Today I'm in Black Mountain, NC, just outside of Asheville. I found myself here almost two years ago for a conference, and fell in love with the town. By happenstance, D has a friend working here who is letting us stay with him for a few days. The place is entirely different in the winter; many of the shops downtown are closed or have shorter hours, so wandering around yesterday didn't 
take nearly as long as we expected. (Don't panic; the chocolate shop was still open, and I took full advantage of that). The shops here fall into three basic categories, with a few renegades: outdoorsy awesomeness, artsy coolness, eco-friendliness. Some even fall into all three. I had a small moment of exhileration when I found North Face pants on sale for only $20 (which is less than I pay for my crappy jeans that fall apart in less than a year); but alas, they were cut funny and didn't fit very well (or maybe I'm shaped funny?) At the General Hardware Store (or something along those lines), one can wander around for hours looking at all the random stuff. Jason (the friend we're visiting) said that he's never gone in there and not been able to find something he's needed. It's not just hardware, either - there's housewares, toys, all sorts of fun old-fashioned gadgetry. I think my favorite find was the sink strainer decorated with a frog. If I had $8 to spend on a sink strainer.... or a sink to put it in... that would definitely have become part of my collection!
Last night we went to a place in Asheville that they call the "Brew & View." It has a real name, but of course I can't remember what it is. It's a movie theatre/restaurant, and incredibly cool idea. The movie only costs $3, and the food is really good. We saw the latest James Bond flick (my first, I must admit), and the only downfall was the random shouting from the bar in the back when people's orders were ready. "Susan!" shouted out in the middle of a tense movie moment kind of breaks the mood. Although I have to give props to the kid who put his name in as "I. P. Freely." Added a little comedic relief to the place, I think.
Other adventures in Black Mountain included hiking, of course. Within the first hour of arriving, we were climbing up a mountain. It's called Lookout Rock (right next to Lookout Mountain, which is also the name of the mountain where Nature's Classroom in located), with an elevation of 3,500-ish feet. Jason is a ranger for Montreat, so he hikes that way frequently and has all sorts of cool knowledge about the area. It's a beautiful hike; the trail is surrounded by rhododendron so even in the winter it looks lush and green. There's also a cool geocache (sp?) stored along the trail. The top of the hike has incredibly views of all of Black Mountain and all the other - taller -mountains around. It was also, incidentally, incredibly cold, but quite worth it for the view.
Prior to our arrival in the western part of the state, we were able to stop for a night in Charlotte to visit my college friends Spoulton & Crystal. I hadn't seen Spoulton since last May, and hadn't caught up with Crystal in almost two years. Spoulton lives in this nice neighborhood called Dilworth where everything is within walking distance and the houses are beautiful, so it didn't feel at all like being in the city (except, of course, the for insanity of driving into and out of Charlotte). If I ever have to live in a city, I would love to live in a place like that. D was awesome and offered to make dinner - his famous manigolta - so the three of us girls could just sit and talk and catch up. We had a back-up plan of watching a movie, but midnight rolled around and we still hadn't run out of things to talk about. The visit was definitely something I needed; it was refreshing and filled my soul. I forget sometimes how important girlfriends are, and I think we all needed the visit. I felt like a starving person filling myself up with nourishment - trying to get as much as I could in one night. It was so wonderful to have an intellectual conversation, to talk about books and politics and life-in-general. We are all in very different places in our lives, but it didn't matter at all; the connection we formed at Hollins is still strong. I worried slightly that D would feel out of place or left out, but he surprised me later by pulling me aside to tell me how impressed he was with my friends and the connection he could feel between us. He said it was really neat to listen to three intelligent (yay!) women sit and talk and be passionate about things. So all in all, it was a great weekend.
take nearly as long as we expected. (Don't panic; the chocolate shop was still open, and I took full advantage of that). The shops here fall into three basic categories, with a few renegades: outdoorsy awesomeness, artsy coolness, eco-friendliness. Some even fall into all three. I had a small moment of exhileration when I found North Face pants on sale for only $20 (which is less than I pay for my crappy jeans that fall apart in less than a year); but alas, they were cut funny and didn't fit very well (or maybe I'm shaped funny?) At the General Hardware Store (or something along those lines), one can wander around for hours looking at all the random stuff. Jason (the friend we're visiting) said that he's never gone in there and not been able to find something he's needed. It's not just hardware, either - there's housewares, toys, all sorts of fun old-fashioned gadgetry. I think my favorite find was the sink strainer decorated with a frog. If I had $8 to spend on a sink strainer.... or a sink to put it in... that would definitely have become part of my collection!Last night we went to a place in Asheville that they call the "Brew & View." It has a real name, but of course I can't remember what it is. It's a movie theatre/restaurant, and incredibly cool idea. The movie only costs $3, and the food is really good. We saw the latest James Bond flick (my first, I must admit), and the only downfall was the random shouting from the bar in the back when people's orders were ready. "Susan!" shouted out in the middle of a tense movie moment kind of breaks the mood. Although I have to give props to the kid who put his name in as "I. P. Freely." Added a little comedic relief to the place, I think.
Other adventures in Black Mountain included hiking, of course. Within the first hour of arriving, we were climbing up a mountain. It's called Lookout Rock (right next to Lookout Mountain, which is also the name of the mountain where Nature's Classroom in located), with an elevation of 3,500-ish feet. Jason is a ranger for Montreat, so he hikes that way frequently and has all sorts of cool knowledge about the area. It's a beautiful hike; the trail is surrounded by rhododendron so even in the winter it looks lush and green. There's also a cool geocache (sp?) stored along the trail. The top of the hike has incredibly views of all of Black Mountain and all the other - taller -mountains around. It was also, incidentally, incredibly cold, but quite worth it for the view.
Prior to our arrival in the western part of the state, we were able to stop for a night in Charlotte to visit my college friends Spoulton & Crystal. I hadn't seen Spoulton since last May, and hadn't caught up with Crystal in almost two years. Spoulton lives in this nice neighborhood called Dilworth where everything is within walking distance and the houses are beautiful, so it didn't feel at all like being in the city (except, of course, the for insanity of driving into and out of Charlotte). If I ever have to live in a city, I would love to live in a place like that. D was awesome and offered to make dinner - his famous manigolta - so the three of us girls could just sit and talk and catch up. We had a back-up plan of watching a movie, but midnight rolled around and we still hadn't run out of things to talk about. The visit was definitely something I needed; it was refreshing and filled my soul. I forget sometimes how important girlfriends are, and I think we all needed the visit. I felt like a starving person filling myself up with nourishment - trying to get as much as I could in one night. It was so wonderful to have an intellectual conversation, to talk about books and politics and life-in-general. We are all in very different places in our lives, but it didn't matter at all; the connection we formed at Hollins is still strong. I worried slightly that D would feel out of place or left out, but he surprised me later by pulling me aside to tell me how impressed he was with my friends and the connection he could feel between us. He said it was really neat to listen to three intelligent (yay!) women sit and talk and be passionate about things. So all in all, it was a great weekend.
Is that how you spell manigolta? I haven't come up with a good spelling yet. Perhaps we could take a poll.
ReplyDeleteyou define awesomeness. ^_^