Mountain Getaway - Asheville, NC - Buildings

 I loved some of the older buildings in Asheville.  This one I stood in awe of and took more than one pictures.  It also brought back some great memories of shopping at the Five and Dime as a child.  (You need to enlarge these to get the great detail that was put into these buildings.)

 OK, this is not a "building" but someone did a pretty cool thing where a garage door used to be don't you think?

 This rather reminded me of a building back in the dark recesses of my brain - Denver.  Can someone help me out here?

 This is the roofline of the above picture.

If you look closely you can see the guys hanging out across the street waiting for the gals.  You have to enlarge this one to see it.  So lovely!

Mountain Getaway - Asheville, NC - The Thirsty Monk

The last posting was out of order because I wanted to inject some fun!  I really just went around snapping pictures right and left.  I won't make you look at all of them, only the ones that tell a story or that I like.  Not sure which category this falls into.  I like the building, I like the signs.  The old 7-Up sign is cool.  (Did you ever play 7-Up in school?  If you did, you are old like me!! haha)

The Thirsty Monk was recommended by some young locals sitting at a bus stop.  We didn't like it and left because we couldn't figure out how to get a beer.  No one came to our table.  There was no serving wench in sight and the ladies at the other table didn't have anything on their table either.  Kirby did find the restroom though and it was a very interesting looking place.  There was no shortage of places to eat or get a beer in Asheville!

Mountain Getaway - Asheville, NC

We spent an afternoon in Asheville, NC and could spend a few more days there and not be finished.  It will take me some time to share all the pictures.  This one is a funny story and an embarrassment to me!

Let me begin at the beginning.  We were sitting in the pub having an ale and awaiting our lunch.  Someone says to me that I should get a picture of the great food being served behind me.  I take a look and, yes, it is great looking and I politely ask if the gentleman would mind if I take a picture of his food. In a very resigned voice, he says it is OK.  So I quickly snap my picture, thank the young man and sit back down, again with my back to him.  At that point everyone at my table starts berating me for doing that!  How could I?  How rude after what just happened to him!

Well, now remember that not only did I have my back to him, I am a little hard of hearing.  So, unbeknownst to me, just prior to my taking the picture, the waitress poured ketchup all over his shirt and OH, my goodness it is in the picture!  I had no idea that had happened and felt terrible about it.  I was voted down when I wanted to go apologize.  He must have thought me a real sickie.  But great looking food isn't it?

Mountain Getaway - The Dogs

Dogs were welcome on our trip and that certainly made everyone happy!

Jake, as you probably know, is our dog that we rescued almost 3 years ago.  He was in heaven up there!

And this is Jen and Phil's dog, Ozzie.

This sweetie is Tiffers, Marc's young dog.

Jake was not too thrilled about Tiff chewing on his bone, but he loves her so it was OK!

See, he could even sleep while she chewed on it!  Actually, there is no way to tell if he was really asleep because he is good at closing his eyes when I take his picture so you really don't know for sure!!

They all got along so well and enjoyed the vacation as much as we did.  The funny part was the spiral staircase that went to the lower level.  Ozzie said, No way, I am not going on that thing!  And so mommy carried him.  Jake said, No way, I am not going on that thing and mommy could not carry him.  I had to let him out the door, go up/down the spiral staircase and them call him to the other door.  He would come running and by they last day he was beating me to the door.  Now, Tiffers, she just ran up and down the spiral without a thought!  Dogs are so fun!

Mountain Getaway - Henderson, NC - Bears!

There was some sort of Bear thing going on in Hendersonville when we were there.  They were all over the town.  A local told me that a the end of the summer they would have an auction for them.  I love this one!  But check out the others that I got pictures of.  I know I missed some of them.  And enlarge them also so you can see the details.  Such fun!

Mountain Getaway - Hendersonville

Jennifer, Phil and Kirby

We spent a couple of lunches in Hendersonville, NC.  Here we are at Hannah Flanagan's.  The service was TERRIBLE the first day so we had lunch elsewhere.  The next day the service was better so we stayed for lunch.

Jennifer

Jen and I spent some time in the local shops while the guys patiently waited for us.  I loved the bag store and went back the next day and bought one that looks almost like the red-orange stripe one.  Jen got the purple and black one. It was really hard to chose! I have some sort of a bag fetish and never have enough of them!

Phil and Kirby

Phil and Marc

This is the second day at Hannah Flanagan's.  Great nachos and I didn't get a picture!  But you can certainly tell that Marc was having a great time!

Jennifer and Phil

Mountain Getaway - The House

 Here you have it!  The most beautiful mountain house in North Carolina!  We fell in love and were so appreciative of the friend who gave us the key for a few days!

The kitchen was lovely with granite and 2 - that is two separate sinks.  One to the right and one on the left.  Two separate work areas.  How thoughtful!

The graceful staircase lead up to the loft and 2 more bedrooms.  The hallway that you can see from the living room goes to the Master Suite.

We spent a lot of time relaxing in the living room.  The rule was - only classical music.  I spent a lot of time looking DOWN on the trees from the windows!  God's View!

We enjoyed all of our meals at this wonderful pine table in the dining room.

This is the Master Bedroom.  It just doesn't get any better!

More of the Master Bedroom.  It was very, very warm while we were there so we didn't try the fireplaces.

I loved sitting in the rocking chair on the Master Sun Porch and reading.  This was one very special place!

My bathroom had a large soaking tub which I didn't use because - well, I just don't do tubs.  But I loved the large shower with hand painted tiles.

This was Marc's room.

And Marc's bathroom

Can you believe that I totally forgot to get pictures of the downstairs.  There was a full kitchen, a huge bedroom and bath with sitting area and beautiful bathroom and there was a Pool Room with regulation pool table!  I love the pool table!  I actually got some of the balls in the little pockets too!

OK, you will have to wait for the next installment to see more pictures!  And - if you are interested in renting this gorgeous place, send me an email and I will get you in touch with the right person!

Mountain Getaway

Thanks to the graciousness of a friend we had a 4 day mountain getaway this past week.  The home we stayed in is located in the mountains of North Carolina - just about a 4 hour drive for us.  The name of the "retreat" is Angel's Rest.  As we headed up the steep gravel road this sign assured us we had the correct road.

You really can't tell how steep the road is in this picture but we were told not to slow down and definately don't stop as we would never get going again!  But I think you can see how beautiful it was up there.

We arrived at the house which from the outside was very unassuming.  We were very surprised when we entered this glorious home.

This picture was taken from the sun deck.  I will add more pictures of the home and our fun as the week goes on.  Now I need to get ready to re-enter the work world tomorrow.  Just a few days gone and I have forgotten all about work!

We Have Tomatoes

Kirby has done it again this year.  We have dozens of tomatoes ripening right now.  They are so good that it makes it hard the rest of the year to eat a tomato.  I mean, who wants a production tomato after this!

 I am having way too much fun with this new tool, Be Funky!