Posting from Asheville, NC - 2018

This will be the last part of the Asheville trip and the first part will follow below this and all together it's way too much for anyone but me to read.  Weird but why make two separate posts when there's not many pictures?  Wednesday was again quite cold with 19 mph winds so I sure didn't walk around town as much as I did last year.  But I wanted to at least go in the vicinity of Bouchon restaurant and figure out where I would park that would be as close as possible.  There are two multi-level parking garages relatively near so I parked in the fewer-floors one and it was probably between 2 and 3 blocks to the restaurant.  Walking down to it I came to an outdoor parking lot that was about a block and a half from the restaurant and no uphill climb so decided that's where I would park.  I stopped in at a store on that corner - Cornerstone Minerals and they had so many beautiful and amazing things - all from the innards of earth.  The girl who was there had majored in geology and was able to tell me about everything I asked about so it was very interesting.  I bought myself a little birthday present there. :)  I asked her where would be a close, good place for a small afternoon treat and she told me her favorite was right down the street.  Got there and everything they had was gluten-free which so far I've avoided trying any of that.  If I've lived 75 years eating treats made with wheat flour why stop now, right?  So I went around the corner to a little market and got a cup of tea and an incredible chocolate chunk cookie that had been sprinkled with a little bit of flaked salt on top.  It was pretty big so I took some back to my room for my "after dinner" sweet.  Oh, and I almost forgot - went back to the garage except I went to the taller one - started walking up the stairs for about 3 levels and then decided to see if it was easier just walking up the levels (which it was, but still...) and finally got to the very top (outside) level and there was one car there and it wasn't mine.  And I'm talking Level 7 or 8!  Miraculously, just as I was thinking of throwing myself over the side, here came a young couple to the one car and I told them I was in the wrong garage and could they possible give a crazy old lady a ride down.  So they did and on the way down, we came to a level where we looked across and there was my car sitting on the roof.  Phew, of course, but also good grief, what next?

Which brings me to my visit to Bouchon.  As far as friendliness, ambiance, etc., it exceeded my expectations.  As far as food, it made me decide that I really should (and will) quit ordering mussels.  I've had them a number of times now and just have to confess, I don't like eating them.  The "sauce" is always very good but you can't pay for mussels and leave them in the bottom of the bowl after you've sopped up all the sauce with bread!  I seriously considered the beef bourgignon cause I bet theirs would be stellar but I also thought it would be way too much - I seem to always be eating but I get full pretty fast.  So I had a half bowl of mussels and a salad that was roasted beets with fresh apple cut into "sticks", candied walnuts, feta cheese and a Dijon vinaigrette.  Actually I had that same salad last year in a little sampler tray of 3 of their salads.

So that's the food - not as stellar as last time but again, if I didn't enjoy Bouchon's mussels any more than any others I've had, it's time to quit mussels.  As for the rest, it was like being welcomed with open arms.  Everyone there is so welcoming and smiley.  And all the patrons are so obviously happy to be there and mostly regulars, I think.  It was so much fuller this time (last year was a dark and rainy night) that I had to wait for a bit even for a seat at the bar.  I kept an eye on the barmaid trying to decide if she was the one who was so nice last year.  I was pretty sure she was.  So when I got my seat at the bar and she came to check on me I asked her if she would have been the barmaid last year and yes, she was and she had been thinking I looked familiar.  So I told her about last year and she began to remember bits and pieces too.  She is perfect for the job she has!  Her name I discovered this time is Wendy and I'll just say Wendy is wonderful.  She again let me order just half a flute of the delicious champagne she had served me last year, let me taste the first red wine I picked out and when I decided I would try the other one I had wondered about gave me a taste of that too.  She pointed out that I could order just half a bowl of mussels and for that matter could order a smaller salad.  She's just a delight - she's been there four years now and is obviously a pro, but you feel like she's a friend.

Now, the ambiance.  While I was waiting I overheard a bit of conversation between 4 guys who were right at the end of the bar where I was waiting.  And me, being me, I had to ask a question about what I had heard because it was about a person getting because of prejudice and I wondered how they could be talking about Bouchon so I asked them.  The one man said, "oh no, it was a place in Kentucky"  And when I said "ah, that makes more sense - I'm from West Virginia so I can relate" he high-fived me cause he was from Kentucky and we chatted a bit more and then I sat back down in my "wait" chair.  So, as I'm working through my mussels and enjoying my delicious glass of red, there is suddenly a hand rapping on the bar beside my arm and it's the Kentucky man saying "don't pay for the wine - it's on us".  I demurred politely but no, no, "it's taken care of".  So gee.  And one last little bit - the couple sitting next to me at the bar had ordered mussels and when I was considering them I asked her some question about them and she answered and that was that.  But when theirs came and as they settled in, I thought I heard him singing real low "happy birthday".  They got a dessert which came with a candle in it so, of course, then I had to ask - was it one of their birthdays?  It was hers but she doesn't really like dessert so he always eats it.  I asked her when hers was and it was that day just like mine.  We talked a bit more, then they left, I finished up, gave Wendy a hug, and went back to the rest of my chocolate chip cookie and a nice hot cup of tea.  I had been there for about 2-1/2 hours!

My last conclusion (on the order of not ordering mussels anymore) is that if I ever go to Asheville again, it will have to be in later spring or fall.  It's not very inviting to walk around town when it's so cold and blustery.  And I woke up Thursday morning and got all my stuff together to take out to the car only to find it with about an inch of very wet snow covering it!  Didn't get a picture of that cause it was too cold but here's a picture from the car on the road - the sky was either like this or beautiful white puffy clouds with blue sky and sunshine, or it was snowing - heavy or flurries.  An interesting 465 miles. :)

Now, here's Part I of this backwards post...

Once again, I'm in Asheville, NC for my birthday! That dinner last year at Bouchon restaurant was so delicious and pleasant that I just decided I'd do it again this year. I'll be here tonight (Tuesday 3/6), tomorrow and tomorrow night and then drive up to Chris in Virginia on Thursday. I don't really have too much to post tonight. The trip down from Huntington sure took longer than I expected it to but was basically uneventful. My hotel is quite nice and I got a nice "deal" on it. And tonight I had a delicious pizza (which I couldn't finish sadly) at The Mellow Mushroom which I took several exterior photos of last year when I was here. I was going to provide a link to that post but it seems I can only get as far as a link to my blog. So if you want to see them, type in Asheville 2017, Part 2 and it should come up. They're down the page a bit.

 I took a couple of pictures of the outside tonight but none of the inside - it was heavily decorated but I didn't see anything that would have photographed all that well.

I took this last one because seeing it in the "real" it looked pretty fantastic - the photo of course doesn't really do it justice but I posted it anyway cause I liked it and I know January likes "good" trees.  I didn't notice the red VW when I was taking the pic but I like it in the picture.

So that's it for tonight.  I may go out to Black Mountain tomorrow and find out what that's all about - I think it's a big craft center.  And it would be interesting to Google and see if there is a dollhouse and/or a good needlework show here.  Can't remember if I did that last year or not...

Asheville - part II

Okay, moving right along...

Yesterday we went from #9 through #14 so today I'll start, strangely enough, with #6 which is a beautiful bower honoring Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, who worked to advance care for women and Children.  She also founded the world's(!) first four-year medical college for women.  Go, Elizabeth!!!

And below is just a building, but I loved the ornate decorative moldings on it...

The plaque below honors O.Henry.  The bronze items symbolize the theme of his "Gift of the Magi" story which I read as a young person and just loved.  It is the braid of hair the young wife cut off in order to pay for the the watch chain she gave him and he had sold the watch to pay for a beautiful hair comb for her.

Below is #3, "Stepping Out" which "recalls the theaters and Grand Opera House that once made Patton Avenue the center of commerce and culture".  Makes me start humming "Steppin' Out With My Lady"...

I love these pigs!  This display is #2 - "Crossroads" which illustrates the 1827 Buncombe Turnpike used by travelers, native Americans, and drovers with their pigs and turkeys (and cows - how come they don't have a bronze cow??)  And if there is a #1 (which there is on the map) all I can assume is that it's Pack Square itself.  

And the plaque below is #1 "Walk Into History" which we have now done in reverse from #14 through #1.

 This is an old Kresge store that is now a gallery-type place.  And while we're at it, below is an old Woolworth store that is filled with various art-type galleries.  There was a group of musicians outside that morning having a chilly jam session.

Oh, and below is another non-Trail building that I just loved.  I think it was Asheville's first skyscraper

Below is #15 - "Marketplace" which ties in with the fact that this area once "housed produce markets and livery stables".

Another building with artwork that I enjoyed. I like how they tied the actual window and door into the street-side scene.

This next one, #16-"Legacy of Design" was so strange that I wasn't sure it was really what I was looking for.  But the map said "a bench and a visionary young boy" so I guess it is.  However, the visionary young boy to looked so much like Ronald McDonald that I was a little puzzled.  Also, for a "boy" he was very big.  But...artistic license, I guess.

 It's on the grounds of The Mellow Mushroom, a restaurant (the building in the background) that must have a wild and crazy owner because the grounds outside are pretty wild and crazy.  But fun.

 The stone wall that surrounds the property had balls stuck into the stones every several feet.  I had even touched one to see if it could possibly be those balls they sell in grocery stores in the summer but it was hard.  The next one I came to was this one and I realized they were all bowling balls!

Now we move on to "The Time of Thomas Wolfe (1900-1938).  The photo below is of a metal sculpture which "merges the skyline of today with the early buildings of this era".  There's no way you can figure out from the photo what they're talking about because it's all see through and so you're seeing bits of the sculpture and things behind it.

And here, in a very poor photo, is a bronze replica of his shoes (#19) which is in front of his mother's boarding house and where he spent a good amount of his young years.

 And the boarding house - very pretty and very big.

 These two are metal sculptures represent #20 - "Curtain Calls".  There are 4 or 5 of them and they "remind us of Asheville's vibrant theatrical presence and portray human struggle through an abstract man."  He doesn't look very happy in either one of these, does he?

And here is a horrible picture but I put it in anyway because I think this is a copper roof in the process of achieving a patina.  The top was quite green and encroaching on the orange-ish bottom of the dome.

A glorious tree...

This was a neat one, I thought.  And very findable!  It is #21 - "On the Move" and represents the history of transportation.   And the one below is just more building art that I thought was fun.

 Not sure how I managed to cut off the top of this.  #22 - "Civic Pride".  The bell is similar to one that hung in the 1892 City Hall.

The little girl below is #26 (I tried but could never find #'s 23, 24, and 25).  #26 is sweet with the little girl and a replica of an actual horsehead fountain on a gas lamp post that once stood near here.

 Above is #27 - "Monument Corner" which displays bronze carving tools and a carving in progress which represent Tom Wolfe's father's tombstone shop which stood across the street where the building below now stands (the one I like so much - it's the Jackson Building and was Asheville's first skyscraper).

Below is #28 - "Brick Artisan" which recognizes African-American craftsman James Vester Miller, chief mason for the Municipal Building (1925) across the street.  I had to look hard for a cornucopia and suddenly noticed the two above this doorway.  They're in the side of the very long brick building which follows this picture.

And this very large and not-too-visible even in person wall sculpture commemorates the historic African-American community and business center.  The figures and buildings etched into the metal represent "the collective memories of former residents who recall the days when Eagle Street was a place to shop, go to a doctor, or meet friends after school.

I also had to look real hard to see #30 (finally!) and it doesn't show up well in the photo either but it was kind of odd to plant a bushy tree right next to it.  The eagle "overlooks an early hotel district and is similar to an ornamental one that stood as high as the second gallery of the Eagle Hotel...

And I'm pretty sure this is the Asheville city hall.  The map explains that the granite etching I couldn't find showed Douglas Ellington's "original architectural concept of a pair of complementing city-county buildings.  The county decided to construct its building in the more formal Federalist style, but the city's building was Ellington's art deco design..."  And of the two (the county building is what you see a bit of on the left), the city building wins the attractive award hands down, IMHO.

And finally walking back to the garage I came across this tricycle covered in knitted/chrocheted patches.  It is parked outside a yarn store!

So that was Wednesday in Asheville.  I got to my car, climbed in, and headed home.  And I just realized I never mentioned my birthday at Bouchon Restaurant and won't tell about it now - I'm worn out from doing the trail again! :)  Suffice it to say, it was wonderful in every way.

Mini-trip to Asheville, NC

I decided that for my birthday, I would take advantage of a special "deal" that TripAdvisor was offering and spend two nights in Asheville, having been there once before with Chris where we mostly visited Biltmore Estates.  I wanted to see more of the downtown area this time.

The night before I had looked at the weather forecast for Asheville and was disappointed to see that it was supposed to be possible rain Monday, rain basically all day Tuesday and sunny Wednesday.  But off I went and though it rained almost the whole time I was driving it was pretty much done once I got there so I was able to start my exploring right away. And, it didn't rain at all Tuesday until Tuesday night which was very thoughtful of the powers that be I thought.  And Wednesday was gorgeous sun although very windy.

I, of course, took many pictures.  Since the weather was so cooperative I was able to complete the self-guided "Urban Trail" over Tuesday and Wednesday.  There's a little map that routes you throughout the downtown to find bronze sculptures, plaques, etc., that mark some notable building, event, or what have you.  There are 30 of them and with the meandering streets of Asheville, it became a real challenge to find them all.  I kept losing myself and spent a lot of time backtracking, etc.  But it was fun and I certainly had a good look at what Asheville has to offer which is a lot of wonderful local shopping and eating.

The first set of pictures are of the Basilica of St. Lawrence which is not on the trail but is interesting.  It is made entirely of "tiles and other masonry elements without the use of wood or steel" which I found pretty amazing.  The dome is considered the largest free-standing elliptical dome in North America, measuring 82 x 58 feet!  The architect and builder was Rafael Guastavino and after presenting his design in 1905, work commenced and it was completed in 1909.  My little guide says his work can be found in over 1,000 buildings in the US including Grant's Tomb, Grand Central Station, Carnegie Hall, and the list goes on.

Sorry about the cars - I take what I can get...

A side chapel.  The stained glass windows were beautiful but I have yet to discover a way to get good pictures of them.

The incredible dome - part of it anyway...

Another side chapel and lastly, below - the altar.

So that was a good start.   Now for the Urban Trail.  The Basilica is right at the edge of the downtown area, so I found one of the downtown parking lots and got started.

There are 3 bronze cats in this picture.  This is #9 on the trail and since it was right near my garage, I started with it.  This is called the "Cat Walk" because a long time ago, one of the developers of the area decided he needed to remove a 70 foot high hill in order to develop downtown.  I'm not real sure why that necessitated a cat walk but I guess it did.

This is Asheville's flat iron building - I think flat iron buildings are really neat.  And below is #8 on the trail - a flat iron!  #10 is one of the ones that is no more...

I took a break from searching the trail to visit the Grove Arcade (Edwin Grove was responsible for a LOT of  building done in Asheville back in the first quarter of the 20th century).  On my previous visit I took a quick look inside this gorgeous building and it's what inspired me to look up living in downtown Asheville.  It doesn't look like too much from outside - just a big building but the first floor has these skylights and is full of shops and eateries and the second floor is full of businesses.  There are apartments on the third and fourth floor but way beyond my means. :)  I poked around in a few of the shops and saw some really beautiful handcrafted things made by local artisans - wood, glass, jewelry, gourd art, textiles, you name it - it's there.

And the little picture below of the five "cubbyholes" I'm thinking maybe used to be a bank of telephone booths.  If so, I think it's neat that they didn't just rip them out when they decided to do away with the phones.

Next is #11 on the trail - "Historic Hilltop".  (By the way, I forgot to mention - there's a fair amount of up and down hill in the downtown area!)  This bronze book with many signatures of "very important people" is based on the guestbook of the "new" Battery Park Hotel (constructed by Grove) as pictured below.  (On the left, I see Theo. Roosevelt, F. Scott Fitzgerald, George Vanderbilt...) I think this is the building that when I asked someone if it was still a hotel, said no, it was apartments for seniors and hastened to add when I said "wow! I'm a senior!" that there is like a two-year waiting list.

Next is #13 on the trail, one of my favorites.  I couldn't find #12 and searched diligently because it was titled "Guastavino's Monument" and was commemorating his design and building of the Basilica.  But #13 is delightful and is titled "Appalachian Stage" with the musicians and dancers and a violin resting on a bit of quilt.  The first Mountain Dance and Folk Festival was held in 1927 and it has continued annually ever since then.

Another neat one - #14 is "Shopping Daze" with three women and a dog enjoying a visit in the shops of Asheville.  Kind of a shame the "Malaprops" store sign perfectly circles the head of the middle woman.  Do you suppose they wanted it to?

That ended my trail blazing for the day and I just wandered about for a while longer.  I'm sorry to report that I had a disappointing lunch which actually left me feeling kind of half sick so late in the afternoon or early evening I headed back to the motel and just sort of collapsed.  I hadn't slept well the night before I left and I did all this trailblazing after a 5 hour drive to Asheville so I was happy with my progress.   I came across this building on my way back to the garage and liked the Art Deco-ishness of it.  Didn't notice even when taking the picture that it was an old S&W Cafeteria at one time.  I recognize that name but don't know why...

And now I'm going to go ahead and post this before it gets any longer and tackle Wednesday tomorrow.