Asheville | Documenting Activities
"Leave whenever you're ready" is probably the spirit for road trips. Just two hours away from the Queen City, we decided to visit Asheville, N.C. The night before we took off, we paid a visit to the Trader Joe's nearby to get some lattes and chips for the trip.
Asheville is a hot spot in the summer. Downtown is flooded with tourists waiting in line to get into the dining places and taking pictures. It was lunchtime when we got there and picked up my friend Chase who's from Asheville, so all of us decided to get something to eat.
(Megan and Chase)
(Street View)
We spotted this Italian restaurant. It had a rather urbane and modern vibe with a hint of ancient Italian spice with the minimal lamp shades, air plants on every table, standing sculpture near the bathroom, etc.
We all ordered calzone, and it was my first time eating it. Inside my calzone lied freshly roasted lamb and goat cheese. I've always been a fan of Italian food so I liked mine as usual.
Megan practiced her doctrine of "when in the South, drink sweet tea" and ordered herself sweet tea everywhere we went.
This is not my first time in Asheville. I was also here this January. Up in the mountains, Asheville is a bit colder than Charlotte in general. There was snow on the ground when I visited in the Winter. In the summer, all the trees rejuvenated, growing natural shades and soft green. The temperature was around 70 F˚, which is ideal for strolling around.
The downtown area is small, clean, artsy, exquisite, and lively. It has the kind of vibe that you’d wish a tourist place to have.
Besides restaurants, there’s a lot to see. A hub for artists, Asheville has a ton of galleries and antiques full of pieces created by local artists. The funny thing happened when we were checking out old postcards in an antique. We found this one postcard from the 80’s that contains very racist words. :o We also saw some Vogue magazines from the 30’s that have weight loss ads in them. It was a different world back then.
We then checked in at our Airbnb in Alexander, a town 10 minutes from downtown Asheville. Our studio is owned by an artist couple, Kristy and Mark, and is located on the top of a hill. The way up was so steep that Kristy thought my little Mazda might not make it to the top. So she lent me their Subaru to go up. Whenever we needed to go up and down, we used the Subaru. I parked my car at the bottom of the hill.
The studio was well-maintained and modern. I was expecting something more old-fashioned or Southern, but it has lots of pieces from IKEA. The wooden frames and pure white walls set the color for the whole studio, with the couple’s art pieces hanging on the walls.
Maybe it was because I'm so used to living in an apartment complex that's close to everything, it took me a while to get used to this place. Yes, the bnb is fabulous, but we had to drive to reach places, and driving in Asheville was not fun at all: the roads meander roughly along the hills and mountains, making me slow down to handle these turns. Plus, it started raining heavily at night, which makes driving more dangerous. Gladly Megan and I made it to home safely after driving Chase back to his place.
The next morning, I grabbed some new clothes and a towel and headed to the outdoor shower. Kristy and Mark told us they've just installed it and I'll be the first one to try it. How lucky! The sky took a break in the morning from raining so it was just cloudy. The forest on the mountain from far away was wrapped in the morning haze. My shower music was from the birds that were warbling from a distance. This is such a tranquil moment that I desire in my pathetically noisy apartment.
(a mug by itself.)
Although planning on going to the Biltmore estate, Megan and I ended up not going because it was too much of a money and too short of a time. Therefore, we went back to downtown Asheville to discover more stores and took more photos.
(Dobra Tea. Probably one of the most exotic places in Asheville.)
The picture above is one of the highlights of this whole trip. The guy with the man bun sitting next to the window was having an intimate moment with the guy standing outside. We went out and looked at the way they stared at each other. What's cuter is that the guy outside has a dog! Moreover, the girl in red looked stunning in her reading pose.
That was pretty much how we spent our whole day. Oh, and dinner? I took Megan to Bojangle's and we finished this whole meal of 8-piece fried chicken! Also, we had fried chicken from Rocky's Hot Chicken Shack the night before with Chase! Yup, we're THAT obsessed. :p
The third day was depressing. We made plans to go hiking today, but the sound of heavy raindrops woke us up. In the hope that it might stop, we decided to play by ear about what we're going to do. So we checked out, got into my car again, and went to Chase's to pick him up. Then we asked the local to pick a brunch place since we were all hungry. We ended up going to Cornerstone. The food was good, but not a large portion.
Whenever I hang out with friends, my favorite part is to chat with them over delicious food. It could be anything, but it's likely that I'll remember what we shared with each other through our conversations. Megan was going to Manhattan the next day, and Chase and I will be back in our normal life. I know we'll see each other in the future for sure, but god knows when exactly.
After our brunch, there was no sign that the storm might stop. We tried to go to the Arboretum for its Greenhouse but were told that the Greenhouse was not open to the public because it was Memorial Day. So we just drove around the mountains nearby, trying to get to the overlooks. However, not only did the rain not stop, but it fell so much harder. I'd have to keep my lane on the winding road by staring through the soaked car window.
We got to the overlook, but all we saw was mists and clouds even at a low altitude. Then I realized it was time to start driving back to Charlotte before it rained even harder.
We hugged Chase goodbye, and I told him I'll go back to Charlotte for Pride in August.
We drove back in the heavy rain. For a while, we were going downhill when it was raining cats and dogs. I'd have to go to the furthermost right lane and put on my hazards. But thanks to Megan, I was less afraid with her talking to me in the car. I don't think I could ever handle that by myself. In other words, my driving skills are always better with people in my car. I guess I'm the opposite with lots of people when it comes to this. Others might think "more people, more responsibility, more pressure," but for me, it was a reassuring feeling to have people going through the roads with me, even though I'm the one driving.
I like to make friends. Because when they're all around the world, even though you'll go to a city you've never been to, they have your back.
