Charlotte is a center for both spectator and recreational sports. The region is the spiritual and physical center of NASCAR racing, home to the majority of teams and drivers as well as the Lowes Motor Speedway which hosts the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series on Memorial Day weekend.

If you’d rather play than watch, amateur leagues and groups abound for basketball, baseball, cycling, soccer, softball, tennis and volleyball. There are more top-flight golf courses, public and private, than you can shake a two-iron at, including the ominously named Verdict Ridge on Lake Norman, and Old Sycamore, Ballantyne, Piper Glen, and Quail Hollow in Charlotte.

On a lesser adrenaline level, quiet time can be found at Concord’s Memorial Garden or the larger Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden nestled along the Catawba River in Belmont. The historic Latta Plantation in Huntersville also offers canoe rentals, hiking trails and horseback riding.

The Blumenthal Performing Arts Center is the showcase for the Charlotte Symphony, the Charlotte Philharmonic, the Charlotte Repertory, Opera Carolina, Actor’s Theater of Charlotte, and the North Carolina Dance Theatre. Charlotte ranked first nationally in contributions to the Arts & Science Council in dollars raised per capita. Local colleges and universities further enrich the community’s arts scene in music, theater and dance.

Charlotte is home to the Mint Museum of Art, which was originally the first branch of the United States Mint, serving the South by coining over $5 million in locally-mined gold, from 1836 to the outbreak of the Civil War. There is also the science-oriented Discovery Place and Omnimax Theatre, the time travel afforded by the Levine Museum of the New South and the Charlotte Museum of History or the cultural aspects of the Mint Museum of Craft & Design and the Afro-American Cultural Center. The 19th president of the United States, James K. Polk, grew up in Pineville, south of Charlotte and his home is open to visitors.

Discovery Place, 301 N Tryon St, a kids-oriented science museum with an indoor rainforest and an OMNIMAX theater hosting a planetarium (tel 704/372-6261 for hours and prices). There’s also the Nature Museum at 1658 Sterling Rd (Mon–Fri 9am–5pm, Sat 10am–5pm, Sun 1pm–5pm; tel 704/337-2671), geared toward children seven years and under, and replete with rabbits, hamsters and ponies, as well as puppet shows and a butterfly room.

Another major landmark, on the east side of downtown, is the massive Ericsson Stadium, home of the NFL team, the Carolina Panthers.

Although most restaurants and stores are tucked away inside the city’s skyscrapers, Tryon Street is downtown’s busiest thoroughfare. At the intersection of Tryon and Trade streets is Independence Square, where at each corner giant modern statues stand – depicting transportation, commerce, industry and the future.

Just a few blocks away, the newly renovated Levine Museum of the New South, 200 E 7th St (Tues-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 1am-5pm; $6), looks at the growth of the region from Reconstruction onwards. Interesting vignettes examine musical history, with the spotlight falling on local names such as gospel legends the Golden Gate Quartet.

The Mint Museum of Art, three miles further southeast at 2730 Randolph Rd on bus #15 (Tues 10am-10pm, Wed-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun noon-5pm; $6; tel 704/337-4820), has a good array of Indian, pre-Columbian and African art, plus a noted collection of pottery and porcelain.

The Mint Museum of Craft and Design at 220 N Tryon St, is also worth a stop for its eclectic collection of metal, glass, wood, fiber and ceramic works (Tues-Thurs 10am-7pm, Fri 10am-9pm, Sat 10am-7pm, Sun noon-5pm; $6; tel 704/337-4920).