Plaza Midwood Thursday Scene

The cool sign at the Penguin.
Rainy Night outside the Penguin.

What's great about living close to Charlotte is that we can jump in the car and within 30 minutes be enjoying some of the "city" lifestyle. Whether it be to one of the many authentic ethnic restaurants or to hear some live music, there is usually something decent happening in this quasi-southern burg. On this very rainy night, our daughter P and I made a run down to the Plaza-Midwood section of Charlotte. This section is known for its arty vibe, cool clubs and funky stores as well as an historic residential district that is popular with the open minded crowd. The famed Penguin pictured above has been featured on the Food Network for its nasty hot dogs and hamburgers and all the greasy stuff that goes along with it. I used to be all over this kind of food but am no longer. I'm now on the heavy low cholesterol, low sugar gig. But on this particular night, we needed to kill some time before we went to see Benji Hughes at a place called Petra's. So I had a footlong and vegetarian P ate some cheese fries. Then we went to Petra's, an ostensibly gay bar, to see that pop genius, Benji Hughes. See the vid below. Benji has a super record called "A Love Extreme" and you need to switch right over to your itunes and make the purchase. It is a record that you will listen to over and over again. Anyway, it was a fun night and a chill groove in a hep section of town. Peace out.