Sorry for the delay in getting out this next installment. Company arrives and all the sudden my whole schedule goes to hell. But this week (actually last week) was about hosting my BFF Kimberly. So I finally got to be more of a tourist.
For example, I made the two hour drive to the Charlotte airport. Through the heart of Red State Ville that is. The further away one gets from Asheville, the more you see abandoned cars, roadside stands, huge enormous rebel flags. Gated communities. Also the longer you go, the less elevation you get and so…the return of summer heat. That’s why I left Austin to begin with. As you get closer to Charlotte on a Friday afternoon, you start to get into traffic too, another reason I left Austin. But I picked up Kimberly and we made it all the way back to Asheville.
Then we started painting the town, as it were. First stop (I think) was Early Girl. Eatery, where we feasted on the sausage grits, vegetarian bowl, diet coke, biscuits, and eggs. Later we would return twice (in her case) and once (in mine). On her second trip, Kimberly got the 411 from the bartender on what goes down in Asheville (not much apparently…everyone is old). While waiting we checked out the West Asheville scene. Card shops. Coffee shops. Places with murals. Then, like the good rich white folks we are, we then hit the Farmers Market. Unlike the usual two-three block affair, this was a permanent established one, with a remote wing where more than a dozen farmers
Later that day, we cruised the River Arts District, and then spent much of the rest of the day Downtown with the other tourists. Kimberly found some dresses she liked and proceeded to buy out Lost and Found, a small little dress shop. Finally, capping off a really long day, we braved the rain (by which I mean we had tapas at the AC Hotel), and went to a weekly local music festival called Shindig On the Green. Really enjoyed that–one local act after another. It wasn’t all quite bluegrass, but it was really traditional, and authentic. The crowd was digging it, lots of dancing in the square. To cap it off, we went to the best dive bar I’ve seen in years, Tiger Mountain. We saw Elvis paintings, and Trucker Jesus. Cool old lift fixtures, pool tables, booths with old car upholstery. Quite the long day.
The next day we had a delightful breakfast at the 5 Points Restaurant, then headed out for another Blue Ridge Parkway hike: Black Balsam Knob and Mount Tennant. We should have had some spectacular scenery, but in an all too familiar trend, we got another soaking. It’s following me everywhere. I’ll get out on the trail in the early afternoon and its clear out, but you an see clouds in the distance (a metaphor for life, I’m sure). We made it to the first peak, then those rain clouds that gave the Smoky Mountains their name came rolling in and the skies opened up. We hiked about a third of the way through the clouds. But eventually wound up back at the trailhead and back up the Blue Ridge Parkway home.
The next night, Kimberly made a fantastic shrimp etouffee, having spent the better part of a monday afternoon. It was excellent. The very next day, I took her to Beaver Lake, where of course…it rained. A lot. But we saw a double rainbow, and for a time it rained despite the sky being otherwise very sunny. Kimberly made her incredible meatballs (gluten free of course), which I think I may ask for my Last Meal before my execution (if and when that happens). We also watched Elvis movies on TCM, as part of Elvis Month. Specifically, Tickle Me then It Happened At the Worlds Fair. The former was just, bizarre. Like a Flint movie for the first half, then a Scooby Doo episode in the second. The latter was just another meh Elvis movie, that only makes you rage at how Col. Tom Parker destroyed Elvis’ artistic potential.
Then the following day, we spent the afternoon touring the enormous Biltmore Estate. I intend to go back myself later, and will say more about it then. Its not where the Commodore lived, but his first son George. Basically it takes up the better part of South Asheville. The grounds are stupefyingly enormous. The estate company (not exactly sure how its owned, but its definitely not a government park) uses a lot of the estate for farming, and a working winery that had a surprising number of visitors for a weekday. For us though the main attraction was the enormous European style mansion. Well, castle might be a better term. Its smaller than the old man’s summer home up in Newport (The Breakers), but daunting nonetheless. Kimberly got there before me and toured the extensive gardens; I mean to go back primarily to see these and explore the trails network.
The last full day we were together, I took her to the Asheville botanical garden and the Beaver Lake Bird Sanctuary, which I’ve described previously. It was a nice soft evening and we saw more birds than the last time I went there. Then to cap it off we had dinner at the local Nine Mile restaurant, a Caribbean establishment with lots of spiced vegetable bowls.
Now she’s gone. Just when I got used to having her around. I’m depressed.
Next: Graveyard Fields, back to McCormick Park, and Mt. Pisgah!
Summer In the Mountains 