The arena has emptied out. Lawmakers, delegates and journalists are on their way home. By early this morning, uptown Charlotte was pretty much back to normal.
On College Street just before 9 o'clock this morning, everything was open. Cars were moving through. There were a few big trucks and people getting on buses to go to the airport. This was all blocked off just a few hours before. But things were looking normal. There just weren't many people around.
Evaney Nesbitt a security guard standing outside a bank building was one of the few people on the block. He said everything looks so normal, he can't even tell there was a convention here the night before.
Nearby, Randy Davis was walking into work at the Bank of America building. He's come every day this week and hasn't had much of a hassle. In fact, his commute took half the time because of everyone else who stayed home and off the roads. Last night, he left work and there were crowds of convention people here. Not now.
"Compared to what it was the last few days, it just seems like a big hangover almost," said Davis.
Last night at 5th and College St, there was a checkpoint to get into Time Warner Arena. But in the morning, it was all gone. The only barricades were stacked up one on top of the other in two piles.
Bruce Lee was responsible for those piles. Beginning at 1:00 clock this morning he and many others began taking these nine foot fences down. Eight hours later he was still working.
"You had 25 miles of this type of fencing covering the surrounding area where the convention was held and we did it all in about nine hours," said Lee.
It's hard work.
"I'm hurting. My back is killing me," he says.
Twenty-five miles is an exaggeration, but not actually that big of one.
If you wanted proof that the convention really happened, the Epicentre was the place to be this morning. News outlets carted their equipment out of the restaurants. MSNBC was still here.
Adelsia Braxton was coming out of the last taping of Morning Joe. She was up all night and was on her way back to Maryland.
"I am going to make my way to Amtrak and then I'm going to go home cause I'm tired and my feet hurt," says Braxton.
But Charlotte treated her well.
"I had a good time. Thank you, Charlotte," she says.
