Today has been an action packed day and by far the best day of our trip to North Carolina! We woke up and immediately went to the St. Patrick's Day Festival and Parade in downtown Charlotte. We walked the entire street, and at that time there were hardly any people out and about! Once we made it to the festival, I got a set of clovers painted on my cheek (one of the highlights of my day), Shannon jumped in the bungee jumper, Jason and Mom sipped on their drinks, we met a couple from the Woodlands selling homemade salsa, we took advantage of every free sample and savored the smell of all the fried goodies. All of us were in our St. Patty's Day attire and loving every second of this event. We made it back down the street to find the perfect spot for the parade, and trust me... the streets were packed with people in green! We were located in the sun, directly across from all of the television crews and radio stations. The talk show hosts were narrating the entire parade and it was very helpful and entertaining for us! My favorite part of the St. Patrick's Day Parade was watching all of the children in the show and in the audience. They were absolutely adorable in their green attire and so cheerful about every miniscule detail. Their eyes were open wide and all of their attention was directed towards to the dancers, clowns, and floats. After we were 'greened out', we headed to lunch at Boardwalk Billie's. We sat outside on a patio that overlooked a lake… it was perfect! We ordered burgers, coconut shrimp, and more. This was by far my favorite meal from our entire trip- and we've been a lot of different restaurants! Shortly after, we drove down to the U.S. National Whitewater Center, since Jason made a reservation for us this afternoon! This place was ridiculously cool; it was like a Six Flags for adults! They had rock-climbing, mountain biking, zip lining, whitewater rafting, kayaking, and not to mention it was unbelievably beautiful! Our white water rafting experience was simply unforgettable. Jason and I sat in the front, and attempted to paddle in perfect coordination. Dad fell out of the boat, even though he doesn't like to admit it. Right as we crashed into a huge wave, Shannon screamed, "Gosh... I LOVE THIS!" Mom was scared to death the whole 90 minute ride. Every time I was almost knocked out of the boat (which was frequently); Jason decided it would be funny to give me an additional shove. Our training guy acted too cool for school... "Let’s go backwards. That's a GREAT idea!" We also went mountain biking, and that was an extreme cardio workout! I had an absolute blast at the U.S. National Whitewater Center, and it is definitely a place that I'd like to go back to! Our last night in North Carolina was spent sharing milkshakes at Cook Out and relaxing at Jason's apartment. Today was filled with parades and paddles... which was the perfect combination!
