Parking for non Mecklenburg county residents is $15, but they do also offer a free shuttle option which I would probably do next time.
It does well with resembling a beach, and the sand is easy to get off which is a plus!
The only cons I have is that when I got there I expected it to be a wider perimeter for swimming, and also they had rocks at the bottom that were really rough on the feet. Another observation was that I did not come across any workers that seemed to show any sort of enthusiasm.