Used to go to Charlotte on business a lot and except for a bunch of banking, there's really not much going on there. The downtown has no charm whatsoever, and could be any big American city. And they pretty much roll up the sidewalks at 5pm. All the bankers head home and the downtown core is dead as can be.

Out in the 'burbs the Southpark area is really nice and there's surprisingly quite a bit of upscale shopping. Must be some serious money somewhere in that town.

As for a gay scene, never really managed to find any. Have also heard of Mythos but never been. Check out www.gaybars.com. Found a few listings there but don't know a thing about any of them. Hope you have a good trip.