Tiny Rabbit Holes: Go Kartin' on the Roof
Watch LaMelo Ball drive around on the top of his condo building, plus learn about what Brits think about America barbecue, how my golf shoes disintegrated at Pinehurst, and more.
Hey all! As I mentioned in last week’s email newsletter, I’m going to kick the tires on a roundup of things that I’d normally just post on Twitter or in other places. I’m calling them Tiny Rabbit Holes, and the idea is that I find a bunch of stuff that I wouldn’t necessarily write about for two reasons:
Someone else did a much better job than I would have, so I’m just going to point you to what they did.
I get a lot of questions. Often, I already know the answer, or the answer isn’t particularly deep (It’s worth just a few sentences or something) and so I can just answer it without giving it the full Rabbit Hole treatment.
This is going to look a little less polished (ha) than what you’re used to reading in Thursday’s free newsletter, which is not going away! But in the interest of posting less on social media but still passing along things I find interesting, I’m going to give this a try. A few notes:
I made this a separate section. Which means if you don’t want to read this stuff you don’t have to (you can take care of this under “Manage Subscription”).
Eventually I’m going to do this for paid subscribers only, but I’m going to put a few of these out for now just to see if you like them.
I’m appreciative to those of you who emailed to tell me what you all thought of this idea. Many of you are trying to break yourselves of social media in some way, and thought this might be one small way to stay in touch without having to depend on an algorithm. This is also meant to be a two-way conversation. As in: Shoot me an email or leave a comment and tell us all about questions or places or ideas that you find interesting as well.
When will these come out? When I get enough stuff to merit putting one out, I suppose. Some weeks are busy. Some weeks I read a lot. Some weeks I have a lot to share. Some weeks I don’t. I will say that I have a bunch of stuff stocked up for this one, which will probably be longer than most.
Anyhow, that’s enough backstory. ON WITH THE HOLES.
You think you’re lovin’ life? You could be Charlotte Hornets star LaMelo Ball, who just bought Cam Newton’s condo in uptown Charlotte and is ridin’ a go kart on the roof. (via Axios Charlotte)
In November 1984, on his way to a concert in Greensboro, Prince stopped by a pet store in the Asheville Mall and bought a toy poodle. (via Zach Schonfeld and Tommy Tomlinson)
Johnny Harris, a legendary Charlotte developer and the president of the Quail Hollow Club, said recently that using public funds to renovate Bank of America Stadium will be good for the city. Greg Jarrell, the writer of Our Trespasses: White Churches and the Taking of American Neighborhoods, used that moment to point out that country clubs like Quail Hollow (which will host the 2025 PGA Championship) pay very little in the way of property taxes:
What’s left of a big ol’ obelisk in Asheville that’s a tribute to white supremacist governor Zebulon Vance is coming down, probably for good. Those who are trying to save it are probably facing a lost cause. (via Asheville Watchdog)
Two British dudes recently took a train from Raleigh to Charleston, South Carolina, and apparently had a three hour layover in Wilson, which they documented on Instagram. Their initial exploration initially found… nothing. They missed the Whirligig Park! Anyhow, they eventually made up for it by stumbling upon Parker’s Barbecue, which they called the “Best Barbecue in America”:
I’ve been to Parker’s! I brought one of their paper waiter’s hats back for my son, who wore it for 15 seconds before tossing it on the ground. Anyhow, I know that calling any place “America’s best barbecue” is engagement bait, so I’ll just let you all fight this one out in the comments.
The new Charlotte airport overlook is open, and it looks incredible. Watching the planes land is a fantastic (and free) activity. I’ve written about this spot before.
Five years after it closed, the highest restaurant east of the Mississippi is now back open. It sits 6,200 feet above sea level, near the summit of Mount Mitchell.
There are now more than 300,000 Shibumi Shades (or Shades Shibumi?) out in the world, and they’re trying to fend off copycats by using their patent, which I wrote about in 2021. (via Axios Raleigh)
Wilmington got some snow because film crews needed to make a street look like Hell’s Kitchen in winter for a Zooey Deschanel movie. (via the Wilmington StarNews)
The entire staff of the Town of Summerfield (which is the town next to mine) has now resigned. The Assembly’s been all over this story, but I’d like to point out that I’ve been rounding up whimsical Summerfield government stories from the fantastic Northwest Observer for a while now. Including this one from 2018: During Gail Dunham’s final meeting as mayor, the city council members got tired of her incessant gavel banging. So when she wasn’t looking, they stole her gavel. So Dunham reached into her bag, PULLED OUT A BACKUP GAVEL, and then started banging it again.
The U.S. Open is at Pinehurst this week, and you can TAKE THE TRAIN THERE! I’ve been there many times for retreats, stories, spa visits and the like. I’d never actually golfed there until 2021, when my dad, brother and I played Pinehurst No. 2, No. 8, and No. 3. On that last course, I noticed something flapping on one of my golf shoes, which I’d been using since high school. Later in the round, the whole sole came off during a shot.
I ended up playing the rest of the round barefoot, which is a thing that some people do intentionally. I’m very okay at golf, so I have no idea what this did for my score. But it did give my dad and brother ammunition to make fun of me after drives. I bought new golf shoes at the Pinehurst clubhouse after this round, which weren’t as expensive as you might think. Added bonus, watching the parade of hammered dudes coming up to the desk and asking if they could play The Cradle.
That’s all! See you again on Thursday.
I played one day with an old friend who forgot his golf shoes. He played in his boat shoes and shot a 73, taking a smooth swing all day and letting the clubs do their job. I told him to go home and throw his golf shoes in the trash.
Parker's is a venerable institution and worth honoring for that. I've had many meals there, memorable for the company and the cornsticks. One with Betty Ray McCain is an especially precious memory. But the truth is (I hate to say it) that since they stopped cooking with wood their barbecue is far from "America's best." It's far even from eastern North Carolina's best.