Asheville, 2013

From the late 1940s up until her death from leukemia in 1964, my mother's oldest sister Nancy and her husband Uncle BW lived on a road that led up to Beaucatcher Mountain in Asheville, North Carolina.

That mountain's name always tickled me -- "Beau catcher" -- and I used to love to say it; you can, of course, imagine its origin. I mean it's not that hard ---

Bwha.

David and I went to Asheville [and visited the Biltmore Estate] on a snowy weekend in 1988 -- and I asked him to marry me, but that's a story for another blog.... perhaps, I invoked the power of Beaucatcher Mountain.

:-)

This past weekend, David and I set out from our mountain house in Lakemont to visit Asheville, and see what has become of it --- [it's only about 90 miles], and as I had heard -- it's a place under renovation -- or should I put it -- renaissance? Cool, hip, and bustling with energy, the sleepy, mountain town of my childhood had vanished and replaced with a town impressed with itself.

Note to self: Uh, that was like fifty years ago.

We decided to drive straight into downtown, and we ran right into -- you guessed it -- traffic and tourists -- the double whammy of freedom. Not a single parking slot on the street, we pulled into a parking high rise and paid a dollar to park for as long as we liked, unlike the big metropolis of Atlanta where your parking slot can cost as much as your lunch.

So, we took a stroll and mingled with businessmen and women in their office attire, aging and young hippies in their retro garb, panhandlers, and the "every corner" had one --- long haired and fragrant, street musicians strumming for donations.

Among the many kinds of food [noodle shops, Thai, sushi, Italian, Salsa] to choose from for lunch, we ended up dining at Farm Burger, the place with the longest line and the most locals, the litmus test of where to dine. I found out later that this is a chain. *shrugs*

 the simplicity of the table set -- [but then a friend of mine wondered about whether children could possibly have licked the utensils.... you know before we got there]

love the chairs

always thrilled to have his photo taken

ONION RINGS!!!!! 

Taken outside the Asheville art museum -- don't know if this is about basketball or wine...

but it was pretty cool looking.

 a boutique

 a coffee shop

and I bought a couple of postcards from this photographer.

:-)

That's all I got.