If this trip didn't deserve a blog, I don't know what would. Mom and I just had a blast on our first (stateside) road trip together.
Mom started of the trip in perfect Julie Ross fashion, packing a picnic lunch for us along the way.
We made our way to Hendersonville, NC to the cutest little lodge at Highland Lake. It was a lovely little retreat with a lake for kayaking (in warmer weather), an organic farm, chickens, and fall leaves.
Saturday
We had a lovely reunion with her friend Jenny and her hubs who are always so good to see. Italian dinner Friday night and downtown shops and lunch the next day with this wonderful couple.
From lunch, Mom and I ventured over to Carl Sandburg's house, a must see for anyone in the area. I didn't know much about the guy before but now I love him and his wife and their goats. (If you want to be surprised on the tour, skip the next paragraph!) A Swedish immigrant longing to be American, writing poetry about American life and a 1,000,000 word bio about Abe. What wikipedia doesn't tell you is that Carl was a hobo for a bit, hopping trains, getting arrested... Along those travels, he collected songs from his fellow hobos and compiled them into a book of like 284 American folk songs to share these cultures that would've been lost. On his house tour, they played a recording of him and his 6 year-old daughter singing along to these tunes. His wife loved goats. She bred one, old Jennifer the 3rd, that produced 2.5 gallons of milk a day. Wild. AND she shared these milk-making goats with 3rd world countries to improve their milk supply! Pretty cool fam.
Anyway, Mom and I left with intrigue in Carl, his poetry and tunes, and how much you'd have to feed a goat to make it produce that much milk.
From here, we enjoyed some pampering with manis/pedis before a delicious meal at Brandy's on Main. We felt like we were in a speakeasy, enjoying great wine, pasta topped with giant lobster and shrimp, and almost licked our Crème brûlée dish clean. Perfect meal.
We didn't stop there, as mom had found some live music playing at a brewery nearby. So we enjoyed the folky tunes of Letters to Abigail at Southern Appalachian Brewery. A quaint little brewery, where everyone that walked in received a wave and a "Hey! How ya doin?!" from the band. Loved this band and this night. Well the whole day was fantastic.
On Sunday, we stopped by Asheville on the way to the Biltmore. In our short 30 minutes of walking around, we saw all the stereotypical Ashevillanites; dreads, plaid, beards, outdoor backpacks... They also had some cozy looking Christmas streets. (Overall, I'd vote go to Greenville!)
Then off to the Biltmore with Uncle Mike. We sipped some wine at the tasting, checked out their barns, and wandered the extravagant home. Though it was intricate and elegant, I didn't feel the same connection with old George as I did Carl. In fact, I felt a little icky walking around this showy estate. A fun experience though, imagining swimming in the basement pool, wondering the gardens, and attending a fancy party, coming up in our horse carriage and fancy hats.
More driving on down to Greenville where we stayed the next two nights. Contrary to our initial lazy plan of staying home and avoiding the cold, rainy day, Mom and I found a delicious breakfast spot for crepes and coffee at Exchange Company. We went back and collected Mike to explore downtown Greenville. Walking along the river in the rain was actually quite lovely. We got some cold, wet feet in the process, but that was nothing more hot coffee at the Coffee Underground couldn't fix.
A late afternoon of cozying up on the couch for some Netflix rejuvenated us to head back out for not only an open mic night at Smileys, but also music trivia at City Tavern. Trivia was nowhere near our specialty. Mike had to go up there for the final round of name that artist, where him and his opponent took about 20 songs to get 3 either of them knew. Tough stuff.
Thanks for a trip of a lifetime, Mama! 'Til next time.
Where should we go next?!
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