Those were the days

It's strange to me that the first year or so of my time here in Charlotte was fifteen years ago. If my math is correct and I am here for seven more years then I will have spent half my life living in Charlotte.

I arrived here in July of 1990. My Marine buddy Cal and I pulled up to my parents' home in a suburb in south Charlotte. He stayed the night and drove off to Delaware the next day. I didn't do much for the first couple of weeks since I was officially in the Marines for another month and was pulling a paycheck until early August. After almost four years of the Corps I was so ready for a little down time. It was exsquisite. I felt like I had been released from prison. I remember a running joke I had at the time was that I thought they should have given us a new suit when we left base for the last time.

I really enjoyed that first few months in Charlotte. I saw KISS that July at what was still called the new Charlotte Coliseum. I discovered the 1313 club and spent many a nights there enjoying live music. I remember one night driving down South Blvd on my way to the 1313 for a night of music and meeting people and I just felt good. I was 22, I was exploring a new city, I was free of the Marines, I hadn't been granted a credit card yete and I had no worries because my parents were allowing me to live with them for a while. It was one of those moments in a life where you are just right where you want to be.