I had the bright idea of trying to do a travel-themed Christmas tree this year. An Atlanta Olympic ornament found a place on the tree because I went with Mom to Atlanta when I was a kid. An Empire State Building ornament is there as a reminder of the trip I took to NYC in spring of 2010. A Hallmark ornament representing my trip to Vegas in 2009 made it onto the tree. There are some ornaments from local places, too, such as the National Law Enforcement Officers' Memorial in DC and George Washington's home, Mount Vernon. (I love the Mount Vernon one because it's a globe--how fitting for a travel-themed tree. The ornament is modeled after the globe George Washington had.) Some ornaments are on the tree purely because they were bought on vacations and may or may not actually represent the places they came from: Jacques from Cinderella is on the tree because Mom and I got him when we were at Disney World in Florida when I was too young to really remember; Belle from Beauty and the Beast is there because I apparently got her during a trip to the Outer Banks in 1992 (I only know this because Mom wrote it on the back).
Needless to say, it wasn't long before I was making up far-fetched reasons for putting some of the ornaments on the tree. Various Snoopy figurines are snowboarding/sledding/skating--if it's a mode of transportation, it counts (right?). Detective Snoopy must be searching out great travel deals online while Woodstock takes notes. Snoopy and Woodstock ride WWII Flying Ace Snoopy's Sopwith Camel, clearly a great way to fly (I bet he wouldn't charge checked bag fees!). No fewer than three Snoopy ornaments possess typewriters because clearly Snoopy would write books about his adventures. (Side note: Why are there so many Hallmark Snoopy ornaments with typewriters? Have an original idea already!) Snoopy and Woodstock play guitars for another ornament, which I could rationalize as representing the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a place I hope to visit one day (I went to the short-lived branch of it in NYC, so I guess that counts). I could say I put all these Snoopy ornaments on the tree because last year I went to Charles Schulz's longtime home of Santa Rosa, California, although none of the ornaments actually came from the Charles Schulz Museum. But how could I explain Wall-E's presence on the tree other than to say that he's traveled farther than almost anyone else--from Earth to space and back again? Yeah, it's a stretch.
I have an ornament that I believe was a party favor at the wedding anniversary party for a couple who are friends of my parents. It's from Holland and features windmills. I won't put it on my tree because I haven't actually been there, nor do I have any real desire to go to Holland.
Clearly the answer to my dilemma is that I have to travel more and collect more ornaments. I pull out the ones I have and fondly remember my time in the place where I got the ornament and who I was with while there. I figure it's better than getting tchotchkes that sit around my apartment all the time that only take up space and collect dust--I don't have room for things like that. I can take hundreds of pictures while traveling, but how likely am I to look at them again? Not very, unfortunately.
I am a bit sad to think that there were places I've been that I didn't get ornaments from. It's not that I wasn't trying in Utah, but I wanted an ornament that represented one of the locations I went, such as Red Butte Garden, not an ornament that simply came from its gift shop. (I really wish I'd hit up that Christmas store in Park City.) I don't think I got an ornament in Italy, so instead I have a Hallmark ornament representing Italy on my tree. I don't remember getting one in Yellowstone either. I know I bought ornaments from Asheville, NC, where I was just two weeks ago, and Natural Bridge, VA, where I went back in September with some friends, and even though I just relocated them the other day, I can't remember where to.
Hopefully by this time next year I'll have collected more ornaments. In the meantime, merry Christmas and happy holidays, and a happy new year to you.
Saturday, December 03, 2011
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Flying Solo in Asheville, NC - 11.19.11-11.21.11
It was a short trip designed around the fact that I wanted to see Lykke Li and had missed her DC show because it was sold out. Also, I wanted to see the Biltmore in all its Christmas glory. I couldn't talk anyone into going with me, so I just said, screw it, I'll go it alone. It was my first trip alone, and Asheville proved to be a good place for such adventures--a very manageable, small, walkable city, albeit with a lot of hippies.
I flew US Airways from Reagan National to Asheville via Charlotte. I remembered having been through Charlotte very briefly (literally running from one terminal to another) and thinking that it looked really nice, and it lived up to that memory. There are rocking chairs, real trees, a piano, and a giant mobile sprouting from a sushi joint in the main area between the concourses. There's some decent shopping to be done if you have time, some good restaurants, and even a spa.
I got into Asheville about 5 hours before the concert Saturday night, so I got my rental car, pulled out my GPS and was on my way. I got my car through Enterprise (hurrah for work discounts) and although I had asked for a compact car, I got a Chrysler 200. As soon as I sat in it, I decided I liked it.
My GPS, although it has outdated maps, led me to the Asheville Hostel and Guest House, a place I had very serendipitously found on Google Maps while plotting out potential things to do in the city. It's downtown, walking distance from a bunch of cool stores and restaurants (Asheville has at least three chocolate shops, although I only visited one, as well as a champagne bar/used bookstore, Battery Park Book Exchange and Champagne Bar (is there a greater concept? I think not)). I met up with the hostel's proprietor, BJ, who suggested a bunch of great places to eat, such as Asheville Brewing Company, literally one block over, within sight of the hostel. I'm not much of a beer drinker, but occasionally I do venture into that realm, so I did a flight of five beers along with my delicious and very garlicky Greek pizza. I did manage to finish three of the small glasses of beer. I walked back to the house, glad to have leftover pizza for breakfast the next morning, then walked a few blocks over to the Orange Peel for the show.
A number of venues, such as DC's 9:30 Club and Richmond's The National, seem to have adopted the "standing room only" idea, and the Orange Peel is yet another. I felt a bit out of place with all the hipsters at the show, and since some of them were even taller than me, I did have a little difficulty seeing the stage well at times. The show was enjoyable and the venue seemed all right, despite reviews I'd seen online stating that staff were at best apathetic to concertgoers' needs and wants.
I was up early the next morning so I could be at the Biltmore as soon as it opened. My parents visited the Biltmore last year and had really nice things to say about it, which had spurred me to want to visit. My mother recommended the audio tour, so I paid the additional $10 and was glad that I had; the provided booklets are interesting but not nearly as detailed and in-depth as the audio tour. The sheer size of the building is itself a shock; it's the largest residence in America. Not only is the mansion big, but the whole Biltmore premises is spread out; the Antler Hill Village, where the winery is, is a four-mile drive from the parking lot for the house, which is itself a few minutes' walk or shuttle ride from the parking lot. The house was indeed gorgeous, all dolled up for Christmas. To give you an idea of how big the house is, the library is enormous but doesn't hold all of the 23,000 books contained within the house. I was told that it would mean reading six books a week for 80 years to finish them all.
After I finished my tour of the house, I perused the garden and the conservatory. I had seen a weather report stating that it was supposed to be in the upper 60s and sunny on Sunday, but when I had set out that morning, it had been overcast and I worried that it wouldn't be very warm. Fortunately, the clouds did dissipate after a little while and the weather did warm up--after all the walking/hiking I did (there is much walking to be done, and proper hiking if you so choose), I was sorry I had worn long sleeves. The flowers in the conservatory were lovely, and I am a sucker for orchids, of which they have a number of different and wonderful plants.
I required lunch before I endeavored any further onto the Biltmore grounds. I had wanted to have brunch at a restaurant at the Inn at Biltmore Estate, but when I realized it was four miles away and had a dress code--nice pants and blouse for women, something I wouldn't want to wear all day--I figured I would eat somewhere near the mansion itself. I ate at the Stable Cafe, literally situated in the old stables (you can tell by looking at the inside). I enjoyed the Carolina barbecue (it would be wrong to go to NC and not have barbecue), but enjoyed the chocolate cake even more. The chocolate cake was in celebration of the Tiffany exhibition (also at the Antler Hill Village) that goes through the end of January 2012. The cake was delicious and came with a piece of white chocolate decorated with a Tiffany-style dragonfly. I hope this cake becomes a permanent addition to the Biltmore menu and doesn't leave with the Tiffany exhibit.
After lunch, having already visited the gift shop by the mansion, I was curious to see the statue of Diana at the top of the hill in front of the house. The hill is a tiny bit of a hike (well, it is if you're in less-than-wonderful shape, as I seem to be), but it is so worth the view. The hill would be splendid for rolling down or sledding in the winter, and the mountains behind the house and the trees surrounding frame the mansion so perfectly.
I drove over to Antler Hill Village, the location of the winery and more shops and restaurants. A wine tasting is included with your ticket to the Biltmore (by the way, if you go to the Biltmore, buy your ticket online at least seven days before you plan to visit--you'll save $10), and you can taste as many wines as you want from the ones on the extensive menu. The store at the winery sells the wines, hats, cookbooks, food, and various other Biltmore- and non-Biltmore-related tchotchkes. I bought a cookbook for the sale price of about $18, having envied the one my mother bought last year (many of the recipes were quite tantalizing). The lines were incredibly long because tour buses had dropped off visitors--the lines were so long that they didn't get to leave on time.
Originally, I had planned to do the Red Wine and Chocolate tasting as well as the Biltmore Bubbles tasting, but I decided I'd had enough to drink and had spent enough time on the premises. My tickets couldn't be refunded, but I was given a gift card for the value of the tickets, which I promptly blew at the confectioners' shop back at the mansion. (Not all of the chocolate was for me, thank you very much.)
I was eager to get back into Asheville, and even though I knew the hostel was walking distance from downtown, I didn't feel like walking anymore. I finally found public parking for $3 across from French Broad Chocolate Lounge, one of the places in Asheville I'd wanted to visit. (FYI: French Broad is a river near Asheville, not a derogatory slang term for a woman from France.) The line was long, so I figured I'd come back later since they're open until at least 11 p.m., even on Sundays. I had seen a used music store nearby and wanted to see what it had to offer, and realizing it was mostly records, I moved on and found another one just a couple doors down, again with not much of a CD collection though (I am not cool enough to own a record player, and it's not like I could have fit any vinyl in my already over-stuffed carryon bag). I wanted a burger, and when I spied the menu at Boca, it sounded promising, as all the burgers I saw were about $8 and sounded delicious. I stepped inside, not realizing that it was just before the restaurant actually opened at 5:30, but a waitress was nice enough to seat me and get me a menu before finishing up the staff meeting I'd interrupted. Unfortunately, burgers were not on the dinner menu, but I was intrigued by some of the things I saw there. The waitress was kind enough to bring me some complimentary jalapeño-cheddar cornbread, something I had spied on the appetizer menu but hadn't ordered; I was glad I had received it free, as I felt it was lacking the jalapeño heat I was expecting, although it wasn't bad. I enjoyed the blueberry-braised pork shoulder taquitos I ordered--I figured I would branch out and get something a bit different. My waitress boxed up the remainder of my dinner and I wandered over to Downtown Books and News across the street. It's kind of a hole-in-the-wall that hipsters would love, and had a great selection of books on any topic you would hope to find in a proper bookstore. I picked out a current magazine to read while in the airport/on the plane the next day before heading back to French Broad Chocolate Lounge to pick out a few pieces of chocolate, all of which I found enjoyable.
I had planned to spend Monday morning walking around downtown Asheville, but many of the places I wanted to visit didn't open until 11 a.m., and since I'd seen a bit of downtown Sunday evening, I decided to throw the plan out the window. After heating up the leftover taquito in the microwave in the hostel's kitchen (there are also free supplies for making coffee and pancakes), I drove aimlessly for a bit, winding up at the Starbucks by the Biltmore entrance, then I drove over to the enormous Western North Carolina farmer's market, thinking it was just something like the ones in Northern Virginia, where I could walk through in half an hour or less. Not so. There were several large aisles of stalls, aisles big enough to drive cars through, with oodles of fruits, vegetables, and other standard market fare. I drove on to the North Carolina Arboretum, which serendipitously happened to be right by the entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway. I'd decided that I liked my Chrysler 200 rental so much that I wanted to take it for a proper drive, not just commuting around town, and I'd passed under the Parkway going to the hostel from the airport. Parking for the Arboretum was $8 and I could come and go as I pleased. Being that it's November, there wasn't a whole lot to see, although the Bonsai exhibit was unexpectedly very cool. It's outdoors, and fortunately the weather wasn't too cool. I explored both buildings of the Arboretum and the path between them in about an hour, so I drove onward to the Parkway. I drove south for about an hour, stopping frequently to take pictures of the view. Many of my pictures probably look the same, and I tried to discipline myself not to take so many and just to see the view for what it was, not through a lens, something Lykke Li had chastised some concertgoers for at her show Saturday night.
As I drove back from the Parkway toward the highway (I forget which one), I saw a mall and decided to stop in search of food. Note well: Don't ever go to Biltmore Square Mall. It is a sad, depressing place and there is no joy to be found there, especially not in their awful Christmas music. I drove further, bypassing a probably local place calling itself a tavern in favor of a Wendy's that may or may not have been out of my way. There was also a Dairy Queen at the local gas station, so I decided to have a mini Blizzard as a celebration of not accidentally filling up the Chrysler with diesel. (Because I hadn't already had enough junk food to eat that weekend.) Fun fact: The Dairy Queen had the highest cleanliness/sanitation score of the restaurants at which I observed the scores; all received As, but the Dairy Queen had gotten a 99.5 (I'll assume out of 100) and was actually rather nice for a DQ.
I arrived at the airport shortly before 2 p.m., two hours before my flight. I was somewhat sad to return the car. I got through security after having my bag scanned at least twice (I'd forgotten about the unopened canister of hot chocolate mix) and bought some bottled water, as I'd planned to settle in a bit while waiting for my flight. Fun facts: There are only seven gates at the Asheville airport, which is a half-hour flight from Charlotte. I got to my gate just in time to have a woman working for US Airways offer to let me get on the flight that was literally leaving any minute, and I very happily boarded. With my original flight schedule, I worried that my one-hour layover in Charlotte might not be sufficient to get to my connection to Reagan National if my flight from Asheville was late, so this worked perfectly for me. I could wander around the Charlotte airport a little more, having gotten to know it rather well from traversing the whole thing during my two-hour layover two days before, and get a meal before boarding. Oddly, there was an earlier flight to Reagan, leaving about an hour or so before mine, and when I asked if I could board it, I was told it would probably cost me $50. I was surprised and ultimately decided to just camp out at Charlotte--besides, a friend had already committed to picking me up from the airport around 7 p.m. anyway. I hunkered down in Bad Daddy's Burger Bar, which was adjacent to my gate. I had a delicious turkey "burger" with brie and bacon and probably the best sweet potato fries I've ever had (complete with chipotle ranch dressing) as well as a couple drinks (the large glass of wine is nine ounces, which doesn't sound like that much...). The only reason I held back from getting a spiked milkshake was because I'd had Dairy Queen earlier in the day. There are two Bad Daddy's locations outside the airport, both in Charlotte.
More notes about the hostel: It was great, rather clean and in great proximity to downtown; bathrooms are communal, but I had no problems with availability or anything. There's a communal computer as well as free WiFi. The hostel was certainly more economical and much closer to town than the hotels I was looking at. It's a bit bare and maybe the tv doesn't work, but you're probably not going to be there all that much anyway, right?
The trip was good, and while there were plenty of places I wanted to go in Asheville that I didn't get to, I'm not quite in a hurry to go back, although I would love to see the Biltmore and the Arboretum in the spring/early summer. Hopefully I'll do that in the coming years, since Asheville is relatively close by and inexpensive.
Lykke Li: http://lykkeli.com
Asheville Hostel and Guest House: http://avlhostel.com/
Asheville Brewing Company: http://ashevillebrewing.com/
The Orange Peel: http://theorangepeel.net/
The Biltmore: http://biltmore.com
French Broad Chocolates: http://frenchbroadchocolates.com/
Boca: http://bocaasheville.com/
Downtown Books and News: http://www.downtownbooksandnews.com/
Bad Daddy's Burger Bar: http://baddaddysburgerbar.com/Home/
I flew US Airways from Reagan National to Asheville via Charlotte. I remembered having been through Charlotte very briefly (literally running from one terminal to another) and thinking that it looked really nice, and it lived up to that memory. There are rocking chairs, real trees, a piano, and a giant mobile sprouting from a sushi joint in the main area between the concourses. There's some decent shopping to be done if you have time, some good restaurants, and even a spa.
I got into Asheville about 5 hours before the concert Saturday night, so I got my rental car, pulled out my GPS and was on my way. I got my car through Enterprise (hurrah for work discounts) and although I had asked for a compact car, I got a Chrysler 200. As soon as I sat in it, I decided I liked it.
My GPS, although it has outdated maps, led me to the Asheville Hostel and Guest House, a place I had very serendipitously found on Google Maps while plotting out potential things to do in the city. It's downtown, walking distance from a bunch of cool stores and restaurants (Asheville has at least three chocolate shops, although I only visited one, as well as a champagne bar/used bookstore, Battery Park Book Exchange and Champagne Bar (is there a greater concept? I think not)). I met up with the hostel's proprietor, BJ, who suggested a bunch of great places to eat, such as Asheville Brewing Company, literally one block over, within sight of the hostel. I'm not much of a beer drinker, but occasionally I do venture into that realm, so I did a flight of five beers along with my delicious and very garlicky Greek pizza. I did manage to finish three of the small glasses of beer. I walked back to the house, glad to have leftover pizza for breakfast the next morning, then walked a few blocks over to the Orange Peel for the show.
A number of venues, such as DC's 9:30 Club and Richmond's The National, seem to have adopted the "standing room only" idea, and the Orange Peel is yet another. I felt a bit out of place with all the hipsters at the show, and since some of them were even taller than me, I did have a little difficulty seeing the stage well at times. The show was enjoyable and the venue seemed all right, despite reviews I'd seen online stating that staff were at best apathetic to concertgoers' needs and wants.
I was up early the next morning so I could be at the Biltmore as soon as it opened. My parents visited the Biltmore last year and had really nice things to say about it, which had spurred me to want to visit. My mother recommended the audio tour, so I paid the additional $10 and was glad that I had; the provided booklets are interesting but not nearly as detailed and in-depth as the audio tour. The sheer size of the building is itself a shock; it's the largest residence in America. Not only is the mansion big, but the whole Biltmore premises is spread out; the Antler Hill Village, where the winery is, is a four-mile drive from the parking lot for the house, which is itself a few minutes' walk or shuttle ride from the parking lot. The house was indeed gorgeous, all dolled up for Christmas. To give you an idea of how big the house is, the library is enormous but doesn't hold all of the 23,000 books contained within the house. I was told that it would mean reading six books a week for 80 years to finish them all.
After I finished my tour of the house, I perused the garden and the conservatory. I had seen a weather report stating that it was supposed to be in the upper 60s and sunny on Sunday, but when I had set out that morning, it had been overcast and I worried that it wouldn't be very warm. Fortunately, the clouds did dissipate after a little while and the weather did warm up--after all the walking/hiking I did (there is much walking to be done, and proper hiking if you so choose), I was sorry I had worn long sleeves. The flowers in the conservatory were lovely, and I am a sucker for orchids, of which they have a number of different and wonderful plants.
I required lunch before I endeavored any further onto the Biltmore grounds. I had wanted to have brunch at a restaurant at the Inn at Biltmore Estate, but when I realized it was four miles away and had a dress code--nice pants and blouse for women, something I wouldn't want to wear all day--I figured I would eat somewhere near the mansion itself. I ate at the Stable Cafe, literally situated in the old stables (you can tell by looking at the inside). I enjoyed the Carolina barbecue (it would be wrong to go to NC and not have barbecue), but enjoyed the chocolate cake even more. The chocolate cake was in celebration of the Tiffany exhibition (also at the Antler Hill Village) that goes through the end of January 2012. The cake was delicious and came with a piece of white chocolate decorated with a Tiffany-style dragonfly. I hope this cake becomes a permanent addition to the Biltmore menu and doesn't leave with the Tiffany exhibit.
After lunch, having already visited the gift shop by the mansion, I was curious to see the statue of Diana at the top of the hill in front of the house. The hill is a tiny bit of a hike (well, it is if you're in less-than-wonderful shape, as I seem to be), but it is so worth the view. The hill would be splendid for rolling down or sledding in the winter, and the mountains behind the house and the trees surrounding frame the mansion so perfectly.
I drove over to Antler Hill Village, the location of the winery and more shops and restaurants. A wine tasting is included with your ticket to the Biltmore (by the way, if you go to the Biltmore, buy your ticket online at least seven days before you plan to visit--you'll save $10), and you can taste as many wines as you want from the ones on the extensive menu. The store at the winery sells the wines, hats, cookbooks, food, and various other Biltmore- and non-Biltmore-related tchotchkes. I bought a cookbook for the sale price of about $18, having envied the one my mother bought last year (many of the recipes were quite tantalizing). The lines were incredibly long because tour buses had dropped off visitors--the lines were so long that they didn't get to leave on time.
Originally, I had planned to do the Red Wine and Chocolate tasting as well as the Biltmore Bubbles tasting, but I decided I'd had enough to drink and had spent enough time on the premises. My tickets couldn't be refunded, but I was given a gift card for the value of the tickets, which I promptly blew at the confectioners' shop back at the mansion. (Not all of the chocolate was for me, thank you very much.)
I was eager to get back into Asheville, and even though I knew the hostel was walking distance from downtown, I didn't feel like walking anymore. I finally found public parking for $3 across from French Broad Chocolate Lounge, one of the places in Asheville I'd wanted to visit. (FYI: French Broad is a river near Asheville, not a derogatory slang term for a woman from France.) The line was long, so I figured I'd come back later since they're open until at least 11 p.m., even on Sundays. I had seen a used music store nearby and wanted to see what it had to offer, and realizing it was mostly records, I moved on and found another one just a couple doors down, again with not much of a CD collection though (I am not cool enough to own a record player, and it's not like I could have fit any vinyl in my already over-stuffed carryon bag). I wanted a burger, and when I spied the menu at Boca, it sounded promising, as all the burgers I saw were about $8 and sounded delicious. I stepped inside, not realizing that it was just before the restaurant actually opened at 5:30, but a waitress was nice enough to seat me and get me a menu before finishing up the staff meeting I'd interrupted. Unfortunately, burgers were not on the dinner menu, but I was intrigued by some of the things I saw there. The waitress was kind enough to bring me some complimentary jalapeño-cheddar cornbread, something I had spied on the appetizer menu but hadn't ordered; I was glad I had received it free, as I felt it was lacking the jalapeño heat I was expecting, although it wasn't bad. I enjoyed the blueberry-braised pork shoulder taquitos I ordered--I figured I would branch out and get something a bit different. My waitress boxed up the remainder of my dinner and I wandered over to Downtown Books and News across the street. It's kind of a hole-in-the-wall that hipsters would love, and had a great selection of books on any topic you would hope to find in a proper bookstore. I picked out a current magazine to read while in the airport/on the plane the next day before heading back to French Broad Chocolate Lounge to pick out a few pieces of chocolate, all of which I found enjoyable.
I had planned to spend Monday morning walking around downtown Asheville, but many of the places I wanted to visit didn't open until 11 a.m., and since I'd seen a bit of downtown Sunday evening, I decided to throw the plan out the window. After heating up the leftover taquito in the microwave in the hostel's kitchen (there are also free supplies for making coffee and pancakes), I drove aimlessly for a bit, winding up at the Starbucks by the Biltmore entrance, then I drove over to the enormous Western North Carolina farmer's market, thinking it was just something like the ones in Northern Virginia, where I could walk through in half an hour or less. Not so. There were several large aisles of stalls, aisles big enough to drive cars through, with oodles of fruits, vegetables, and other standard market fare. I drove on to the North Carolina Arboretum, which serendipitously happened to be right by the entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway. I'd decided that I liked my Chrysler 200 rental so much that I wanted to take it for a proper drive, not just commuting around town, and I'd passed under the Parkway going to the hostel from the airport. Parking for the Arboretum was $8 and I could come and go as I pleased. Being that it's November, there wasn't a whole lot to see, although the Bonsai exhibit was unexpectedly very cool. It's outdoors, and fortunately the weather wasn't too cool. I explored both buildings of the Arboretum and the path between them in about an hour, so I drove onward to the Parkway. I drove south for about an hour, stopping frequently to take pictures of the view. Many of my pictures probably look the same, and I tried to discipline myself not to take so many and just to see the view for what it was, not through a lens, something Lykke Li had chastised some concertgoers for at her show Saturday night.
As I drove back from the Parkway toward the highway (I forget which one), I saw a mall and decided to stop in search of food. Note well: Don't ever go to Biltmore Square Mall. It is a sad, depressing place and there is no joy to be found there, especially not in their awful Christmas music. I drove further, bypassing a probably local place calling itself a tavern in favor of a Wendy's that may or may not have been out of my way. There was also a Dairy Queen at the local gas station, so I decided to have a mini Blizzard as a celebration of not accidentally filling up the Chrysler with diesel. (Because I hadn't already had enough junk food to eat that weekend.) Fun fact: The Dairy Queen had the highest cleanliness/sanitation score of the restaurants at which I observed the scores; all received As, but the Dairy Queen had gotten a 99.5 (I'll assume out of 100) and was actually rather nice for a DQ.
I arrived at the airport shortly before 2 p.m., two hours before my flight. I was somewhat sad to return the car. I got through security after having my bag scanned at least twice (I'd forgotten about the unopened canister of hot chocolate mix) and bought some bottled water, as I'd planned to settle in a bit while waiting for my flight. Fun facts: There are only seven gates at the Asheville airport, which is a half-hour flight from Charlotte. I got to my gate just in time to have a woman working for US Airways offer to let me get on the flight that was literally leaving any minute, and I very happily boarded. With my original flight schedule, I worried that my one-hour layover in Charlotte might not be sufficient to get to my connection to Reagan National if my flight from Asheville was late, so this worked perfectly for me. I could wander around the Charlotte airport a little more, having gotten to know it rather well from traversing the whole thing during my two-hour layover two days before, and get a meal before boarding. Oddly, there was an earlier flight to Reagan, leaving about an hour or so before mine, and when I asked if I could board it, I was told it would probably cost me $50. I was surprised and ultimately decided to just camp out at Charlotte--besides, a friend had already committed to picking me up from the airport around 7 p.m. anyway. I hunkered down in Bad Daddy's Burger Bar, which was adjacent to my gate. I had a delicious turkey "burger" with brie and bacon and probably the best sweet potato fries I've ever had (complete with chipotle ranch dressing) as well as a couple drinks (the large glass of wine is nine ounces, which doesn't sound like that much...). The only reason I held back from getting a spiked milkshake was because I'd had Dairy Queen earlier in the day. There are two Bad Daddy's locations outside the airport, both in Charlotte.
More notes about the hostel: It was great, rather clean and in great proximity to downtown; bathrooms are communal, but I had no problems with availability or anything. There's a communal computer as well as free WiFi. The hostel was certainly more economical and much closer to town than the hotels I was looking at. It's a bit bare and maybe the tv doesn't work, but you're probably not going to be there all that much anyway, right?
The trip was good, and while there were plenty of places I wanted to go in Asheville that I didn't get to, I'm not quite in a hurry to go back, although I would love to see the Biltmore and the Arboretum in the spring/early summer. Hopefully I'll do that in the coming years, since Asheville is relatively close by and inexpensive.
Lykke Li: http://lykkeli.com
Asheville Hostel and Guest House: http://avlhostel.com/
Asheville Brewing Company: http://ashevillebrewing.com/
The Orange Peel: http://theorangepeel.net/
The Biltmore: http://biltmore.com
French Broad Chocolates: http://frenchbroadchocolates.com/
Boca: http://bocaasheville.com/
Downtown Books and News: http://www.downtownbooksandnews.com/
Bad Daddy's Burger Bar: http://baddaddysburgerbar.com/Home/
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Utah, 7/6-7/11
Earlier this year, a good friend of mine moved back to Utah, his long-time home, and the more he'd talked about Salt Lake City, the more I wanted to visit. I was long overdue for a vacation anyway, and his moving back gave me an excuse to get away for a few days.
I got in Wednesday night about 9 p.m. and had the most amazing view of the mountains. Normally I opt for an aisle seat, but this time I'd made sure to get a window seat. I would have killed to have had my camera out for this view. I did take some video on my iPod. I'll admit, I was rather taken from my first glance. My friend met me at the airport and on the way out of the parking lot, I asked him to stop the car so I could get a picture of the sunset. It was breathtaking.
We drove to the Great Salt Lake, not far from the airport, and were staggered by the fantastic views there at sunset (I believe it's Antelope Island that can be seen in the picture). It should be noted that it was here that we encountered more mosquitoes than I have ever seen in my life, but the view was worth it.
We drove downtown from there, walking around the Utah State Capitol and through several parks nearby, including City Creek Park (none of those photos turned out as well as I'd hoped, sadly). We saw the Mormon Temple, which looks like a somewhat sinister version of Cinderella's castle, but it's still an attractive building.
Thursday we woke up late and had an enjoyable breakfast at Finn's (the chocolate croissant was a meal in itself). Afterward, we decided to visit Sugar House Park, which was really nice. A number of families had decided to visit for the afternoon. We saw a number of joggers as well. It's a great place to just read or have a picnic with the family...or roll down a hill, as we did.
That afternoon we did some hiking in Mill Creek Canyon. It had rained some as we drove up, but we decided to make a go of it anyway. The path we took was a bit slick, but we had no real problems. The forest was lush and green and the hike was a little challenging but still good--I think we got above 9000 feet here. We saw snow, which I thought was an odd sight to see in July.
I had seen a sign for a farmers market right next door to my friend's house and asked if we could check it out, and we were both glad we did. It was the first day of the market, and we found several great food carts that had cupcakes and curry, someone selling many varieties of olive oil, people selling jewelry, another stand featuring vegan chocolate and cashew-based vegan chocolate ice cream (our sample of it was good). There was even a section specifically for kids. I began to get a bit jealous that my friend had such a cool market right next to his house; I live in Northern Virginia, where there are oodles of farmers markets, and I haven't found one I like as much as his, and certainly none are as close to my apartment.
My friend had gotten tickets to see Goldilocks Capone and the Three Amigos at the Desert Star Theater in Murray. Mashups of different pop culture touchstones are apparently a specialty here. We enjoyed the show, and afterward an emcee who was part of the cast pointed out couples celebrating anniversaries and people celebrating birthdays. Then the whole cast performed several patriotic songs and had some good skits in between parodying politicians like Sarah Palin and the Mormon presidential candidates Jon Huntsman and Mitt Romney, as well as celebrities like Lebron James.
After the play, we decided to go to a club downtown called Area 51, which has '80s night every Thursday (they also had some great-sounding parties over the weekend, such as a glow stick party Friday night and another celebrating the turn to Cancer zodiac sign, which would feature tarot readings and other New Age-sounding stuff that has little more interest to me than fun kitsch value). Upstairs was the 18-and-up party, which was fun and got pretty crowded with people of a wide range of ages, featuring music from David Bowie, New Order, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Def Leppard, Depeche Mode and countless others; downstairs was a far-less-populated but no less enjoyable darker '80s mix (The Smiths, Depeche Mode, etc.). We were there for a very fun four hours, and kept saying around 1 a.m. that we were going to leave after whatever song was on, but then good songs kept playing and we couldn't bring ourselves to leave.
Friday we again woke up late and went out for pancakes. In the afternoon, we went to Red Butte Garden, quite possibly one of the most beautiful places I've seen. Probably half the pictures of the roughly 350 I took on vacation were taken here. A fire had broken out in the mountains above the gardens a couple of weeks prior to our visit, but it had been contained fairly quickly; however, we could still clearly see where it had been and how close to the building it had gotten. The gardens sit up on a mountain, so you get a great view of the city below. There's also an amphitheater there, and some great national acts like Sheryl Crow were performing there this summer, as well as buzzed-about acts Fleet Foxes and Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings. I couldn't believe how great the venue was--not only was it beautiful, but it hosted great concerts too! A wedding and its reception were also taking place there that evening--easy to see why someone would want to get married there. The gardens are huge (I'm not sure my friend and I traversed them all), full of beautiful, colorful flowers and trees, and also feature a great kid's area with a fountain and a giant flower pot that has a tree growing from it (my friend egged me into trying to climb it). This was only the second full day of my trip, and my camera battery gave out while at the gardens--I thought it was fully charged beforehand, so maybe I had taken so many pictures that the camera just wouldn't hold a charge anymore. I was disappointed, but at least my cell phone takes good pictures.
That night, we met some of my friend's friends at a Nepalese/Indian restaurant named Kathmandu, which made a particularly good chicken tikka masala.
Saturday we went to the Utah Museum of Fine Art on the University of Utah campus, also up in the mountains a couple of miles from Red Butte Garden. I particularly enjoyed the Egyptian pieces in the African gallery, but I liked the European gallery as well. My friend and I had a good time trying to interpret Don Olsen's modern pieces, which were displayed in a huge gallery with a high ceiling that also housed a piano--clearly a room meant for events. I think we walked through the entire museum in about three hours, then took off outside to venture across the University of Utah campus, eventually making our way back up by the University's Rice-Eccles Stadium, home to many events from the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. We drove out to Big Cottonwood Canyon in the Wasatch National Forest that evening, which was a great drive a little ways from my friend's house (we made sure to eat at In-N-Out Burger on the way). We encountered more snow that actually covered part of the trail around a lake (not sure which one). It had rained on us a little driving up, and I'd wondered aloud if we'd see a rainbow. Not only did we see a rainbow, but we saw the most vibrant one I'd ever seen, and it had a double!
I must have taken about 20 pictures just of the rainbow. It was rather awe-inspiring. We drove back down the canyon only to encounter a sunset that made me gasp aloud and again ask to stop the car.
Sunday we got an even later start than before and drove to Diva's in Salt Lake City to get a drive-through lunch and cupcakes. My friend enjoyed his caramel macchiato (I forget what he had for lunch) and I munched on a good chicken salad sandwich before I tore through the chocolate chocolate cupcake (sadly, they were out of chocolate peanut butter). We wished we'd been able to partake of brunch, as they had $3 mimosas and live music, but time didn't allow. We were heading to Park City that afternoon to take on the alpine slide. I had had some reservations about being on a slide that was going down a mountain--how steep is it? how fast?--but they were all absolutely unfounded fears. The slide is a lot of fun. We'd talked about ziplining too, but there were thunderstorms only about 20 minutes away, so we would barely have time to get down the slide. We had only just gotten off the ski lift before we heard thunder, and originally we were told we wouldn't be able to go down the slide because it was raining at the bottom of the mountain, and sled brakes on the slide won't work in the rain. We were told we'd have to wait for a suburban to come fetch us, then shortly after we were told they could let some people down the slide, so there was a mad dash to get sleds and run back to the slide. There are four slides, and one is marked for people who prefer to go a bit more slowly, so being a first-timer, I took that one. Needless to say, my friend quickly disappeared from my view and was waiting for me at the bottom. Scary though it is to be on a mountain during a thunderstorm, it was also pretty cool and I wish I had been able to get pictures.
It did start raining not long after we got off the slide, so we decided it was time for dinner and went into town to Adolph's Restaurant. The bartender, Sweet Jonny D, was rather personable and gave great recommendations for dinner. I was glad I'd taken his advice and gotten the shrimp linguini--it was so good. My friend also enjoyed his chicken francese and even had leftovers for the next day (I managed to eat my entire dinner). We shared a brownie sundae, which was also delicious. This restaurant is clearly a favorite of locals, as several of the patrons who came in struck up conversations with Jonny about mutual acquaintances and such. Dinner was pricey, but my friend and I really loved it.
That night we went back into Salt Lake City to catch a movie and got chai lattes afterward. The first coffeehouse we went to was full of obnoxious hipper-than-thou types loudly cheering at an open mic night. We stood in line for a couple of minutes before leaving, as the line hadn't moved since we'd gotten there and the crowded, loud atmosphere was a turnoff. I forget the name of the place where we ended up, but the chai lattes were good and we ran into one of my friend's friends, who had been camping out there for a while reading and dining at one of the many tables. My friend maintains that coffees and teas are done better west of the Mississippi, and I might be inclined to agree.
The next day was Monday, which meant it was time for me to go. I was sad not only to leave my friend, as we'd had a fantastic time seeing what we'd seen, but I had also gotten used to the mountain views and the crisp, dry air in Salt Lake City. Every morning I'd sat on the back porch at my friend's house and read, enjoying the lovely weather and the sounds of the creek that runs through his backyard. It was great to enjoy a definite change of pace and attitude for a few days and to see things that I don't see on an everyday basis. Even if I saw the mountains every day, I don't think the view would get old.
http://redbuttegarden.org/
http://umfa.utah.edu/pageview.aspx?id=25861
I got in Wednesday night about 9 p.m. and had the most amazing view of the mountains. Normally I opt for an aisle seat, but this time I'd made sure to get a window seat. I would have killed to have had my camera out for this view. I did take some video on my iPod. I'll admit, I was rather taken from my first glance. My friend met me at the airport and on the way out of the parking lot, I asked him to stop the car so I could get a picture of the sunset. It was breathtaking.
Thursday we woke up late and had an enjoyable breakfast at Finn's (the chocolate croissant was a meal in itself). Afterward, we decided to visit Sugar House Park, which was really nice. A number of families had decided to visit for the afternoon. We saw a number of joggers as well. It's a great place to just read or have a picnic with the family...or roll down a hill, as we did.
That afternoon we did some hiking in Mill Creek Canyon. It had rained some as we drove up, but we decided to make a go of it anyway. The path we took was a bit slick, but we had no real problems. The forest was lush and green and the hike was a little challenging but still good--I think we got above 9000 feet here. We saw snow, which I thought was an odd sight to see in July.
My friend had gotten tickets to see Goldilocks Capone and the Three Amigos at the Desert Star Theater in Murray. Mashups of different pop culture touchstones are apparently a specialty here. We enjoyed the show, and afterward an emcee who was part of the cast pointed out couples celebrating anniversaries and people celebrating birthdays. Then the whole cast performed several patriotic songs and had some good skits in between parodying politicians like Sarah Palin and the Mormon presidential candidates Jon Huntsman and Mitt Romney, as well as celebrities like Lebron James.
After the play, we decided to go to a club downtown called Area 51, which has '80s night every Thursday (they also had some great-sounding parties over the weekend, such as a glow stick party Friday night and another celebrating the turn to Cancer zodiac sign, which would feature tarot readings and other New Age-sounding stuff that has little more interest to me than fun kitsch value). Upstairs was the 18-and-up party, which was fun and got pretty crowded with people of a wide range of ages, featuring music from David Bowie, New Order, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Def Leppard, Depeche Mode and countless others; downstairs was a far-less-populated but no less enjoyable darker '80s mix (The Smiths, Depeche Mode, etc.). We were there for a very fun four hours, and kept saying around 1 a.m. that we were going to leave after whatever song was on, but then good songs kept playing and we couldn't bring ourselves to leave.
Friday we again woke up late and went out for pancakes. In the afternoon, we went to Red Butte Garden, quite possibly one of the most beautiful places I've seen. Probably half the pictures of the roughly 350 I took on vacation were taken here. A fire had broken out in the mountains above the gardens a couple of weeks prior to our visit, but it had been contained fairly quickly; however, we could still clearly see where it had been and how close to the building it had gotten. The gardens sit up on a mountain, so you get a great view of the city below. There's also an amphitheater there, and some great national acts like Sheryl Crow were performing there this summer, as well as buzzed-about acts Fleet Foxes and Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings. I couldn't believe how great the venue was--not only was it beautiful, but it hosted great concerts too! A wedding and its reception were also taking place there that evening--easy to see why someone would want to get married there. The gardens are huge (I'm not sure my friend and I traversed them all), full of beautiful, colorful flowers and trees, and also feature a great kid's area with a fountain and a giant flower pot that has a tree growing from it (my friend egged me into trying to climb it). This was only the second full day of my trip, and my camera battery gave out while at the gardens--I thought it was fully charged beforehand, so maybe I had taken so many pictures that the camera just wouldn't hold a charge anymore. I was disappointed, but at least my cell phone takes good pictures.
Saturday we went to the Utah Museum of Fine Art on the University of Utah campus, also up in the mountains a couple of miles from Red Butte Garden. I particularly enjoyed the Egyptian pieces in the African gallery, but I liked the European gallery as well. My friend and I had a good time trying to interpret Don Olsen's modern pieces, which were displayed in a huge gallery with a high ceiling that also housed a piano--clearly a room meant for events. I think we walked through the entire museum in about three hours, then took off outside to venture across the University of Utah campus, eventually making our way back up by the University's Rice-Eccles Stadium, home to many events from the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. We drove out to Big Cottonwood Canyon in the Wasatch National Forest that evening, which was a great drive a little ways from my friend's house (we made sure to eat at In-N-Out Burger on the way). We encountered more snow that actually covered part of the trail around a lake (not sure which one). It had rained on us a little driving up, and I'd wondered aloud if we'd see a rainbow. Not only did we see a rainbow, but we saw the most vibrant one I'd ever seen, and it had a double!
Sunday we got an even later start than before and drove to Diva's in Salt Lake City to get a drive-through lunch and cupcakes. My friend enjoyed his caramel macchiato (I forget what he had for lunch) and I munched on a good chicken salad sandwich before I tore through the chocolate chocolate cupcake (sadly, they were out of chocolate peanut butter). We wished we'd been able to partake of brunch, as they had $3 mimosas and live music, but time didn't allow. We were heading to Park City that afternoon to take on the alpine slide. I had had some reservations about being on a slide that was going down a mountain--how steep is it? how fast?--but they were all absolutely unfounded fears. The slide is a lot of fun. We'd talked about ziplining too, but there were thunderstorms only about 20 minutes away, so we would barely have time to get down the slide. We had only just gotten off the ski lift before we heard thunder, and originally we were told we wouldn't be able to go down the slide because it was raining at the bottom of the mountain, and sled brakes on the slide won't work in the rain. We were told we'd have to wait for a suburban to come fetch us, then shortly after we were told they could let some people down the slide, so there was a mad dash to get sleds and run back to the slide. There are four slides, and one is marked for people who prefer to go a bit more slowly, so being a first-timer, I took that one. Needless to say, my friend quickly disappeared from my view and was waiting for me at the bottom. Scary though it is to be on a mountain during a thunderstorm, it was also pretty cool and I wish I had been able to get pictures.
It did start raining not long after we got off the slide, so we decided it was time for dinner and went into town to Adolph's Restaurant. The bartender, Sweet Jonny D, was rather personable and gave great recommendations for dinner. I was glad I'd taken his advice and gotten the shrimp linguini--it was so good. My friend also enjoyed his chicken francese and even had leftovers for the next day (I managed to eat my entire dinner). We shared a brownie sundae, which was also delicious. This restaurant is clearly a favorite of locals, as several of the patrons who came in struck up conversations with Jonny about mutual acquaintances and such. Dinner was pricey, but my friend and I really loved it.
That night we went back into Salt Lake City to catch a movie and got chai lattes afterward. The first coffeehouse we went to was full of obnoxious hipper-than-thou types loudly cheering at an open mic night. We stood in line for a couple of minutes before leaving, as the line hadn't moved since we'd gotten there and the crowded, loud atmosphere was a turnoff. I forget the name of the place where we ended up, but the chai lattes were good and we ran into one of my friend's friends, who had been camping out there for a while reading and dining at one of the many tables. My friend maintains that coffees and teas are done better west of the Mississippi, and I might be inclined to agree.
The next day was Monday, which meant it was time for me to go. I was sad not only to leave my friend, as we'd had a fantastic time seeing what we'd seen, but I had also gotten used to the mountain views and the crisp, dry air in Salt Lake City. Every morning I'd sat on the back porch at my friend's house and read, enjoying the lovely weather and the sounds of the creek that runs through his backyard. It was great to enjoy a definite change of pace and attitude for a few days and to see things that I don't see on an everyday basis. Even if I saw the mountains every day, I don't think the view would get old.
http://redbuttegarden.org/
http://umfa.utah.edu/pageview.aspx?id=25861
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