This past weekend, we had a lovely trip to the North Carolina Mountains. At the very last minute, we realized that the Bele Chere festival was that weekend – it’s huge in Asheville, since there’s a bunch of free music, crafts vendors, etc. We were a little nervous that this might impede on our campsite finding – but, luckily, after a nice dinner at Doc Chey’s, we were able to settle into our old standby Hippy Campground (TM) for the night.
We decided to go to bed when we felt some sprinkling… little did we know the next morning we’d wake up with puddles in our tent. I’m hoping this is enough of a cue to Oak to buy us a new tent… lol. My pillow, sleeping bag, and one of my sweatshirts were completely soaked. Luckily most of my clothes were in the car so I just changed into something dry. Taking down the tent in the rain, also a challenge… we had a huge pile of wet stuff. Boo.
The next morning we went in search of breakfast. The GPS kept leading us to places that either didn’t exist or were closed, so finally we decided to go to Tupelo Honey Cafe in downtown for breakfast. Oak and I had been hyping up the sweet potato pancakes and french toast for awhile, so I think everyone was excited to give it a try. It was delicious, but I got WAY too much french toast. Seriously it was a half a loaf of bread.
Our original intention was to go to Mount Mitchell for a hike, but it was still pouring outside. We drove up there just to see what was going on. At the top of the mountain, all you could see was fog. It reminded me of our honeymoon when we tried to see Haleakala and a few different canyons that were failed attempts. Instead we chilled in the visitor center for a little while – the guys had waaay too much fun playing on a wheelchair. I’m surprised we didn’t get yelled at.
So, we had to find something indoors to do. We headed to Linville Caverns. A lot of people seemed to have the same idea, but the wait wasn’t too long to get in. We amused ourselves by buying hot dogs from the church people that set up a little vending station in front of the park. The price was really reasonable, and it was a decent cavern. (I think I’m a little spoiled after seeing Mammoth Caves in Kentucky last summer.) The especially scary part was when we did a squeeze, and then they showed us that we were actually standing on a metal platform, with water underneath us! Yikes!
The rain had let up a little bit at this point, so we continued up the Blue Ridge Parkway to Linville Falls. We did a different hike than we did last time, which was much easier. Phew. I don’t think I would have wanted to do the other hike we did last year with a wet ground.
After some shopping in a very fancy “Mountain Dawg” (aka Food Lion), we began our search for a campsite. We ended up at the KOA in Boone, which we hadn’t exactly intended on, but we were so ready for dinner by that point that we just plunked down the cash for it. Oak made hot dogs for dinner on the grill, and we roasted potatoes and made s’mores on the camp fire. Yum! Luckily we had a 3rd, huge tent that we could set up and be dry for the evening. Our stuff was still a little damp but luckily it was fairly warm outside.
The next morning, we took some very welcome, long, hot showers, packed up, and ate breakfast at Bojangles. Alex and Oak also consumed a few Bingles during breakfast – a twinkie-like confection that is made with red velvet cake instead of yellow sponge cake. It looked pretty shady to me. Our hike for the afternoon was at Hanging Rock state park – boy, was that exhausting! I’ll be happy if I don’t see any stairs for awhile. LOL 
The views were worth the climb though! We stopped for some nourishment at Foothills Brewery on the way home. We’re back to flat land in the Piedmont for now!
Doesn’t this logo match well with my current layout? Ding! On Sunday we went to Tangerine Cafe
with Alex and 3 out of 5 of the “605 crew” to celebrate my birthday. The interior was curiously also painted the same colors as our living room and kitchen. I wonder if they’ve come to spy on us and stole the idea from our decor?!
Dinner was very good! I’ve been meaning to try this place for awhile, so when it was my turn to pick (the advantage of it being my birthday), it wasn’t much question. We got an assortment of appetizers, including calamari, lettuce wraps, and Vietnamese summer rolls. Mm. Alex and Oak also both got soups which I had the privilege to sample (ah the birthday girl advantages!). I had a huge bowl of pad thai noodles, yay noodley peanut deliciousness! The waiter even saw that it was my birthday from the gifts and they brought out a huge piece of chocolate cake for dessert. Yum!
I received a hug mug and drinking chocolate from Alex – my first taste of Max Brenner chocolate! More about that later, I’m planning on giving it a try tonight! I also got a gift card from Belinda for Martha Stewart Crafts.. Double drool…
In last week’s birthday loot- from Mom and Dave, I received my first pair of bermuda shorts (hey! they actually are pretty cute!), a few cute polos, a pair of jean capris, and Gordon Ramsay’s autobiography, which I devoured in 2 days. Nirav got me a blender so that we can make margaritas without it exploding all over the kitchen. Oak is getting me a gift that’s “still being embroidered” .. I’m pretending I don’t know what it is… what a mystery!
The booming metropolis of Raleigh and Durham is constantly adding in new shopping, dining, and living establishments. Most of these are chains, which we’re not all that fond of (how many Wal-marts does one area need? Really??), but we have been highly enjoying Sheetz. The logo might make you think that Sheetz is a gourmet deli of some sort, but no, it is a gas station. With a really impressive (ok, really CHEAP) restaurant inside.
First innovation: you order at a little touch screen computer kiosk. I remember seeing these in McDonalds a few years ago, but I guess they hadn’t caught on. At Sheetz, though, you can also order from a touch screen that’s at the gas pump!!! So exciting. It gives you something to do while you’re waiting for the tank to fill.
Then, you go in with your receipt and pay at the register like normal. We’ve been getting free beverages for quite some time now because they seem to enjoy giving out coupons because the stores just opened. We won’t complain about that! The food arrives shortly after. It’s not the best food ever, just about the same as any other fast food, but hello cheapness! Two hot dogs for 99 cents! A 6-inch meatball sub for $1.99! Try getting that kind of bargain at any other dining establishment. They also have an “espresso bar”, which you can also order from the kiosk. Mm, blended coffee drink goodness.
I’m sure as Sheetz expands it will lose its appeal to us, but for the moment we are addicted.
OK, so I realize that July 4th is pretty over now. Well, we had a nice holiday, even though Oak was working. We took a bike ride in the afternoon, and then I fashioned a peanut butter chocolate pie (which, unfortunately, I didn’t take a picture of..).
For the fireworks, we did what seems to be our 4th of July tradition – a cookout at Nixon’s parents, and fireworks at the Koka Booth Ampitheatre. The poor ducks got scared again, and went swimming frantically around the lake as the fireworks went off. We saw a heart and a happy face firework! But, my favorites are the fireworks that look like shimmering fountains. Hotness!
We’ve been to the Angus Barn a few times – Nixon’s family has treated us for his birthday dinner. Definitely not a bad deal. It’s always been a satisfying experience, but not one we could afford to have in any sort of regularity.
Well, I just happened to be reading Chowhound on Friday, and saw that instead of dining in the main dining area, you can dine up in the Wild Turkey Lounge. Most importantly, you can order the Angus Barn Burger.
I told Oak about this and obviously he was very interested. When he got paged when we were just about to go to dinner at Assagio’s (our second attempt at eating there), we had to go home. Well, we still had to eat dinner… That’s when we decided on trying out this burger.
The Wild Turkey lounge is just really cool. There’s all sorts of old relics (which, if you read the Angus Barn website, you learn are the old owner’s collection of Turkey decanters), and comfy chairs. Plus there’s a bar where you can get the cheese and crackers, and relishes that normally come with your meal. Seriously if we wanted to we probably could have just ordered drinks and filled up on that stuff!!
I ordered the spinach salad that I’ve always adored when we’ve gone in the past. It was good as usual with the warm bacon dressing (tasty salads never seem to be healthy ones!). Then the burger came. Oh, hooey. Well, the waiter had just assumed (correctly) that we were going to split it, since it’s over a pound, so it came out on two plates. They use up all the pieces of meat they can’t use anywhere else, like the ends of the tenderloins, etc. in the freshly ground beef. I think it was the juiciest burger I’ve ever had!
Next time we might get the ostrich burger, the famous creation of chef Walter Royal when he was on Iron Chef America.
We went to a Durham Bulls game last Thursday night. Not only were they playing my old hometown team, the Rochester Red Wings, it was $1 hot dog, french fries, and popcorn night. Ding! We got seats right under the canopy near third base. Wool E. Bull was there in his prime with his regular run around the bases, tshirt throwing, etc. I wanted to get a picture with Wool E, but unfortunately the only opportunity that we had was when we had just sat down; he was in the gift shop for picture time. Boo. I even wore my special pink Durham Bulls baseball cap. After looking at the program, I discovered that good ‘ol Wool E. and I share the same birthday. How dare he try to steal my thunder!!!! Inviting everyone in Durham to his birthday bash!!! Whatever!
The game itself was pretty uneventful. The Red Wings were beating the Bulls at the 7th inning by 9 runs. We left shortly after that. We had gotten our fill of stadium food, music, and Wool E’s hysterical antics by then. Which brings me to this interesting article that ran in the News and Observer the day after the game: Major fun at the minors. Apparently we aren’t the only ones that don’t go to the baseball game for the game itself.
