Anniversary Trip to Asheville

Last week was our 31st wedding anniversary. Uncharacteristically, we took a day to ourselves and spent it in Asheville.  Patrick made lunch and dinner reservations for us but would only tell me what time the reservations were, not where.  We took advantage of shopping at stores we do not have access to in our town, visited two art galleries, walked around historic Biltmore Village and thoroughly enjoyed our meals.  We had a blast and decided we should try to do this a few times a year.  Here is a recap of our day in pictures.......

 With both our foot problems we are very limited in the kinds of shoes we can wear; so this place gets our business. They carry all the name brands at lower prices.  We love this place; as do our feet.

A fun, healthy grocery store.  We can get things in bulk and other stuff you won't find in your mainstream grocery.  Leave it to Asheville to have three of these.  They even have a restaurant inside.  We took a cooler as we knew we planned to stop by here. 

Pat bought a new bench for his shop and we found all sorts of odds and ends that are needed around the house and yard.  Their ad came to the house a week before our trip so he went thru it and circled all the things he was on the lookout for.  Sorry Lowes, they beat the heck out of you. 

We ended our day with culture.

Biltmore village was built in the late 1800's when George Vanderbilt was constructing Biltmore Estates.  It was the neighborhood for all the people that built, worked and served the estate. Quaint homes have been turned into stores, galleries, restaurants, etc.  More recently it has been added to as you can imagine with upscale stores and hotels. 

New morning gallery is a well-known gallery which sells beautiful art pieces of all forms. Clay, paint, jewelry, fibers, wood, metal.....you name it and it is there. All of it is amazingly creative and beautiful.  

The Southern Highlands Craft Guild is housed here. The 80 year old guilt showcases the finest in traditional and contemporary crafts of the Southern Appalachians, a 9 state region. Amazing artists have their work on display here. Some is very simple and others are very intricate. Artist are honored to have their work accepted here and we have the pleasure of owning a pottery piece by Hamilton Williams, one of the artists who lives in Morganton and also sells some of his items at our local farmers market.  

Where we ate lunch

This restaurant came highly recommended from several people. As expected, lunch was awesome so Patrick suggested we purchase the cookbooks.  Twist my arm!!!! Everything we ate is featured in the books. The one item that wasn't in the book we requested and the chef gladly gave it to us. When our server brought it to us he apologized that it was sized for restaurant quantity and he hoped I could adjust the recipe.  No problem for this dietitian.  

Dinner in Biltmore Village

Built in 1890, this house was occupied first by the Waddell Family, who were the parents of one of the Estate's engineers. For the last 20 years it has been a restaurant. We enjoyed beautifully presented meals and dessert. Patrick had Cuban Style Grilled Swordfish on Black Beans & Yellow Rice and Grilled Pineapple Salsa while Lisa had Slow Braised Local Pork Shank with Soft Parmesan Polenta, Grilled Zucchini and Gremolata.  We finished it off with Chocolate Mousse Cake. 

Wonderful Day!