At the risk of sounding like a tour guide, I wanted to share this last group of pictures from our trip to North Carolina. The city of Asheville is in the Blue Ridge Mountains, on the western side of the state. It is a small city, easily accessible and pedestrian and biker friendly. In fact, when we were driving out of town, we saw a mass bike ride that was organized by the city Chamber of Commerce. Asheville is known for its art scene and there are outdoor installations throughout the city. It also has a great variety of restaurants and coffee shops, a lot of them supporting local farmers.
This crazy statue is at a restaurant called The Mellow Mushroom. It has been there since the 1970's. My husband and I ate there 10 years ago on our honeymoon.
The city has some interesting architecture. We loved how this wall was kept intact. Seeing the old building outline was pretty cool.
Another fun town that we discovered on this trip is Lexington, Virginia. It was just a random stop off the highway and we hoped there would be something to eat. We really lucked out! It is a college town, home of Washington & Lee University, which I have never even heard of. We happened to arrive right as the weekly farmer's market was closing, so we quickly walked through and chatted with some friendly vendors. We also bought some goat cheese from Kohl Family Farm. They sell their cheese under the name The Lonely Goatherd. Isn't that cute? (The Sound of Music was my favorite movie growing up!) I talked a little cheese making talk with the farmer. I thought the last batch of chevre that I made was too chunky and he thought it was because I used too much starter (even though I followed the instructions on the starter packet). When we got home, I tried what he suggested and it worked - much creamier goat cheese! We stopped in some interesting shops, including a store with old stuff (to put it politely) and a knitting shop that sold yarn made from recycled denim jeans.
We had a great time and were happy to eat good food, make new discoveries, enjoy time in nature, and get out of the daily routine for a couple of days. If you are ever in the area, the two towns are definitely worth visiting!