Asheville is for friends

(I realize now that I took no Asheville skyline or mountain-scape pictures, so I stole from google.)

I've heard for years that Portland, Maine is very similar to Asheville, if you were to replace ocean with mountains.  I found that to be largely true. Our first afternoon there (January 4) we planted ourselves in an alternative bookstore/cafe: Malaprops. Random coffee shop conversations led me to find out about a new brewery/hostel that would be opening up soon. The Lexington Avenue Brewery and the Sweet Peas Hostel intrigued me immediately, but I hadn't read or heard about them any other way.  I asked around all the local knowledge and ended up touring Sweet Peas Hostel (to be thoroughly explained in another post).

I would love more time to explore Asheville and would consider living there for the sole reason that they have kick-ass weekly contra dances.  I went to Monday's dance at Grey Eagle with Rob and Hanni.  We got to the dance late after a long dinner at Jack of the Wood.  Hanni is a regular at this dance and mingled with her dance cohorts. Rob and I were quickly swept up by other partners and merrily passed a couple hours swinging around the hall. We found each other for the final contra and happily exchanged the confidence that we had found in the practice of the first couple hours.

My friend Andrea who I worked with, way back in the day at Granny's Burritos, now lives in Asheville so I looked her up and we went gallivanting the second afternoon.

Lunch for 5 at Early Girl Eatery, allowed Rob to further explore his abundant vegetarian options put forth by Asheville's dining scene. Michael and Meredith had to get back to jobs, but Andrea, Rob and I were fancy free.

We checked out Amazing Savings Market a hole in the wall derelict looking place but who can pass up Amy's soups for a buck or gourmet chocolate bars for $1.50 apiece?  Not us!  We stocked up.

Oberlin Alums abound in Asheville, The French Broad Chocolate Lounge is owned by an Obe and hosts a regular alum meet-up. Rob, Andrea and I went in here for an afternoon warm up. Rob's motivation was meeting a fellow Obe, Andrea and I were there for the chocolate! Microbrew stout with a scoop of homemade ice cream?  Or an 8oz cup of some of the richest, smoothest hot chocolate I've ever tried. yeah, that's right, amazing!

Walking is my favorite way of exploring a city but did I mention that it was bloody cold in Asheville? Maybe 10˚F before the wind chill... phew, didn't lead to a whole lot of outdoor time.  

Here are the Obes I had the privilege of dining with for the evenings I was in Asheville: (Michael, Meredith, Hanni and Rob [Charlie, the corgi, is an honorary alum])

We stayed with Meredith and Michael, two of Rob's chums, and their charming pup: Charlie, in a log cabin just outside of Asheville.

We had a dinner party the final night. Good food and good cheer.

Rob wanted to take Charlie with us. I told him even though Charlie was wonderfully compact, the emotional damage of stealing Meredith and Michael's dog probably wouldn't be worth it.  And man, can that pup shed.