48 hours in Charlotte with YouTube trainer Sydney Cummings

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Meet your tour guide

Who: Sydney Cummings, A YouTube trainer and fitness personality with more than a million subscribers

Neighborhood: Uptown

What she loves about Charlotte: I love the balance of ambition and community. You can find a lot of people who are working hard to do something big.

What have you missed the most during the pandemic? I missed being able to relax and unwind with friends.

The ideal itinerary for: Health-conscious foodies

FRIDAY: Tacos and treats

Margaritas and tacos: Friday evening, we’d go to Superica. I’d get the fajitas and a pomegranate margarita.  I don’t drink often, maybe twice a month, but if someone’s in town visiting I like to try new drinks. And I don’t think you can have tacos without margaritas. They go hand in hand.

Rail Trail stroll: From there, we’d take a walk down the Light Rail after dinner to see the skyline. [Related Axios guide: 20 walking trails in Charlotte for nature lovers and city views]

Celebration: If we were celebrating something, I’d pick up treats from Suarez Bakery, so then we’d go home and enjoy those. I also love their king cakes.

SATURDAY: Active day outside

Fuel up: On Saturday, we’d head to Dilworth and get coffee from Not Just Coffee. Then we’d have breakfast at the Famous Toastery: I always get the runner omelet with zucchini and onions. It’s so good.

Ride around town: We (Dustin Houdyshell, Sydney’s fiancé, and Sydney) have some electric toys like Super73 electric bikes and segways, so after breakfast, we’d hop on those and take a ride around the Panthers stadium in Third Ward.

Juice break: While we’re in that area of Uptown, we’d grab some juices at Green Brothers.

Peruvian to-go: We’d get a to-go lunch at Viva Chicken. I love the Naked Peruvian wrap, with or without chicken, depending on if you eat meat.

Lake Norman boat ride: We’ve got a boat on Lake Norman, so we’d take the food on the boat and just float around and enjoy lunch.

Upscale sushi and cocktails: After a day on the boat, we’d come back home and get ready for a fun dinner at O-Ku in South End. Then we’d head to after-dinner cocktails at Merchant & Trade in Uptown. As I said, I’m definitely a drink sampler, and that’s a good place to try a few different cocktails.

SUNDAY: Brunch and the Whitewater Center

Big NoDa brunch: On Sunday, we’d go to brunch at Heist Brewery. We’d take advantage of their big breakfast bar and their mimosas.

Hike and zipline: If we had time, we’d visit the National Whitewater Center. I really like it there — watching people raft or hiking the trails or going on the zipline.

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Cover photo by Dustin Houdyshell