Editor’s Note: This was written in the early days of Homeland, when Nicholas Brody was still alive and very much in the picture.

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I’ll admit I was a little sour at the end of the first season of Homeland. I didn’t completely buy what drove Nicholas Brody.

But by the end of season two I was reeled in again, but good. I can’t wait for the return of Claire Danes and the band of merry Brits playing Yanks minus studly David Harewood, whom I’ll greatly miss.

The point of all this is that when I was in Charlotte this past week dog sitting for my sister’s brood, I started looking up all the filming locations for Homeland. (That when I wasn’t walking a golden retriever-chow who, in truth, was walking me.)

Rabid fans like me know Homeland’s shot in Charlotte, which I’ll admit sometimes doesn’t cut it as a stand-in for DC. But it was smart to film there for the North Carolina tax credits. Besides, fans, we’re not there for the scenery, are we?

Most of the locations aren’t that interesting. But there was one I’d always wondered about.

“Homeland”/Showtime

The scene where Brody takes the family to Gettysburg, Pa., and makes a little detour to pick up attire for his planned suicide bombing. Gotta have an explosive vest that works.

Since I’d been to Gettysburg and knew that part of the world, I was curious about that location and the production aspects. So I took a little excursion, but didn’t have to go all the way back to Pennsylvania.

Because here’s where Gettysburg was really filmed:

Mooresville, NC, an easy drive from Charlotte, in the middle of horse and lake country.

I’d read it’s used anytime the Homeland crew needs  an all-purpose small town.

The tailor shop where Brody was outfitted is really this mild-mannered men’s clothing store that’s been around for decades.

No Brody lurking in the back …

… Just folks picking up prom tuxes on a busy spring afternoon.

“Homeland”/Showtime

Next stop, the “Heritage Diner”, where the Brody family had lunch. A resident was absolutely mystified when I first asked her where the diner might be located.

That’s because no such place existed; an eatery called J.J. Wasabi’s was the stand-in.

The menu ranges from Pad Thai to French fries. Had an all-American burger, and gotta say it wasn’t all that great.

Just had to top it off with some peachy keen, homemade Carolina peach ice cream at the Mooresville Ice Cream Co., where they make it on the premises. I’m told the show also took over this building during the Gettysburg episode.

I wouldn’t have minded a tour of Richard’s Coffee Shop and military museum, but it was closed.