North Carolina - Day 7

Friday was our last day in Asheville so after a little more tennis we packed up and checked out.

The lobby was cool including a large connect 4 game, Conner - the dog up for adoption, a pool table and a bar.

We scored a bit more BBQ before skipping town.  Bear's was decent but not as good as 12 Bones.

Poor Conner still hadn't been adopted but I'm sure he will be soon.

Back on the road with North Carolina staples.

After dropping Bill off in Charlotte I headed to Waynesville which is close to Jack's Camp Daniel Boone.  You can also note another W city, Weaverville just North of Asheville.  Asheville has gotten to be a pretty expensive city from a real estate perspective with lots of Charlotte and Atlanta people, in particular, choosing to retire in it.  If the prices seem too high in Asheville the local realtors encourage prospective buyers to "Think Weaverville"

Shanghai Dumplings - You Don't Know Nuthin' About Shanghai Dumplings!

Shanghai Dumplings is located just up Biltmore Avenue from Aloft so we walked by it a lot.  On one particular occasion, two gentleman were just in front of us seemingly looking for a place for dinner.  One stepped back to look at and read the sign and his friend returned, "Shanghai Dumplings - you don't know nuthin' about Shanghai dumplings.  You don't know nuthin' about Shanghai."

We kept walking and so did they.

North Carolina Trip - Day 6

After all the hiking we stayed local on Saturday beginning the day with a quick duck into Izzy's

After lunch at the Atlanta based Mellow Mushroom we went to the Moogseum.  A museum dedicated to one of the father's of synthesized music, Bob Moog.  It was small but well-done.

We then went to Asheville's Pinball Museum which was a fun place to spend a few hours.  Below is one of Atari's only pinball offerings.   For $15 you could play all you wanted.

  

 

The views of the Blue Ridge Mountains are quite good from the sixth floor of our hotel, Aloft.

The city had recently removed its final large structure commemorating a Civil War veteran.  Will be interesting to see what they replace it with as this statue is in the heart of the city.  When we arrived in town we thought there was a big protest going on as there was a lot of activity right in front of this area.  Turns out it was just a 3-4 flag wavers excited about Jesus.

North Carolina Trip - Asheville Tourists Game

We scored buy one get one tickets to see the Asheville Tourists play the Winston Salem team.  The Tourists are the High A minor league team for the Houston Astros.

All seats were good in the smallish stadium so we chose to social distance a bit since it wasn't full.

Lots of scoring and a W for the home team!

North Carolina Trip - Day 5.5

Chimney Rock hiking continued. 

The highest elevation is ~2,640 feet above sea level though it certainly seemed higher.

The Skyline Trail was a bit anticlimactic because you couldn't see really actually see the Hickory Nut Falls so we also did the Hickory Nut Falls Trail that went to the bottom of the falls.  It had rained that morning so the falls were flowing pretty well.

Then, having not eaten much breakfast or lunch had our nicest meal of the trip at Chestnuts.  Filet and salmon were the rewards for our 100+ flights of climbing and ~6 miles of hiking.

North Carolina Trip - Day 5

Today was our hiking day with a trip to Chimney Rock State Park, not to be confused with the Chimney Rock in Nebraska.

They had installed an elevator to take you most of the way up to the top of Chimney Rock.  We hiked - mostly climbed stairs.  Bill and I both agreed the flag kind of spoiled the natural elements of the rock.

Definitely some cool views from the top.

We did the Skyline Trail afterwards which was an actual hike that climbed quite a bit higher.  It went to the top of a waterfall.

North Carolina Trip - Day 4

A little tennis in the morning!

followed up by bbq at 12 Bones.  The wait was 30 minutes at 2pm on a Monday afternoon.  The Obama's three visits over the presidential years have made this a popular joint...  that coupled with the fact that they have good bbq!

The jalapeno cheddar grits were a highlight...

We even got a little pool time in at the Aloft (our hotel) pool.

North Carolina Trip - Day 3

Picked up Bill and got checked into our hotel...Aloft.  Which is a Marriott owned place in a great downtown location.

The below is from the outside pool / bar / hang-out space called Splash.

Scored some good really good corn salsa and cocktails at Pack's Tavern.  Bill is going IPA samplers.

Dinner was burgers and salads at Wicked Weed.  You guessed it... a brewery.  A tried an IPA here and it wasn't really my deal.  Might look for a cherry wheat tonight!

North Carolina Trip - Day 2.5

We successfully got Jack dropped off and Camp Daniel Boone after he passed his COVID screening.  

Lesson learned - I took a wrong turn heading out of camp in part due to the fact that there was no cell service / Carplay navigation.  By the time I realized the cars navigation would work I was 15 miles in the wrong direction!  This gave me an "opportunity" to ride the famed Blue Ridge Parkway for an hour or so.  More pics and stories from this diversion in a bonus post.

North Carolina Trip - Day 2

Getting to Tifton last night afforded us the opportunity to swing through Georgia Tech.  Jack got a cool GT hat at the bookstore and we walked about a bit before scoring a Naked Dog and Frosted Orange at the Varsity!

North Carolina Trip - Day 1

We left Gainesville after work and made it up to Tifton, GA.   At Tifton, we scored some BBQ at the number 1 restaurant in the town.  There was a 30 minute wait but the ribs, pulled pork and sauce certainly made the wait worth it.

 

We then went to the Adock Pecan store.  I've always seen loads of signs off the interstate but it was never really worth the stop for pecans alone.  It was an interesting place with loads of nuts, sweets and a huge inventory of Claxton Fruit Cakes!

Handstand!

Elle has been practicing her handstands and back bends!  She's getting better and better at them all.

Sit and think!