Mooresville

Lake Norman town known as Race City USA, with NASCAR workshops embedded in local culture.

Known as Race City USA, Mooresville is home to many NASCAR drivers and racing teams. The sport is embedded in the culture here, and there are several team shops and museums open to visitors, including the Memory Lane Motorsports Museum and the North Carolina Auto Racing Hall of Fame. Even if racing is not your thing, the town has a pleasant downtown and sits on the shores of Lake Norman, the largest man-made lake in North Carolina.

Mooresville's downtown is a compact grid of brick storefronts along Main and Broad Streets, with a couple of historic districts on the National Register and a clutch of cafes, antique shops, and a craft brewery. North-south of the centre are the old textile mill villages that gave Mooresville its first reason to exist before NASCAR moved in.

The town is an easy day-trip from Charlotte, 25 miles south, but for racing fans it deserves a full day or two: there are more than 60 NASCAR-related teams, fabrication shops, and driver-owned businesses in or just around town.

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Eating Out

Mooresville's restaurants cluster in two zones: downtown around Main Street, and the strip along Highway 150 toward the lake. Barbecue, Southern comfort food, and a growing list of farm-to-table places dominate the central blocks.

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Getting There

Mooresville sits on Interstate 77 about 30 miles north of Charlotte, the natural airport gateway. Charlotte-Douglas International (CLT) is about 45 minutes south by car and is the only realistic way in for most travellers; flights connect to almost everywhere in the eastern US.

By car the town is an easy stop on the I-77 corridor north toward Statesville and the Blue Ridge. There is no Amtrak service to Mooresville; the nearest stations are in Charlotte or Salisbury. Local Greyhound stops in nearby Statesville and Charlotte.

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Things to Do

The two big themes in Mooresville are NASCAR and Lake Norman. The town has a cluster of racing museums and team shops, plus a working downtown with a couple of historic districts. Outside town the lake is the main draw — for boating, fishing, or simply driving the shoreline roads.