June 13-16, 2024

Thursday morning we arose at a reasonable time; Abigail logged into work and Deb & Mark each took turns in the shower. This time a granite surround shower, large with a grab bar integrated into the shower fixture - a sliding handheld that doubled as the main shower head. We made a cup of coffee from the provided treats bar, using the modern SMEG electric kettle. Sometime later in the morning, we discovered that the coffee, while very tasty, was actually part of the honor bar and we had just consumed two $5.00 packets of coffee! What’s kind of hotel doesn’t provide in-room coffee? Evidently, the answer is The Radical in the Asheville River Arts District.

At noon, we loaded our traveling  “gimps” into the RAV 4 and embarked for the nearby town of Black Mountain, our destination being the Black Mountain Wool store. Black Mountain is a a very nicely turned out crafts town - all local stores and restaurants. Abigail scored some nice yarn, and enlisted the store owners to follow her on her Instagram feed. Abigail had shopped at their on-line store and was glad to see the goods and people in person and on display.

After shopping, Mark headed across to the local hardware store to purchase an additional walking stick, as Abigail had appropriated his. We then settled into a small German Restaurant for our lunch. Abigail picked a pork schnitzel accompanied by Spätzle and home fried potatoes. Deb picked a Ruben sandwich on German rye, and Mark chose a ham and Swiss, also on the German rye bread. Deb had a glass of wine and a bag of chips while Mark stuck to the theme with a glass of dark ale and cold German potato salad.  

Next back to the hotel so Abigail could get back to work. Mark and Deb spent 30 minutes searching for Deb’s iPhone that had disappeared; finally located in the back seat of the car, slipped into a crack in the seat. Abandoning Abigail to her work (or leaving her in peace - depending on your outlook,) Deb & Mark drove on to the Biltmore Estate, only 15 minutes away from our hotel location. We drove to the visitor services building for tickets.

Unfortunately, the house closed to guests at 3:30 PM, and it was now 3:20 PM. However we could purchase tickets to the garden and grounds. These were a “bargain” at only $75.00 each. Lucky for us the house was off limits for the day or we would have had to shell out another $60.00!

We drove to one of the parking lots, billed as a short walk to the house lot. Off we started, but before long, Mark’s back began to give out. He headed back to the car to move it to the shuttle lot and catch the shuttle, Deb soldiered on (another 1/4 mile around the bend!) Mark was to catch the shuttle and meet up with her. The shuttle lot was a solid five miles from the walking lot; just as Mark pulled into the lot and was locking up the car to walk to the shuttle stand, Deb called to say that she was done. So, Mark went back to the car and drove back to the first lot to await Deb’s return. We then drove off through the entry and past the kitchen garden, which Mark did get to see.

Our destination was the winery building on the grounds to purchase some wine grown on the estate. This lot also was some 10 miles from our position. We arrived and took one glance at the steep steps up to the winery building, noting that it was now  4:30 PM and that we had a 6:00 PM dinner reservation. Executive decision time - we headed back to the Hotel.

To be fair, the Biltmore Estate and Gardens are magnificent. The estate encompasses some 8,000 acres of ground; the house is the largest private residence in the United States, over 250 rooms, over multiple floors, covering some 18,000 square feet. We would recommend that anyone near the Asheville area plan to invest a day and tour both the home and the grounds. We, however, did not feel too bad (although the cost for what we experienced was regrettable.) We have seen and toured so many huge castles, homes and manor houses through out Europe, that they all tend to run together. One more would have just added to the overload.

We dined Thursday evening at the hotel restaurant - the Golden Hour. This was one of the most delicious meals we have ever enjoyed, the room is interesting, service was excellent and the food marvelous. For a starter we chose  deviled blue crab dip; Abigail enjoyed a double patty smash burger, interlaced with cheese, together with very well prepared French fries. Deb enjoyed Duck Confit, accompanied by charred and raw summer root vegetables; Mark picked the Market Fish, today a Cobia (Grouper) with spring alliums & olives, underlaid by a bruschetta. For dessert, Deb enjoyed chocolate and sorghum (vanilla)  pots de creme; Abigail picked the carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Both Abigail and Deb declared it the best carrot cake they had ever tasted, no raisins or fruit included in the batter, just pure sweet carrot with plenty of sugar and flavoring.  Abigail enjoyed a hibiscus tequila cocktail, Deb a filthy Martini, and Mark stuck with a Cabernet franc. A wonderful dining experience to top a good day.

Friday morning we arose on time and were out of our room by 8:30 AM. Only one minor mishap as Abigail managed to catch her little finger in a heavy steel door, smashing it, and, for a moment thinking it had broken. Luckily only very sore and now with an ugly bruise. We needed to get out of here and get our girl on the road. Abigail loaded into the front passenger seat, set up her computer and was quickly logged on to her office. The destination today is Nashville. This is about a four hour drive and we made good time, rolling into Nashville around 12:30 PM and arriving at the City View Hampton Inn. this is a very new and nice 10 story hotel in downtown, which featured a rooftop swimming pool with bar and snacks. We sat in the bar, enjoying the view and dining on s pair of cheese pizzas and a bowl of chips with a selection of dips, together with a glass of wine. 

Refreshed, we headed to our reason for being in Nashville - Ann Padgett’s Parnassus Book Store. It was not too distant from the hotel. Perhaps a 20 minute drive, and we browsed, read and purchased. Very reminiscent of our own Bookworm shop in Omaha. 

One last stop in Nashville, their exact reproduction of the Parthenon of Athens. Strange, but it seems that in 1897, for the Tennessee Centennial Celebration in Nashville, the city fathers decided to construct this exact reproduction in order to play up to their nickname as the “Athens of the South.” The building is the center the Centennial Park in Nashville and now serves as a museum. We stopped at a Walgreen’s for a fresh supply of Dramamine and then back to the hotel for resting, packing and turning in early for the long Saturday drive.

We were out of our hotel by 7:15 AM after a stop at the Hampton Inn breakfast bar, with no more injuries. 12 hours later, we rolled into Omaha and pulled up to Abigail’s house at 6:30 PM. We had touched in twelve States: Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Nebraska. Not counting our home state, we had laid our heads in five of those states. We traveled  3,380 miles, spent quality time with relatives, brought back a lot of memories, and brought home one broken daughter! Apologies to Abigail for her damaging holiday, she will think twice before traveling with us again but probably will not forget the experience in many a year!

June 11-12, 2024

Tuesday morning and we are ready to leave Charleston. We were packed and out of our room by 10:00 AM. Mark assumed piloting controls while Abigail was in the co-pilot seat logged in to her work computer and processing payroll as we motored south. Another good driving day. Partly cloudy, no rain in the forecast and a high during the afternoon of 91ºF.  As US Route 17 merged with I-95 just north of the town of Coosawatchie we stopped for a fuel top off and a bit of McDonald’s. Two soft serve ice cream cones and a black coffee later we piled into the vehicle to join the concrete ribbon southward. As Deb was wrestling with her seatbelt, her cone took a dive to the floor of the rear passenger compartment. Expletives were uttered, the dirt encrusted cone was unceremoniously stuffed into the empty coffee cup and we were on the I-95 route south. We arrived in Savannah about 12:30 PM. At the Olde Harbor Inn, our hotel room was not ready so we left our bags with the porter and walked down some very steep steps to the Savannah River to walk and shop.

We picked the Shrimp Factory Restaurant for our lunch. A starter of Oysters Rockefeller was followed by a bowl of shrimp bisque, a po’boy shrimp sandwich, and a shrimp & grits platter. There was salad, red wine, dark ale and a rum based Savanna Breeze cocktail. We shopped at the market stalls, the 5 & 10 tourist trap shop (the true meaning of the phrase “nickeled and dimed,”) and eventually climbed the steep steps back up to our hotel. The rooms were ready so we checked these out, Deb and Abigail napped and Mark read for a while. The luncheon had been late and large - we opted to break out our road snacks, some cheese, and wine for our dinner. We watched a bit of TV and bedded down for the night.

The accommodation at The Olde Harbor Inn was a two bedroom suite - one bath, a sitting room, a bedroom and another bedroom loft above; an old facility nicely rehabbed and furnished. Savannah is the largest shipping container port on the east coast, and they are enlarging it even more. As these HUGE container ships passed by on the river, one can easily see how a ship took out the bridge in Baltimore earlier in the year. These behemoth, self propelled barges tower some sixty feet above the water line, stacked with thousands of shipping containers, and they stretch for at least one hundred yards. There would be no way to stop them once they begin moving and are totally at the behest of the tugboats. It was a startling sight to see what our consumerism has wrought.

The next morning we marshaled our luggage up and carried it down the steps to our trusty RAV 4. We loaded up and walked back down the steps to pick up the Hop-On Hop-Off bus tour we had booked. Abigail, being the good protective daughter, led us down the steps so we wouldn’t fall. One misstep, four steps up and Abigail’s foot turned and down she went. Sitting at the bottom of the steps, after righting herself, we quickly determined that she had done something to her ankle. This right foot had been broken before so there was real concern. Luckily Mark has been gimping along with his cane/walking stick, so Abigail regained in an upright status, Deb went back up to the lobby and obtained the address and phone number of an Urgent care clinic. We called an Uber and made our way there.

After two hours of x-ray and wrapping, the medic on duty was not sure if it was broken again or just badly sprained. The technician sent the prints on to the radiologist, we called another Uber and headed to the Churchill Pub, across from our hotel for a late lunch. Here we dined on a steak and ale pie, a shepherd’s pie and a “ploughman’s” lunch, all accompanied by wine, a Smithwick’s dark ale draft and a Pepsi.

Then, fueled by ersatz English Pub food and a healthy dosage of Advil, we found a stop for the missed bus tour and climbed onboard to tour the Savannah Historic District. The tour was informative and entertaining; we learned the history of Savannah and the historic district. Well worth the time.

Back in the car, we pointed our nose to Asheville, the destination of the day. As we were somewhat behind schedule, the 4+ hour drive was a bit tiring. Abigail received a phone call from the Urgent Care clinic - the foot was  broken and they recommended staying off the foot and putting a boot on it. Not good news when you are on the road! We arrived around 8:20 PM at our Asheville lodging - The Radical Hotel. This is a very modern, chic establishment in an old factory building. Luckily there is an elevator and grade entrance. We were too late for the kitchen, as it closed at 9:00 PM. Abigail ordered Taco Bell delivery, and Mark and Deb selected from our array of car snacks - this time Goldfish and M&M chocolate peanuts to accompany their evening red box wine! We tumbled into our beds, Abigail watching an NBA game, and Mark and Deb buried in their respective Kindle reading devices.

A truly eventful day, not the best we have ever had, but we are limping towards the finish line undaunted but “bloodied.”

 

June 9-10, 2024

Sunday morning and we are moving slowly. We packed the Toyota, more stuff than we had when we arrived - surprise, surprise. We found our way out of town and headed south, our eventual destination today is Charleston, South Carolina. As we saw the sign for Colonial Beach, we decided to see if we could find the location of Mt. Moriah farm, Mark’s boyhood summer haunt. This was the original farm purchased in the early 1900’s by his great-grandfather James R. Covert. The farm was sold to developers in the early 1960’s. For over 10 summers, Mark and his brothers and parents journeyed to King George County, Virginia to spent the entire summer at the farm. There they ran through the fields and woods, played marauding Indians and threw rotting walnuts at the outhouse.

We drove past Ninde Corner, found Tetotum Road, and eventually the sign for Mt. Moriah On The Potomac private community. We drove down the quiet lanes, passing huge McMansions tucked into the woods, and eventually found a drive that led to a bluff overlooking the Potomac River. There was the old summer home, now added upon and dressed up, but still there. We snapped a picture or two and then headed back toward the highway and turned south again.

We reached the Potomac Beach area at 11:30 AM and decided it was time to stop for lunch at the famous Wilkerson’s Seafood Restaurant for crab. They started service with deep fried fritters as an appetizer. We ordered crab cakes and a crab cake sandwich, accompanied by a salad bar, wine, cherry coke and a beer. The food was as excellent as we remembered, although very pricey. Back on the road, we continued through Colonial Beach and on towards South Carolina.

This was a very long driving day. Abigail occupied the gunner’s position in the rear and Deb and Mark switched back and forth in the pilot’s chair. Deb took the last shift and piloted us into Charleston at 9:20 PM - a very long drive with only one gas stop and a driver switchover. We arrived at our hotel, The Emeline, gave our vehicle over to the valet for the next two days and hired the bellman to haul our luggage up to the 4th floor. We poured ourselves a glass of wine, broke out the last of our cheese and crackers and called it a day.

The Hotel Emeline is perfectly located in old town Charleston. It aspires to be an upscale establishment and is nicely furnished. How ever similar to a Stephen King movie it may appear, it was not quite up to its self imposed standards. Although offering a pair of king sized beds, the mattresses were too soft. There was an inspiring marbled bath with separate toilet room, but only one small wastebasket; the shower, while of marble and commodious, lacked a grab bar for safety, especially when the soap got under foot on the marble floor. The pump bottle of lotion on the sink counter was nice, but soap would have been better. They were trying, but just a bit off the mark.

On Monday morning, we were up and looking for coffee; only cups in the room, but no coffee maker. It turns out the coffee machines were placed in the elevator lobby of each floor. Two espresso machines but only one was working. Mark schlepped the coffee back and forth, and then we decided it was time to explore. Abigail powered up her computer and logged into work. The rest of us showered, shaved and applied make-up. We broke for lunch and walked into the old market area and found Tommy Condon’s Irish restaurant. Abigail lunched on a beautiful set of fish and chips, Mark enjoyed a Ruben sandwich, and Deb indulged in a bowl of potato soup. Wine was ordered, and Abigail ordered a “Peach Paddy Rita,” essentially a peach Bellini margarita.  Deb and Mark headed out to explore the old Charleston Market Place while Abigail returned to the hotel lobby coffee shop to go back into work.

Deb and Mark returned about 3:00 PM, lightly laden but tired. Mark went up for a nap and Deb stayed with Abigail for a coffee and visit while she worked. We had arranged to meet our grandson Adrian at the nearby Mario’s Italian Ristorante for dinner, so we ordered an Uber and arrived to find Adrian at 6:00 PM. The restaurant was a charming local establishment with good service. We started with a Dirty Martini, a Lemon Drop Martini and the “boys” opted for a couple of glasses of the House Red wine. we moved on to Lasagna al Forno, Carbonara, Mussels in white wine sauce, and Linguine ala frutti de Mare. For dessert, there was cheesecake with a strawberries drizzle and a large cannoli covered in chocolate sauce.  All the food was excellent and we had a wonderful visit with Adrian, now stationed at Joint Base Charleston with  USAF. Rain showers had started as we finished our dinner, so we ordered a shared Uber to return us to the hotel and Adrian to his apartment near the base.

Back in the hotel, we read, watched the tail end of the movie Chicago and finally fell into a deep sleep, at least Mark and Deb did. The last waking view of Abigail was as she labored away on her fourth pair of knitted socks, on towards her goal of 10 pairs for June in celebration of Pride month. A good day, a great chance to visit our grandson/nephew and an exploration of a city, even if we didn't get to see that much.

June 6-8, 2024

We are on the Road Again! We knew it was time for a road trip, when we received an invitation from Mark’s cousin Marcia Covert Chaves for her 80th birthday party on the East coast and decided to make a trip of it. Abigail agreed to come along as our third driver, so, on Thursday, June 6, we loaded the car, Abigail’s computer, all our electronic devices, and left Omaha, headed for Fredericksburg, Virginia. We pulled out of our driveway at 7:10 AM and motored over to Abby’s house to pick her up. She was standing in the driveway, knitting in hand, awaiting our arrival (she had dropped off her suitcase the night before for pre-loading.)

The weather was beautiful, and with Mark behind the wheel, Abigail in the front seat with her lap desk, inverter plugged in and her computer fired up, Deb in the rear navigator/gunner position, we were on our way. Abigail promptly logged into her office and began work - a whole new meaning to working from the road. As she worked on various payrolls from around the country, we listened to NPR’s Morning Edition, sipped our coffee and headed south toward Kansas City on I-29. From KCMO, we turned left on I-70 towards St. Louis. Our expected destination on this first day was Frankfort, Kentucky, approximately 675 miles from home. We were packed with a cooler full of soda and water, pre-made sandwiches of cheese, peanut butter, or Swiss cheese/ salami to choose from, and an entire snack bag of chips and crackers. We were prepared! This was our first lengthy trip (down and back to Lincoln, NE doesn’t count) in our new Toyota RAV 4 (color, “Glacial Ice”) and we were anxious to see how this Hybrid performed on the highway. Although we missed our previous Subaru Crosstrek, we quickly realized the benefits of a more commodious vehicle with even more electronic gadgetry to confuse and befuddle us. 

Somewhere near Columbia, Missouri, we stopped at a McDonald’s for a burger, an ice cream cone, french fries and a bathroom break. We then dropped over to a gas station for refuelling and a driver switchover. Deb assumed piloting duties, and Mark repaired to the gunner’s chair to rest and read. Abigail continued in the co-pilot seat with commentary, in between emails to her office team members, clients, and attending to their payrolls. As the afternoon progressed, we sped through St. Louis and viewed the famous Gateway Arch (first time for Abby) as we crossed the Missouri, switched over from I-70 to I-64, and then the Mississippi, into Illinois. Next through Indiana, and then into Kentucky, winding our way through Louisville. Outside of Louisville, we stopped for another fuel break, and again switched pilots. this time Mark took back over the driving duties, Abigail, having logged off from work, moved to the gunner seat, and Deb switched into the co-pilots seat for navigator duties. 

We arrived at our destination, The Best Western Inn in Frankfort around 7:30 PM, a little over 12 hours on the road. We were tired, a bit cranky, but all still alive and unmaimed, although we had to send a proof of life picture of Mark to Darcy!  We had a glass of wine from our stash, finished off our sandwiches and fell into beds advertised as Queen Size but feeling suspiciously like double-bed size. No matter, we were tired and fell asleep with nary a sound of a TV.

Friday morning we were up, breakfasted at the morning breakfast bar, caffeinated, and reloaded for the road by 9:00 AM. We move onward to our final destination, with Mark in the pilot’s seat, Abigail again logged into work in the co-pilot’s seat and Deb in the rear gunner’s position (much to her chagrin). We passed through some wonderful horse country in Kentucky and then into the mountains of West Virginia. We remained on I-64, although at some point it became the West Virginia Turnpike, a Toll Road. As we pulled up to the first toll booth, Mark pulled out his trusty Visa card to hand to the cashier - “Sorry, no credit or debit cards - cash only!” A quick scramble for cash - $4.25 required - and we were on our way, with Mark grumbling for the next 150 miles and one more Toll Booth about “Who the HXXX doesn’t accept credit cards in this day and age? If they didn’t want to pay the credit card processing fee, just raise the price 25 cents!” (Deb’s note:  Ad Nauseum is the word that comes to mind).

We finally crossed into Virginia and heading  towards Charlottesville, still traveling on I-64. Reaching Charlottesville, we left the Interstate highway system and switched over to scenic small roads for the final run into Fredericksburg. Of course, there was the bickering amongst ourselves as to which route to follow, the one we thought we could see on the paper map, or the one our GPS was plotting for us. Abigail finally convinced the Bickersons in the front seat to “quit your bitchin’” and just follow the GPS, which turned out to be amazingly accurate, delivering us to our destination in Fredericksburg right at 6:30 PM. We checked into our hotel, drove  to cousin Marcia’s house to visit with her and her daughter Sara, both of whom took a break from their party preparations to welcome us. After a short visit, we returned to our hotel, The Hampton Inn, ordered delivery from the Neighborhood Taco Bell, (Crunchwrap’s and Burritos) ate in our motel room with another glass of wine from our stash box, and retired for the night. Still billed as Queen-sized beds, these were slightly larger (not much) but seemed to do the trick. We had ravelled 1,255 miles from Omaha and were ready to rest for a bit.

Saturday morning - Party day. We slept in a bit, showered and cleaned a bit and got down to the breakfast room just before the 10:00 closing time and enjoyed a decent breakfast. We snagged a bagel and cream cheese to take back to the room as Abigail was last up and still luxuriating in the shower. After dressing, Deb and Abigail struck out for a couple of Yarn shops they had located while Mark stayed behind to read and relax. When the ladies returned, we rested for a bit, changed into our Party clothes after a bit of ironing to square away a blouse or two, and then off to the party at Belmont, the home of the late artist Gari Melcher. The estate is now an historical site and includes a lovely venue for weddings receptions and parties. Marcia, the guest of honour, was looking lovely as she greeted over 100 of her friends and relatives. 

We visited with a lot of Mark’s relatives and friends from years past. Mark spent most every summer of his youth in the Fredericksburg area, attended the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, and was enjoying seeing all these people although, luckily for name tags, he didn’t have to struggle too much to recognise some of the guests. Marcia’s late husband, Juan Chaves, was a roommate of Mark’s at UVA and Mark introduced the couple. A bit of Cupid mischievous that actually worked!

The party and photo taking stretched a bit past 4:00 PM. As this day is “knit in public” day, we stopped for a quick knit on a lovely bench. We returned to the hotel room, changed clothes and then journeyed back to Marcia’s house for a visit. We left there around 7:00 PM, saying our long Nebraska goodbyes, and then headed for dinner. We had researched the internet and double checked some of our choices with locals and finally chose the Paradise Diner. Great choice. We had a couple of glasses of Pinot Noir, accompanying a souvlakia sandwich, a crab cake sandwich, and turkey and gravy with mashed potatoes. The food was really good, especially after so many days of fast food.

We returned, to rest read and watch super-regional baseball before falling asleep at nearly 10:30 PM. We had a whirlwind trip and tomorrow we hit the road again, touring further south with a goal of Charleston SC. Our grandson, Adrian covert is stationed at Joint Base Charleston in the Air force and we are hoping to catch up with him for at least a meal. More driving coming up.