The mountains and trees theme continued as Carrie and I backtracked and cut towards Asheville, NC.
We encountered rain. Later, we'd be told that Asheville is a "deciduous rain forest," so that shouldn't have been a surprise.
What was a surprise was the loud noise from an impact on our windshield.
Wiper down!
There was a break in the rain which let us find an Advance Auto on the way.
Good thing, because the rain started up again the moment we hopped back in the truck.
Carrie found a truly unique place to stay. We were in a room above a wholesale bakery.
We had to walk up a small flight of stairs and past the gardens to reach the room.
Once upon a time, there were four rooms and a bathroom closet for farm workers here.
Now, it's a beautiful room for two.
It came with all the important amenities for Carrie: Wi-fi, a friendly cat...
...and chickens.
Bonus point: Wild turkeys on the hill.
Our first stop, a brewery tour. I'm sure Carrie chose it for the mascot.
Highlands Brewery has a neat story. It's actually founded by a Chinese-American from Jamaica who went to school at Notre Dame. It was one of the early microbreweries and he chose to call it Highlands to recognize the local culture.
The brewery is actually at a shuttered film studio. The big mascot was once a German, but some of the "more artistic employees" helped him get more in the Highland spirit.
I'm a sucker for a good story. I like learning how things work, too, so Carrie chose her activity well. I've never been behind the scenes at any kind of brewery.
It was neat to hear about the process and how the brewery tried to build local community (used grains going to farms, renting space, there was a farmer's market outside, etc).
I was ready to go, but Carrie thought I should try a flight for fun and as a "Thank you" for the free tour. I can't say I complained.
Asheville had the look and traffic of a larger city than Knoxville.
It was still easy enough to get around and find parking.
Carrie had picked out our dinner reservations based on the menu and especially the name of the restaurant (Which she immediately texted to Charles).
The next day, we went into downtown Asheville for a look around. I saw there was a pinball museum online.
My reaction: "It's huge!"
Then I realized that I was looking at an apartment complex. The pinball museum was a store around front and closed. Bummer.
We walked across the street to the Grove Arcade. I don't know much about architecture, but I like looking at different styles of building. The Arcade was a precursor to the modern mall.
We couldn't walk much, because of Carrie's toe. However, there was a restaurant I really wanted to visit for lunch.
They had a board game wall! It was a board game cafe!
We picked out a few games and ordered lunch.
Carrie and I tied 1-1 in Exploding Kittens (NSFW) and then she beat me in Machi Koro.
The bathroom had a sign clever enough to capture.
There were multiple other FLGS's I spotted online, too. Much more than I would have expected to see for an area Asheville's size (FLGS = Friendly Local Gaming Store for the non-geeks). My kind of town!
It was Carrie's kind of town, too. She spotted several tack stores. We dropped by a used tack and consignment shop on our way out.
I thought we'd pulled up to a normal house.
But the insides were packed. This would have been the living room.
And here's the basement.
I guess there was no sense in getting rid of a working washer and dryer, either.
There was a young cat. Carrie was pleased. He must have sensed a soft touch, because he followed her around. I nearly left with the cat and the saddle he was sitting on.
And so ended our vacation. We hopped back on the road and chased a storm back into South Carolina. Shane would be waiting.
