping. Here’s what to expect in 2024 if you want to buy a home, experts say
After a year full of record-high interest rates and home prices, experts say there are signs of improvement for the housing market in 2024.
In December, the average mortgage rates dropped below 7% for the first time since August and after an 8% peak in October, which pushed housing costs to the highest level since 2000.
The average rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage dropped to 6.95% from 7.03% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.31%. Meanwhile, the 15-year fixed rate mortgage jumped to 6.38% from 6.29%.
“The decline poses good news for buyers,” said Jessica Lautz, deputy chief and vice president of research at the National Association of Realtors.
Interest and mortgage rates will slowly decline, giving people a “little bit more room in their budgets” when it comes to mortgage payments, experts say. Additionally, inventory is growing as new listings creep back up, said Nicole Bachaud, a senior economist at housing site Zillow.
Lower interest rates should come as encouraging news for homebuilders.
“It should be easier for builders as rates go down, as they need to borrow to build,” said Lautz. Homebuyers should see a greater supply as more homes will be built, she said.
However, consumers may still feel discouraged, added Lautz, as affordability may still be a challenge.
“We’re expecting home price appreciation to stay flat for the next year nationally, so prices aren’t really going to move much from where they’re at now,” Bachaud said.
High costs kept would-be buyers as renters
Homes were 52% more expensive than rentals this year, the highest gap on record, according to the Zumper Annual Rent Report for 2023.
High costs in the buying market have delayed homeownership for many buyers and kept inflation-strapped consumers in the rental market, some explained.
Read more at:Mortgage rates are dropping. Here’s what to expect in 2024 if you want to buy a home, experts say
10+ Family friendly New Year’s events in Charlotte, Noon Year’s Eve countdowns and more
Celebrate New Year’s Eve with the whole family at these events in Charlotte. This list includes many Noon Year’s Eve events, as well as some events with countdowns in the early evenings.
Charlotte’s official New Year’s Eve event, CLT NYE, is free, and is family-friendly, although the countdown does take place at midnight. So it is probably too late for younger members of the family.
This is a list of New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day celebrations that are either expressly for kids, or are very family friendly. Celebrate New Year’s Eve (December 31st, 2023) and New Year’s Day (January 1st, 2024) the fun way!
Here’s a list of New Year events that also includes events for adults. Read more:
Read more at:10+ Family friendly New Year’s events in Charlotte, Noon Year’s Eve countdowns and more
What’s latest about sports?
Carolina Panthers
Bryce Young took “control” of the Panthers offense, en route to his best game
CHARLOTTE — For DJ Chark Jr., Sunday was the start of something special.
Bryce Young, the Carolina Panthers rookie quarterback, No. 1 overall pick and the passer that’s been tasked with giving the Queen City a king again, put together a coming-of-age performance. The Panthers left Bank of America Stadium on Christmas Eve with a loss, a 33-30 defeat to the Green Bay Packers, but also with a hope that springs anew.
Because on Sunday, Young had the best game of his short career. He finished 23-35 with 312 passing yards, two touchdowns with no turnovers. His passer rating of 113 was nearly 10 points higher than his next closest game. And to Chark, it’s just the beginning.
“There’s so much more to come,” Chark said Sunday of his quarterback. “He’s making plays, he’s comfortable, but that’s who we know him to be, at least in this locker room. We do, we believed in him the whole way through. Three, four or five years from now, he’s gonna be definitely at the top, if not one of the top QBs.”
It’s a bold statement for a team sitting at 2-12. Yet Chark delivered the proclamation with unwavering confidence; much like his quarterback delivered on the day.
“He was in complete control,” interim coach Chris Tabor said. “He knew exactly how the game was being played.”
That control was evident not only in the actual plays, but each facet of the game Young touched.
“In and out of the huddle, being consistent with the calls and making the reads,” Chark explained. “If things not there, it breaks down, he’s able to save us and get us some yards or do something. So, yeah, I would say he was in control. And he’s continuing to improve every week.”
The Panthers first offensive drive opened with what would have been a three-and-out if not for a Packers penalty on the punt that kept the ball moving. Three plays later, the Panthers punted again. Short gains and overthrows defined the first six offensive plays. The second drive proved, however, they wouldn’t define the day.
The subsequent drive, facing second-and-5 from his own 36-yard line, Young found tight end Tommy Tremble down the seam. Tremble hurdled a defender for a few extra yards and when the dust had settled, the Young-to-Tremble connection had picked up 32 yards. From there, the drive stalled, but it was enough to put the Panthers in Eddy Piñeiro’s range and get on the board.
Read more here :Bryce Young took “control” of the Panthers offense, en route to his best game
Charlotte Football Club
Q&A: Charlotte FC Director of Scouting Thomas Schaling Preparing for 2024
For many in this country, the holiday season is a time for relaxation and time with family before jumping into the challenges of the new year. However, for Charlotte FC’s Director of Scouting Thomas Schaling, December is one of the most critical months of his year.
Schaling heads CLTFC’s eight-person (and growing!) scouting team, working hand-in-hand with Sporting Director Zoran Krneta and Technical Director Bobby Belair, among others in the sporting department, to identify, recruit, and sign the next stars taking the pitch at Bank of America Stadium.
With a new head coach in Dean Smith now in place and a critical offseason on the horizon, Schaling and his team have been hard at work prepping for 2024. He was gracious enough to take time out of his busy schedule to sit down for a chat with me this week.
The result is a fascinating peek behind the curtain, giving us an inside look at specific players that arrived last year, the lessons learned from the team’s first two years, and his vision for where CLTFC is headed in year three and beyond.
Responses were lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
Caleb: There were a lot of departures heading into year two of Charlotte FC, so the scouting department had a lot of work to fill the gaps in the team. Including draft picks, the first team saw 12 news faces join the side. Overall, how do you assess the team’s recruitment in their second season?
Thomas: We solidified the team between the primary and secondary transfer windows with more MLS experienced players like Bill [Tuiloma] and Justin [Meram]. We tried to add more depth to our domestic core with the college players as well, which was important to us. We made our supplemental roster stronger with players like [Patrick] Agyemang, [Andrew] Privett, [Brandon] Cambridge and [Hamady] Diop. Then we looked to add quality and experience with the international signings we made in [Ashley] Westwood, [Enzo] Copetti, [Scott] Arfield, [Brecht] Dejaegere and [Jere] Uronen. Overall, I think we managed to stabilize and improve the team.
That being said, the jump in our points total from 2022 to 2023 wasn’t big. We felt the improvement in quality was there to make a bigger jump, but there are many factors at play when trying to get to over 50 points in MLS regular season play. Overall, the roster improvement wasn’t fully reflected consistently over the course of the season. With further improvements to the roster, our desire is to make that next big jump under Dean [Smith] in 2024.
Caleb: What lessons from the inaugural season did you take heading into the club’s second season?
Thomas: The recruitment strategy was different in our second year, as we weren’t building from scratch this time around, so it was easier to target the positions of need and focus primarily on those. The whole picture and where the resources would be allocated was much clearer as well. It was a case of: this is the allocation money we have, these are the roster designations that we have left, and these are the positions we want to strengthen.
We knew pretty clearly what type of budget we had to work with for each of the positions. But of course, there were lessons taken away from the first year by the entire organization. I believe it taught us all to be even more process-driven, more collaborative, and trust more in our knowledge of the league.
Caleb: Ashley Westwood was one of the first of the new additions. Naturally, there were questions surrounding his age and the injury he had just recovered from. He ended up being a locked-in starter and a leader both on and off the pitch, earning him the team captaincy.
What do you make of his first season at CLTFC and MLS?
Thomas: I think that Ashley really started to hit his stride around June and July and has had numerous very good performances throughout the season. It is only normal for a player coming off a severe injury and into a new league to need some adaptation time. Premier League players are no exception to that. Obviously, the leadership and stability that he adds to this group has been very helpful as we’ve had a turbulent first two years in the league due to various reasons.
Ashley has established himself in Charlotte in a similar manner to how he has established himself at his previous clubs: as a positive personality and someone that leads well by example. It’s no surprise to us that he has turned into a fan favorite.
Read more here :Q&A: Charlotte FC Director of Scouting Thomas Schaling Preparing for 2024
New Year’s Eve parties, celebrations in Charlotte to ring in 2024
CHARLOTTE — It’s almost time to ring in the new year and there are plenty of places in the Queen City where you can do it in style.
Here are a few celebrations we’ve highlighted
CLT NYE in Uptown
This family-friendly event will feature live music, the lighting of the Queen City crown and fireworks at midnight. Festivities kick off at 8 p.m. on Tryon Street at Levine Avenue of the Arts. Admission is free.
know more here: CLT NYE in Uptown
Charlotte New Year’s Eve Bar Crawl in Uptown
Enjoy drink specials at participating bars, Champagne toast, plus party beads and a souvenir koozie. Welcome party and registration is from 4 to 7 p.m. Participating venues include Mortimer’s, The Local, Ri Ra, Tattooz & Booz, Prohibition and Novelty Smoke. Tickets start at $21.99.
know more here: Charlotte New Year’s Eve Bar Crawl in Uptown
New Year’s Eve at WinterFest (Carowinds)
Ring in 2024 with the sights and sounds of WinterFest. Family-friendly festivities will begin at 5 p.m. There will be several early-evening countdowns for the little ones in addition to the main countdown at midnight with fireworks. Tickets start at $32.99.
Partygoers can enjoy a Disco Desert-themed night that includes live music and DJs on multiple stages and other festivities beginning at 7 p.m. Open to adults 21 and older. Tickets start at $40.
know more here:New Year’s Eve at WinterFest (Carowinds)
Disco Desert: NYE Celebration at The Music Yard at SouthBound
Ring in 2024 with the sights and sounds of WinterFest. Family-friendly festivities will begin at 5 p.m. There will be several early-evening countdowns for the little ones in addition to the main countdown at midnight with fireworks. Tickets start at $32.99.
know more here:New Year’s Eve at WinterFest (Carowinds)
Check out these AMAZING Concerts and Plays this January!
Knight Theater
THE NEW YORK BEEGEE’S TRIBUTE SHOW
JAN 13, 2024
Based in New York, this show has played to sell out shows at The Paramount Theater and BB King NYC. BB King NYC wrote, “The NY Bee Gees Tribute Show presents the most extravagant Bee Gees show a fan can experience. The band offers all of the classic ’70s disco hits from ‘Stayin’ Alive’ to ‘Night Fever’ while embracing their early works such as ‘To Love Somebody,’ ‘I’ve Got To Get A Message To You,’ and ‘Massachusetts.’ The New York Bee Gees delivers songs from every decade of the Bee Gees catalog with a stunning production, powerful vocals and the professional stage presence to fill any club or casino.”
The New York Bee Gees Tribute Show is comprised of some of Long Island, New York’s most versatile and exceptionally talented players. The band includes present or former members of well-known, world renown acts including The Alan Parsons Project, Happy Together Tour, Meatloaf, Queen, Blue Oyster Cult, Riot, Herman’s Hermits, Enrique Iglesias, The Rippingtons, and more.
Buy tickets here: THE NEW YORK BEEGEE’S TRIBUTE SHOW
Knight Theater
ELTON JOHN/ BILLY JOEL FACE 2 FACE: THE TRIBUTE CONCERT
JAN 6, 2024
Come celebrate the two greatest “piano men” of our generation with David Clark as Billy Joel and Bill Connors as Elton John! This stunningly accurate “Face 2 Face” Tribute show will feature hits like “Crocodile Rock,” “I’m Still Standing,” “You May Be Right,” “Piano Man,” and much more!
Buy tickets here: ELTON JOHN/ BILLY JOEL FACE 2 FACE: THE TRIBUTE CONCERT
Spectrum Theater
Nate Bargatze
The Be Funny Tour
Jan 14 / Sunday
CHARLOTTE – Comedian Nate Bargatze announced new dates for his 2023-2024 THE BE FUNNY TOUR!
Hailed as “The Nicest Man in Stand-Up,” by The Atlantic Magazine and a “Rising Star,” by CBS Morning,
2021 Grammy nominated comedian, podcaster, director and producer Nate Bargatze is selling out shows around
the world. Bargatze will make his debut appearance hosting Saturday Night Live on October 28th on NBC/Peacock.
Buy tickets here:Nate Bargatze The Be Funny Tour
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