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 a 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 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.