Rico's Acai and the Panther's Super Bowl Rally

Sunday night, am I right? It has been a great weekend around these parts -- the perfect mix of relaxing and adventure (with some delicious food thrown in for good measure).

In an effort to keep the fun weekend vibes going, I wanted to tell you about my Friday! Normally I work on Fridays but my previous job at New World Olive Oil has come to an end (their last day of business was sadly last Saturday) and I'm not starting my new job until this coming week. I figured a solo outing was in order to take advantage of the sunshine so I headed to Uptown.

Have you heard? The Panthers are going to the Super Bowl. To say this city is excited would be an enormous understatement. Traffic signs that would normally say "Caution" or "Merge Right" now say "Keep Pounding" or "Go Panthers." [I'm really hoping these signs weren't safety-critical].

On Friday there was a Panther's Super Bowl rally in Romare Bearden park in Uptown. I had to park over a mile away (100% should have just walked from my apartment) and it felt like I was in a parade walking down the street to the park. I even wondered if it had been declared a public holiday there were so many adults and children playing hooky. All of this to say, it was PACKED.

The rally itself was filled with music, mascots, cheerleaders and lots of whoopin + hollerin. 

[Full disclosure: I am currently and always have been a Saints fan. Born and raised. But seeing as I live in Charlotte and the Saints decided to take an extra long vacation this winter, I am 100% rooting for the Panthers. In sum, Geaux Saints (but for the time being keep pounding)].

I was approaching hangry level at the rally and knew I needed to act quickly for lunch. I headed a few blocks east to try Rico's Acai food truck (parked on S. College in front of the Mint Museum).

Rico's has been on my list for months but I'm rarely Uptown so hadn't had the chance to try it. I've been an Acai bowl groupie for about a year now and am delighted they are now trendy and popping up everywhere. Any food with fruits + granola + coconut + nut butters is a-ok in my book.

I got the Panther bowl (because it was to theme) and it had acai + banana + black&blueberries + coconut + granola.

Rico's is opening a brick and morter shop in the 7th Street Public Market soon and I can't wait! More acai! More acai! The crowd goes wild!!!

Have you tried acai bowls? Favorite acai place?