Crown Town’s Fall Hicknic Yelper Party

Fun!
Great vendors — food and drinks. Great venue — bowling alley that was fun and accomodating. Great food at Park Ten, the food they offered were delicious — I’d def come here and order the food! Great host, keep up the good work Ben!

Not much to add here that hasn’t been said already, but we had a blast! Amazing weather, dope peeps, awesome BBQ and beverages, and the most important item… hula hoops! Not that I can hula hoop, but I think I looked pretty good trying…
Anyway, thanks again to Ben et al for all the obvious hard work they put into the event. And to all the vendors who made it possible. My personal favorite was Polka Dot Bakery, I’ve had their cupcakes a few times, and like someone else said above, these ones seemed a little more moist than usual. My other top award goes to the BBQ from Ten Park Lanes! I was really impressed with their BBQ. And we scored doubly nice when at the end they gave us huge plates!
We didn’t get inside to bowl, since we were too busy hula hooping, but when we went in later to bowl, they didn’t have any lanes open, but they hooked us up with some rain checks! We already bowl here a lot, so this was just icing on the cake!
Anyway, fantastic event and makes all the time spent writing reviews and checking out random places worthwhile! Plus, we brought some friends, who I think now are addicted to Unilocaling! Thanks again!

When I first started writing reviews, little did I know I would be attending one of the more enjoyable events I’ve had the pleasure of partaking in, put on by the same company that publishes them online.
Before this event even took place, I first figured out what it meant to be deemed «elite” — a grouping of reviewers showing promise, motivation, or talent in their reviews. This status is apparently only handed down by the community leader for that particular city or area. Elite members get to attend these events, usually once or twice a month, for free. At times, such as this, they also get a +1 or +2.
And fortunately for me, that’s where I came in!
Although there are many different elite events, this one in particular was held at the bowling alley Park 10 Lanes. The set-​up was both inside and outside the alley, and each attendee was given a ticket for a single free game of bowling– which I myself thoroughly enjoyed.
Food tastings were supplied by the alley and had a selection of BBQ, beans, and slaw. To my surprise, each were fairly tasty and I would probably be keen on the idea of eating at the alley again. Their sauces were spot on– Jalapeño Coffee! Just enough spice, and a hint of bitterness like a cup of black coffee! I greatly admire this combination!
Additional food consisted of deserts (supplied by others) that I myself did not partake of, but will say their food looked quite appetizing.
As per beverages, you couldn’t do much better with the number of respectable label beer tents for the size of this event. It’s just my opinion that the beer suppliers and their associated quantities of brew on tap really make or break a social event such as this. As an example, I absolutely hate going to a beerfest where you pay in upwards of $ 30 – 40 just to find out they have limited suppliers, and you wind up drinking Bud light after the others run out, sometimes a mere two hours into the event. So as this event was free and make great use of beer provider organization, big thumbs up!
In addition to beer, it was also good to see a Vitamin Water tent. For those who had to maintain a sober composure to drive later on, it was good to be able to carry around a free bottle of Dragonfruit throughout the day to sip between brews.
Lastly, if there wasn’t enough incentive to get out and socialize with fellow Unilocalers, donations were accepted for «Beds for Kids», an organization that helps provide beds and additional furniture for local kids in need.
Overall, the event was an eye opener for me as such that I would like to attend future elite events myself. They are quite fun and it is great to meet new people that share a passion for the written expression that is reviewing. Well put-​together, well organized.

*tips hat* Howdy. This was a pretty darn awesome event! Yee-​haw!
It was a perfect day out, with beautiful weather. The atmosphere was just great all around. The set up was well put together as well as it never felt too crowded or too empty to move around to different vendors. It was easy for me to walk over and get cupcakes, but not so noticeable that people would think I’m a chubster. I was able to use my ninja skills. Perfect!
Now the food that Ten Park Lanes provided was just spectacular! I could NOT stop talking about the beans that day. I usually am not a beans person, but holy crap were they delicious! I had others verify as well that the beans were tasty. TRY THE BEANS AT TEN PARK LANES!
Thanks Ben for making this wonderful event happen! I can’t wait til another event like this!

Almost 80 degrees in November cold beer, and bbq what else do you need? What a perfect day for this great event. Thanks Ben for all your hard work organizing — it paid off.
Talk about a beer tasting I was trying to make my way around the parking lot to try each brewery but I know I missed a few. I always enjoy the Four Friends brewery was happy to try their newly released Race Day brew it was delicious. Polka Dot Bakery treated us with some very yummy cupcakes and sweet potato chips I highly recommend. Fetzer wine served up a nice refreshing white blend wine I really enjoyed and let’s not forget to talk about 10 Park Lanes and the BBQ. I heard this place had updated and turned it’s menu around well they sure have. What a great place to play a game of bowling, awesome bar, great staff, and amazing food. I’m not a huge BBQ fan but I left nothing on my plate.
You can’t beat a party where you can give back thanks to Beds for Kids for being there
and sharing more information about their charity. Everything is more fun when you can give back!

I am pretty bummed that I forgot to say YEEHAW the entire time I was at the Unilocal party. Big regret. I don’t regret the delicious bbq 10 Park Lanes served up and the «I don’t even like coleslaw but this coleslaw is amazing» side.
Great crowd, great vendors and could you have ordered a more beautiful day? I especially loved the Fetzer white blend wine and coffee options.

Great time, although due to my recent injuries bowling was not the easiest accomplishment.
The BBQ!!! What a surprise, it ranks top 3 in Charlotte IMO. The beans pared perfectly with it. Those little red velvet cupcakes were tasty too.
The venue, its been such a long time since I’ve been out there and the place looks great.
The beer, what can I say, plenty to choose from although that caramel porter was truly awesome.
The people, GREAT, saw lots of old friends and even made some new ones. Didn’t know that some of my friends were even elites till that day.
The weather, remarkable, although I don’t know if Ben had much to do with all that.
GREAT TIME!!!

Great to be outside on a gorgeous weekend! It was nice to see everyone out in their «hick/​redneck» attire. I decided to spare everyone and leave the inappropriate leather chaps at home, but it’s all in good fun.
Beer vendors were great and knowledgeable. BBQ was spot on and the cupcakes — I would have to say I kept coming back for me.
Nods to all the Unilocalers that donated to Beds for Kids — what a great charity. I wish I was more prepared and had more cash on hand to give to a very worthy cause.
It was my first event in a long time, so it was nice to catch up with everyone and also to partake in a great event. Hat’s off to a great job by our CM!

This was a fantastic gathering. Thanks to the bearded one for putting it together, glad to finally meet and redeem my High Five Unilocal offer for checking in. A good mix of beer on the outside, some bowling on the inside along with a photo booth, canvas painting, coffee and desserts. Bowling and beer, can’t go wrong, especially when i actually bowl well.
The beer booths were my favorite of course, from Natty Green to Sam Adams to Lonerider to Four Friends, it was like a mini beer fest with full mini cup pours. Surprisingly the Batch 19 was pretty tasty coming from Golden, Colorado.
Perfect weather didn’t hurt at all. A little swag never hurt either, nice bottle opener, Unilocal shot glass, bottle coozies. Throw in a good cause, everyone wins.

The old George Pappas’ Park Lanes has been reborn, and so has Unilocal Charlotte (so to speak), so why not throw a Unilocaler Party? The fall day started off a bit on the cold side — it was freaking cold in the morning, but by afternoon, it was almost hot in the areas where the sun was shining. Not sure what that says about where the sun don’t shine.
On the side of Ten Park, there were some tasty tasting plates to sample their barbecue, and Polka Dot had a most excellent sampling of some of their cupcakes. Beer avenue allowed you to sample from a nice selection, but many were from out of town (boo, hiss!). Along the back side of the lot you could even find Vitamin Water if that is more your speed.
That wasn’t all, as the inside boasted Shutterbooth, community painting, and more sweets, these from Sweet Lorraine. You could even sidle — see how I worked in a country-​themed word there? — next to some kid’s birthday party if you wanted to separate yourself from the other Unilocalers.
Word on the street has it that Papa Getz was even in the house somewhere. If you look hard enough, you might find him on Twitter. Thanks to Ben and crew for putting together this event for spending an otherwise slow Saturday afternoon!

What an amazing event! This has been my third Unilocal event I’ve attended, but this was by far the best. The beer vendors all had wonderful offerings. My favorite was the Caramel Porter — out of this world! We also hit up the Vitamin Water tent when we got thirsty, and Not Just Coffee when I needed a pick-​me-​up. And let’s not forget the dessert too — yum! All the vendors were so nice and helpful.
Oh, and that’s not to mention how wonderful the barbeque was from Ten Park Lanes. The brisket and pork were out of this world. And I am not a baked beans person normally, but theirs were absolutely delicious.
And to top it all off, we had an amazing time bowling. I loved the graphics on the screen. The bowling area was very clean and shiny. They had plenty of balls in all sizes and for all finger sizes, which I think was perfect.
Thanks so much for putting this together! My guests and I had such a wonderful time.

Absolutely amazing event! I can’t think of a better way to spend my afternoon, Ben did a fantastic job with everything –including the weather! We were shocked by how much beer and swag there was & had a great time catching up with friends and bowling (of course). I’m a huge fan of 10 Park Lanes to begin with, but Ben managed to take a fun place and make it a crazy, hicktastic, beer laden smörgåsbord!
In addition to loving the booze and the swag, Shutter Booth was a fun touch and kept the momentum going in between bowling and beer drinking!
Oh & I loved the bowling alley’s bbq, I’ll definitely be ordering their pulled pork the next time I’m in there to bowl a few frames (at least I think they’re called frames).
A+ Ben! Well done my friend, well done!

What an AMAZING time!!!
This was my first Unilocal event and I must say I can not wait for more events! I can’t believe I’ve been missing out on these for so long! Everyone we met was delightful and it was just overall an amazing time!
Ok now on to the Hicknic!!!
The BBQ was heavenly!!! Cooked to perfection and so tender that all the barbecue sauces were delicious but if I had to pick a favorite it has to be the jalapeño coffee sauce… spicy and sweet with a nice kick at the end! YUM! I practically licked the plate!
Then there was the beer… LOTS and LOTS of beer! So many delicious options I didn’t know where to start first, but eventually I found my way and my favorite was the Blue Mood which was mixed with berries and lemonade! It was so refreshing and fruity it almost didn’t taste like beer. Very delicious! An added bonus was that all the vendors were delightful and very easy to talk too!
The cupcake vendor was a real problem for me! They were all so delicious! There was red velvet, chocolate and vanilla… and cant pick a favorite because they were all simply amazing!!!
And finally there was the Shutter Booth!!! AWESOME!!! With tons of props and funny makeup, all of these hilarious photos will proudly be posted on my fridge!!!
Again, I say everything about this Hicknic made this a wonderful afternoon! So glad I went and look forward to the next event!

Another great Unilocal event!!!
There was plenty of beer from different vendors: Four Friends, Lonerider, Big Boss, Starr Hill, Sam Adams, Newcastle, Batch 19, Natty Greene’s and I probably missed one in there. Also two bakeries with Sweet Loraine’s and Polka Dot bakery. Other vendors available were Vitamin Water, Not Just Coffee, and Coffee Central. Oh and Shutterbooth was there to make your own crazy pictures.
Oh wait, i forget the incredible food from 10 Park. Wow, Great ‘cue and fixins! It was so good, we had to stop in later for a full meal.
And it’s always great to see Unilocalers dressed in the theme of the event. I couldn’t resist reinventing my hillbilly Halloween costume.
The only things I would improve on is to have bottled water available. The Vitamin Water people also do Smart Water. Having that available would have been nice for those of us who don’t like flavored water. And having more local beer options. While Big Boss, Lonerider, Natty Greene’s, and Starr Hill are regional beers, it would have been nice to see more than Four Friends represented from Charlotte.
But, All in all, a great event to benefit a great organization, Beds for Kids!

5 star all the way! What a fun event full of awesome vendors!
I ditto everything my fellow Unilocalers have already written. Although I’d like to highlight my personal favorites that made this event top notch for me and my +1.
I had never been in a Shutter Booth before, so I had a giggly time putting on props within the 4 seconds between snapshots. Strike a pose! Speaking of strikes, Ten Park Lanes has my vote for super fun. Bowling invited a healthy competition between my teammates and I learned that many Unilocalers are also good bowlers. Perhaps they should create a league, but I don’t think I’d be asked to play… I never broke 100, in fact, I don’t think I even made it past 75, but I enjoyed playing and cheering everyone else on.
I had my first treats from Sweet Loraine’s and the brownie meets chocolate chip cookie was great… especially paired with Not Just Coffee pour over coffee. Vitamin Water helped quench our thirst from knocking all those pins (or not) over.
Thanks, Ben for planning a great event and bringing so many fantastic people together on a beautiful afternoon!

First Unilocal event. They really know how to throw a party!

I haven’t been to an Elite event since the Capital Grille, and I didn’t believe it could be outdone. Ben, you did it once again.
There must have been a direct line to Larry Sprinkle when planning this event since it was PERFECT weather, let me say it again, PERFECT weather! Ten Park Lanes was amazing, certainly not like the Bowling Alleys of old. Nice bar, good food and righteous bowling. Part of the event was a free game of bowling which we happily took them up on… after my wife took her butt whupping we returned to the event.
The BBQ served by Ten Park Lanes was well done. I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t at the TWC BBQ Competition after eating it. Both the pork and the beef que was smoked to perfection and complemented by tasty beans and slaw. Really, people we were at a bowling alley, not Lexington NC! Polka Dot Bakery scored a fan today with some great cupcakes. They were moist and flavorful and not cheaply made at all. I am going to look them up the next time I am close by. We stopped at the Shutterbox booth and took some funny pics also. Great idea!
If you were thirsty at this event, it was your own darn fault. Between Vitamin Water, many kinds of beer and wine your cup shouldn’t have stayed empty for long. To top it off, who doesn’t like charitable giving? Beds For Kids was there sharing what great stuff they do for the community. I had the opportunity to chat with these fine people and learn more about how they serve the city of Charlotte. They were manning the swag table and I hope they collected quite a few bucks for the cause.
To summarize. Perfect weather, whupped the wife bowling, great bbq, great beer & wine, delectable sweet treats, and charity!
Roll credits

Yee haw! That’s what Unilocal got into this weekend at Ten Park Lanes. Tons of beer, a selection of BBQ, hoe downs, and bowling was all included in this one.
Hands down to Ben with all his hard work, sweat, blood, and tears for making this happen. I thought it was a lot of fun, met a lot of new people and saw the regulars too! I’m looking forward to our last event of the year.

Any chance I get to dust off the denim overall and plaid button shirt, I always jump at the chance! So big thanks to Queen City CM Ben for extending his welcome to us out-​of-​town Unilocalers all the way from the Triangle, otherwise my friends and I would have been those obnoxious party crashers.
Beer, barbecue, beer, boots, brown leather, beer, bowling, and more beer! Phew! they sure got a lot of B’s up in this B! Well, there are also hula hoops and corn hole and photo booth. We did not make it into the photo booth however… **sad face** But it was okay, the music playing inside the bowling alley, like Journey and Bön Jovi, turned the afternoon into amateur karaōke hour.
I was really glad to see some of Triangle’s brewery making it down here, and some new beers I haven’t tasted before. That Batch 19? Oh wow! I need to find out where and when they are bottling this! The weather today was unbelievably pleasant, so two thumbs up on the choice for outdoor festivity. Y’all did good! (that’s my best country tongue)

This was a wonderful event! I loved having a Saturday afternoon event! It was perfect weather and a refreshing change from my typical routine!
The BBQ was incredible but the baked beans stole the show in my opinion! They were smoky flavored and a little spicy… I thoroughly enjoyed them!
I am already a polka-​dot fan so I was thrilled to see them there and had no problem re-​introducing myself to their sweet potato crackers and mini cupcakes. I also really liked their new sweet potato granola they showcased at the event. They use pure ingredients, local produce, etc… superb!
I was also so excited that sweet lorraine’s was representin! I have been wanting to try them for a while so the sample cookie/​brownie and chocolatey powdered sugar cookie hit the spot!
The bowling was great! I have not been to Park Lanes since I was in junior high when we hung out there looking for cute guys… wow, it was great to see this place again as an adult! Great spot. I bowled over 100 so that was all I cared about! Woo hoo!
We utilized the photo booth as well which was fun and a great way to walk away with a souvenier for the scrapbook.
Overall…lots to sample, great atmosphere and great company! I enjoyed myself!
Thanks Ben and the rest of the Unilocal squad!