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CHARLOTTE, N.C. President Barack Obama is scheduled to arrive in Charlotte on Wednesday afternoon, before delivering his acceptance speech at Bank of America stadium Thursday night.
The schedule calls for Air Force One to land at the N.C. Air National Guard base at 2:45 Wednesday, with Obama’s departure slated for 10 a.m. Friday. Those events will delay flights at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, and the motorcades taking him from and to the airport will disrupt traffic.
Obama’s arrival and departure are not open to the public.
First lady Michelle Obama arrived Monday to prepare for her speech at the Time Warner Cable Arena tonight.
There has been no official word on where the Obamas are staying, though it’s widely believed to be the Ballantyne Hotel and Resort. Spokespersons for the hotel and the Obamas have declined to discuss arrangements.
Ray Eschert, a retired businessman who has been dubbed the mayor of Ballantyne, said he had coffee at the hotel Tuesday. While he didn’t see any members of the first family, he said security suggests a very high-level guest. Dogs were patrolling the hotel, he said, while a line of dump trucks blocks the road that leads to the lodge and an adjacent four-bedroom cottage, he said.
The hotel is open but part of the golf course is closed, he said, and barricades require anyone approaching the property to drive slowly.
“They’ve got it pretty well clamped down,” Eschert said. “There will be no opportunity for somebody driving at high speed to get anywhere near that area.”
