North Carolina, Asheville - Wednesday, May 20, 2015 - Asheville Outlet Mall

We’ve been really laid back this week.  After our Sunday outing with Les and Amy we’ve done some pretty mundane things – grocery shopping, prescription refills, laundry.  This was my view yesterday afternoon, kicked back in a chair on the patio.

 

 

Today we thought about going to Biltmore, but instead we did something we rarely do – we went shopping for things other than groceries.  Right now we have everything we need and everything has a place so, shopping doesn’t happen unless we really, really need it.  Greg needed a new pair of tennis shoes so we went to the Asheville Outlet Mall that is just down the road from where we are staying.  I’ve been a fan of Skechers shoes for some time now – love the memory foam soles.  We noticed they started advertising them for men just recently so he thought he would try a pair.  Rack Room Shoes had “buy one, get one half off” and I still had one empty cubbie in the shoe rack, so guess who else got a new pair of shoes J.  I was trying on a pair of my usual white choice and Greg pointed out I came in wearing a white pair, I had a new white pair at home - I needed to get a little daring.

Daughter Desira would have loved this store, they had aisles of the Nike shoes she likes in all colors of the rainbow – the flashier the better for her.

This evening I’m making a list of some new recipes I want to try next week while we are at the rally.  I’m thinking I might be able to find some taste testers besides Greg and I.  I’ll post if I come up with anything really good.

North Carolina, Asheville - Monday, May 18, 2015 - Asheville Farmer's Market

We had to go into Asheville to get our prescriptions refilled this morning.  After that we headed to the Asheville Farmer’s Market.

 

 

Building A has a lot to offer. 

Then there is Building B.  Honey and jams were overly abundant.

We found some wonderful semi-sweet wines at the Wood Mill Winery booth.  Our wine cooler was empty so we had to purchase some J.

For lunch we decided to go to the Moose Café, a farm to table restaurant at the Farmer’s Market.

This is Moose.

The biscuits were big and very tasty.

I chose Virginia ham with sides of pinto beans and spinach salad.  Yes, the ham slice is the size of the plate.

Greg chose chicken and dumplings with mashed potatoes and spinach salad.  He said the mashed potatoes were “real” they had some lumps in them.

The food was good, the service and the presentation were a little haphazard.

This is our stash from the Farmer’s Market – good day.  Rain came in not too long after we got home.

 

North Carolina, Asheville - Sunday, May 17, 2015 - Scenes from Asheville, NC

The Lobster Trap restaurant was our destination for the evening.  Great food, unfortunately, I was done eating it before I realized I didn’t take any pictures.  We can recommend the large bowl of steamed shrimp and lobster mac and cheese.

 

 

We caught up with our friends Les and Amy who have lived here for the past year.  It was great to see them again.  They were kind enough to come pick us up and give us a tour of the downtown Asheville area.  Lots to see and do, I can understand why they picked this area.

The blue building is the French Broad Chocolate Lounge.  French Broad is the name of a nearby river, not a reference to a French “lady”.

 

 

Les told us that there is some controversy surrounding this monument.  I guess in the past it was where slave trading was conducted.  Right now it is undergoing some repair work.

This plaque was on the front of the monument.

 

 

The pigs were also in front of the monument, I’m not sure what their significance is but the kids liked to have their picture taken with them.

 

 

There was a swing band playing in one of the parks tonight.  The two buildings in the background are government buildings, don’t see architecture like that in most government buildings.

This building is the Flat Iron Building.  There is supposed to be a bar on top of it where you can view the city.

I’m not sure whether the Flat Iron Building or the Flat Iron Sculpture came first, both of them are interesting.

This is the view down Wall Street, Asheville.  Note the knitted cozies on the lampposts, and parking meters.

 

 

Street musicians were starting to come out as we were walking around.  I had no idea so much rhythm could come from a set of spoons – she was great.

 

 

We brought dessert back home from the French Broad Chocolate Lounge – brownies with crunchy chocolate nibs – excellent.  Greg thought they were a little dry and added whipped cream and pecans to his.  I thought it was wonderful as is but I prefer cake-like brownies over fudgy brownies.  I offered to eat his if he didn’t like it and he was quick to decline J

 

 

The Ashville Farmer’s Market is just across the street from where we are staying, may try to get to it tomorrow.  The last time we were in this area our friends Barb and Ann introduced us to the market – we had such a good time with them.  They are back in Indiana now taking care of their race horses.  We look forward to catching up with them when we get to Indiana.  

North Carolina, Asheville - Friday, May 15, 2015 - Bear Creek RV Park

We are in site 27 in Bear Creek RV Park, Asheville, NC.  If we are in this area again we need to ask for site 35, looks like it has more patio room.

 

 

The weather was pretty overcast as we left South Carolina this morning.  Our GPS sent us on the scenic route, nice views, hard on fuel mileage.

Looks like North Carolina crews are getting ready for some road work.

The weather cleared up as we got into North Carolina.

Bear Creek RV Park has been in business since 1981.  It’s a nice campground.  All sites are paved and surprisingly level.  The site we are in goes uphill coming off the road so where we park the bike is a little awkward to maneuver.  If you come here and park in site 27 be sure to have extra sewer hose.  The sewer hookup is at the rear of this site.  We had three sections with us and had to go after another one.  Luckily, Camping World is only about 15 miles away.

The pool is open during office hours 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.  We haven’t checked it out but it is supposed to be heated.

Laundry rooms are small, but look functional.  There are two of them on site.

We can see Biltmore from the park J.