SPRING 2023 - NORTH CAROLINA
MOUNTAINS
 |
The purple drumstick alliums located by our porch
showed more and more color each day |
We are on the third day of a week-long driving trip to the North Carolina mountains, and I had a great idea! Create a blog! Not just of this trip, but future trips. The blog will function as a digital scrapbook--heaven knows I don't need any more paper and leather scrapbooks in my house. So, here goes.
My husband and I left our home in north Florida on Monday (June 12) and made the nine-hour trip to Black Mountain, North Carolina, where we had reserved an
airbnb right outside of town. The place is absolutely lovely and exceeded all our expectations. The "cabin" was designed as guest quarters in a wing of a house with a private porch and entrance, efficiency kitchen and a bath. The building is new with large windows all around that open to a flowering meadow then surrounded by a thick forest. We are on a ridge, and the view is such that sometimes you just sit in a rocker on the screened porch and stare.
 |
| The house and cabin were surrounded by a meadow that attracted all sorts of wildlife. Beyond the meadow were the trees, then the mountains |
One of the first things we noticed was the quiet. It's as if all the noise was sucked out of the Earth, and the only thing added back was the chirping and cooing of birds. The second thing we noticed was the cool mountain air which is one of the reasons we started coming to NC in the summer to escape the Florida heat almost forty years ago.
Monday we drove nine hours and unpacked. Tuesday we drove the four-mile, ten-minute drive down to the town of Black Mountain. It is a lovely town with a large historic center of small shops, restaurants, breweries and art galleries. We learned that many of the European artisans who spent decades building the Biltmore in Asheville settled in the area and brought their skills and sensibilities with them. These craftsmen are all dead, but their legacy lives. We arrived in town in early morning before the vacation crowds descended on the downtown, and we had the run of the town. After visiting several shops, we drove to Lake Tomahawk to walk the loop around the lake. I was using a cane until recently, so I'm just now getting my sea legs.
 |
Lake Tomahawk near the
town of Black Mountain |
 |
Baby birds in the eaves at Lake Tomahawk
|
We returned to the cabin for lunch (some Spanish bean soup I'd brought from home), rested, then returned to town. We bought some very pricey farmer-made mortadella ($16/lb.) at a village butcher shop for our picnicking. We visited one of the many, many, many breweries and then had an early dinner at Berliner Kindl . I had veal schnitzel and my husband had sausages, we both had the German potato salad and saurkraut. All was excellent.
 |
| This guy was fifteen feet from our porch |
The highlight of the day, however, wasn't our exploration of Black Mountain, it was the marauding bear outside our cabin in the morning. Our host Lucy told us he was a naughty teenager who was quite resourceful. He was quite beautiful and scurried away when Lucy sounded the air horn. The bear was surprisingly handsome and seemed nice enough.
Today, Wednesday, we drove into Asheville. It was closer than I thought--less than a half hour mostly on I-40. We have been there so many times, we have our routine down--park at the garage behind the library, take the elevator to level 5 (which is street level), walk through the arcade to Haywood Street. It's hard to explain, but the library is five stories above Rankin Avenue where you enter the parking garage. Anyway, then we head to Malaprops, our favorite bookstore. I bought a book for my grandson and some other little items and we browsed. Then we sauntered over the Grove Arcade. It is a really lovely centerpiece for Asheville, although I think it's seen better days. It used to be filled with shops and restaurants, and there are still some, but there are also apartments and office spaces. The Grove is reminiscent of a scaled-down, less fancy version of the Galleria in Milan.
 |
Inside the Grove Arcade
|
 |
| The Grove Arcade |
,
 |
| Community garden in the middle of downtown Asheville |
 |
| Asheville retains its history |
 |
The funky interior of Chai Pani
|
We had read some articles about the food scene in Asheville and
Chai Pani got our attention. It was within walking distance, so we dropped by. We were a little taken aback by the sign that said, "The line starts here," but we persevered. We gave them our name, found a pub down the street, had some local beer, then walked back just in time to be seated. Let's just say Chai Pani did not disappoint. My husband is a life-long hater of okra (and lines), but he loved their matchstick okra fries! Me too! In addition I ordered the aloo tiki chaat (Indian potato fritters on top of garbanzo bean stew). My husband, the carnivore, ordered chicken pakoras. We shared and all was absolutely delicious.
 |
| Aloo tiki chaat, chicken pakoras and okra chips |
After lunch we returned to the library which has a terrific used book shop and I bought Provence: The Beautiful Cookbook by Olney for $3 and a 1932 issue of The Atlantic. We then returned to our retreat near Black Mountain before heading back into town to attend a Celtic music "jam session" at the White Horse. We only stayed long enough for one drink, but it was really fun. It's a group of amateur local musicians who make Celtic music together. There was a young girl step dancing and having a great time. As I left, I told her that her dancing was fantastic, and it was.
 |
| The White Horse Black Mountain Celtic hootenanny |
We're back home for the evening. We haven't quite formulated our plan for tomorrow--we're on vacation from retirement--but I'm sure we'll come up with something.
 |
| Drumstick alliums on June 14 |
