KANNAPOLIS, NC – Over the past 20 years, my family and I have been traveling to this little town northeast of Charlotte to visit my wife’s parents. We’ve probably made this trip over a dozen times, and each time, I find something new to write about.
This trip was a little different than most. I usually try to find something sports related to write about while here. However, since my father-in-law recently fell and broke his leg and is now in a rehab facility, this trip was more about chauffeuring my mother-in-law around to run errands and do some shopping. She never learned to drive, and has relied on her husband to drive her everywhere. He had to stop driving over a year ago, and since then, she has turned to taking the bus or a taxi. Saving her cab fare and spending time visiting my father-in-law were a priority.
The drive itself is not a bad one from Tulsa to Kannapolis. You spend the bulk of the trip traveling along Interstate 40. I can tell you, without a doubt, the worst stretch of the I-40 trek is through Tennessee, and especially in Memphis. You may think Tulsa roads are bad, and they are, but it doesn’t appear TDOT has a clue as to how to patch the large pot holes that dot the roadway with the frequency of holes on a sponge.
These large holes seem to have a new layer of pavement over them, but the hole is not filled to level with the rest of the surface. Plus, changing lanes can be rather tricky, since there is a vast chasm in between the lanes.
On the way, we stopped in Nashville. It just so happened that Thomas Nicholas, the actor whom I’ve written about and whom the Drillers celebrated with a bobblehead night a couple months ago, was performing at the Tin Roof with his band. We had never experienced the Nashville nightlife, so my wife and I decided to check it out. The food was okay, but I forgot to ask the waitress to make sure my wings were crisp (cooked well). I can’t stand mushy wings. My wife liked her BLT sandwich and salad, but those are difficult to mess up.
Nicholas pointed me out to the crowd and jokingly said, “They came all the way from Tulsa just for this concert.” He then dedicated a song to me, Seven Nation Army, not knowing that I really like that song. It has a great beat and I get to play it with the ORU Pep Band at basketball games.
While in North Carolina, we took a quick day trip up to southern Virginia to visit my wife’s sister and her family. They recently bought a house in the small village of Ivanhoe. WARNING: do not exceed the speed limit on I-77 in southern Virginia. There are signs, just over the state line, that warn speed enforcement is taken very seriously in that commonwealth, and they mean it. In a 20-mile stretch, I saw five state troopers or police camped out in the median, and no I did not get pulled over.
We ate at a really good authentic Mexican restaurant in Hillsville – Rio Grande in the Hickory Hills Shopping Center. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law had eaten there before, and liked it, so they took us there for lunch. We all thoroughly enjoyed our meals.
Another really good restaurant we tried was one of my mother-in-law’s favorites; Johnny’s Farm House in Concord, N.C. This place is one of those country-style, home cooking restaurants where they give you huge portions. My mother-in-law had plenty of her catfish, my wife’s ham and my chicken tenders to take home, and we enjoyed all of it. If you go there, order the fried squash as a side dish, it’s really good.
The one sports thing I did do was walk around the construction site of the new baseball stadium being built in downtown Kannapolis, right in what used to be known as Cannon Village. The old Cannon linen factory was torn down years ago, making way for a research center and college, but a few of the stores remain, and soon there will be people coming to this area to attend the Single-A Intimidators baseball games. From the looks of the early construction stage and the artist’s renderings, this will be a spectacular ballpark, especially for a low-level minor league team.
They broke ground last October on the new $52-million ballpark, and it’s scheduled to be completed in time for the 2020 season. The ballpark will feature many of the amenities found in modern minor league facilities.
It will offer a seating capacity of 4,930, with 3,218 fixed seats. Other seating options will include luxury suites, a party deck, berm seating, a picnic terrace, an outfield bar, right field boxes and 6,000 square feet of club/banquet space. All of this sounds a lot like a smaller version of ONEOK Field, home of the Tulsa Drillers.
The one disappointing thing that will come with the new ballpark is a name change for the franchise, as the Intimidators recently announced plans to rebrand next season. Currently, the team is named after native-son Dale Earnhardt’s nickname, and I think it should stay that way.