Asheville!

Whoaaaa it's been awhile! Good thing I didn't make regular posting on here one of my resolutions... But I do have some good excuses, namely going to Asheville with my mom last weekend! Mom has decided that she wants to go somewhere every month this year, and so we kicked things off with a long weekend trip to Asheville, NC (my suggestion).

We used to go to Asheville fairly regularly when I was a kid, but we haven't been in at least 15 years, which meant there was plenty of new stuff to explore, as well as a few old favorites -- namely Malaprop's, one of the absolute greatest bookstores on the planet (at least as far as I know, and I have been to a fair number if I do say so myself). I can't WAIT to dig into my two finds from there -- Cataloochee by Wayne Caldwell (the debut novel from an Asheville native), and Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan. The only problem is, which one to read first???

My personal goal for the trip was to visit as many breweries as possible -- after all, Asheville has been voted the Examiner's Beer City USA for four years running. We managed to hit four different breweries, which is not bad in two days when you're driving yourself! First stop was Green Man, one of Asheville's most beloved breweries. And I could see why -- the Rainmaker Double IPA was amazing (so amazing, I made sure to bring home a 22-ounce bottle to share with a lucky TBD someone(s)). But I think the tasting room was a little too dive-y for Mom, so we soon moved on with our Saturday, ending with dinner at The Lobster Trap. I know, it's weird to have seafood in Asheville, but it had great reviews which were all very well deserved. Plus, who can say no to lobster macaroni and cheese??? The restaurant is also the home of the Oyster House Brewing Company, which put up a VERY tasty Moonstone Stout (brewed with real oyster shells!).

Sunday took us out to Black Mountain, a small town about 20 miles east of Asheville. We had breakfast and a couple of delicious cappuccinos at Dripolator and then walked around town for awhile. After months of searching, Mom FINALLY found a couple of nice handmade 8-ounce coffee mugs (it's amazing how everyone seems to think that we all want to drink big gulps of coffee every morning!), as well as a few other odds and ends at an awesome gallery featuring local artists. Then it was over to Pisgah Brewing, one of the other recommendations from the wonderful guys at Ale Yeah! here in Decatur. We worked our way through a couple of flights, which was an excellent way to taste many of their beers, including some strange offerings such as Benton's Bacon Stout (it was good, but that 4-ounce taster was more than enough for me). I did, however, thoroughly enjoy the Valdez coffee stout, so I picked up a 22 of that to bring back home. The brewer also talked me into a 22 of their Vortex II, which he said was on some list of "top 100 beers to try". Not sure whose list that is, but it sure does sound tasty! That one might be shelved for awhile, it's supposed to age well...

After that, we hightailed it back to the hotel to catch the last quarter of the Falcons game (womp womppp), then headed to our fourth and final brewery of the weekend, Wicked Weed. This brewpub has only been open for a few weeks, but they certainly opened in a BIG way. They had maybe 14 beers on tap, evenly split between West Coast-style hoppy brews, Belgian style beers, and wood-aged beers. The two I had were excellent, especially the Transgressor's Imperial Red Ale which had been aged in bourbon barrels AND dry-hopped. OMJEEBUS so good! Unfortunately, they were all out of the Dark Angel Cherry Sour... But all in all, Wicked Weed was probably my favorite of the four! I can't wait to go back to Asheville and see how they grow over the coming months/years...

Monday morning gave us just enough time to wrap up our to-do list by enjoying breakfast and coffee at High Five Coffee Bar in downtown Asheville. The folks at this Counter Culture shop sure know how to pull a mean shot of espresso -- the Apollo 10.0 espresso was PHENOMENAL. Of course, the traditional cappuccino was pretty great too! We then swung by Purl's Yarn Emporium to admire their large selection of locally produced yarns. Andddddd yes, I broke my resolution and bought a gorgeous skein of 100% alpaca yarn from the lovely Maria (yes, that's her picture on the label!) at Ever Thanks Farm. I'm SO excited to turn this yarn into a soft and cozy hat! And as I see it, it's a great souvenir of my trip, so it's not really breaking the rules...right???