Wonder Hotel of Horrors did not have breakfast. Go figure. At least I was in Asheville and devoted slave, ahem Hubby, was going to do everything I wanted until 3 o’clock when we left for Atlanta.
We had a heart stopping breakfast at Cracker Barrel. I generally like eating at Cracker Barrel because you at least know what you are getting. Then again, so far I was becoming great friends with disappointment and betrayal. Kind of like The Sherm when I dropped her off at the kennel.
There is one truth about Cracker Barrel food, it isn’t worth waiting after you placed your order for half an hour. Most of the food is pre-fab and pre-cooked. The only thing that isn’t pre-cooked are the eggs and the toast. Apparently, two eggs over medium and an egg sandwich with two eggs over hard take a half an hour to cook. This is despite the fact that the place isn’t that busy and that after everyone else in the restaurant is served it takes another 15 minutes for you to get your food.
We decided to stop at the Visitor’s Center as an insurance policy against further Asheville Leg of Reunion Trip 2008 suckiness. Alas, this was not to be as we were informed that the best event of the year in Asheville starts on Friday and we were there on Thursday. To further rub it in, an old hippy dude in a Viet Nam POW cap felt compelled to tell us that “Asheville’s version of Mardi Gras starts tomorrow, man. Too bad you won’t be here.” If ever I wanted to tell a complete stranger “F U, too, man.” That was it.
There is something about downtown Asheville, however that just washes your mind clean of all the crap you went through to get there. My first stop was the art and craft gallery in the old Woolworth building. I got this beautiful, hand blown, dichroic glass pendant. My next stop was Earth Guild. I got some Trekking to knit Cat Bordhi’s Tibetan Socks from her brilliant sock book. Then there were the chocolate truffles. European style, hand made chocolate truffles overwhelm your brain with so many endorphins that you forget all about the crap night sleep you had, the heart stopping breakfast that is sitting like a lump somewhere between your diaphragm and knee caps, and the hours still to go in the car to CHIEFLAND, Florida.
Even better was the drive up the Blue Ridge Parkway to the Arts and Craft Center. I saw handcrafted items of such beauty that made me want to weep. In particular was a desk with undulating lines and a hand lacquered finish that made me ache to build a house around it. This was not to mention the textile art from quilts to hand woven clothing.
At this point I decided it was better to leave Asheville with my eyes filled with beauty and amnesia about the night before.
The trip to Atlanta was uneventful. We had a wonderful hotel room that more than made up for the Bates Hotel Hell. We had dinner in a little Cuban restaurant. The food was great. We were going to have a good, complementary breakfast in the morning. Things were looking up.
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