Learn to Row on the Catawba
A rockhound club that meets at a senior center, the city's oldest disc golf course, a learn-to-row program on the Catawba, and a hiking club that'll get you outside with company.
For people who'd rather do than watch. Four to try this week.
CHARLOTTE FAVORITE
Charlotte Gem & Mineral Club meets the third Thursday of the month at the Tyvola Senior Center, and it's exactly the crowd you'd hope for: rockhounds, cutters, and cabbers who'll talk your ear off about a good dig site. Newcomers welcome, no collection required.
OVERLOOKED
Reedy Creek is the oldest disc golf course in town, sitting in the woods off Rocky River Road, free to play, and still the one locals argue is underrated. Tight, wooded, all accuracy. Need discs? Another Round in NoDa is the only shop in the city that does just disc golf.
GET MOVING
Belmont Rowing Center will teach a total beginner to row on the Catawba, adults included, through their Learn to Row program. Early mornings on flat water, just west of uptown. It's harder than it looks and quieter than anything else you'll do all week.
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
Charlotte Hiking Club organizes group hikes around the city and out to the mountains for people who'd rather have company on the trail than go it alone. No membership fee, just show up.
Free Concerts at River Jam
A free riverside concert series, a James Beard–nominated cafe with a mission, a giant makerspace, and a Charlotte singer-songwriter playing rooms across the city.
Monday Night Contra Dancing
A fiber guild older than most of the neighborhood, a Matthews board-game cafe, a Monday-night contra dance with a live caller, and a Charlotte fiber artist turning felt into wall-sized sculpture.
A Free Monthly Folk Jam
A 40-year-old folk society with a free monthly jam, a Depression-era sailing club on Lake Wylie, a trapeze school taking beginners, and a nonprofit keeping Charlotte musicians paid and playing.