Finally Making It

Finally made it to Asheville, after packing what should have been a six hour drive into nine hours.

I meant to spend a little time looking around Birmingham, but got caught having to attend to some work. I actually stayed in a little suburb called Homewood, AL, then drove a bit through a neighborhood called, “Hollywood,” which actually looked more like a small scale Highland Park (Dallas). Older, smaller, but really nice homes with gorgeous landscaping. Little boutiques still thriving on the boulevards. I had breakfast at a local chain, Over Easy, which was awesome, then hit the road.

The drive was mostly a blur. I drove through Chattanooga, where my firm has an office, and had a late BBQ lunch at Sticky Fingers. Nothing like eating in that weird post-lunch, pre-dinner lull. Chattanooga’s actually a great town, even though I got stuck in road construction getting out of there. I’d opted to avoid driving through Atlanta for that reason–I guess if you’re from Houston, you can just never get away from traffic. Chattanooga is right on the river, has a fantastic museum and other fun attractions right on the river bluff, a minor league baseball team, and a cool downtown district. A couple of Civil War battles were fought nearby (one day I want to check out the NPS Military Park) and so there’s a lot of history.

Then on through Knoxville and the Smokies to arrive at my home away from home. The setting sun and the rising mist in the mountains made for an interesting scene as I drove into North Carolina. Will discuss that and the house in future posts. Suffice to say, I made a good housing choice.

Tomorrow-settling in!