Back in Cincinnati

Well, the Raleigh and Asheville trip is well over and I'm dreaming about the next trip. The useless casino (my view only, obviously) being built across the street from Kent has completely ruined his view from one side, but luckily not the west side.

May 30, 2012 -- Last day in Asheville, North Carolina

We walked downtown from Montford on our last day, stopping briefly at the Thomas Wolfe Memorial. Due to a shortage of time, we weren't able to take it fully in, but admired his home, which looks very odd with the modern condo high-rise next door. I never knew Wolfe was so tall. That was a surprise. We weren't quite sure about the chrome sculpture nearby, but admired the design, as well as all the blooming flowers.

After lunch at the Laughing Seed, a stop to get a blouse and candy for me at Mast, and a short amount of downtown browsing, we headed back to Louisa's Porch. Kent said goodbye to Leo. If you need a place to stay in Asheville, I can heartily recommend Louisa's. I wish I was having their breakfast right now.

Before leaving Asheville, we did make a stop at Krispy Kreme so I could enjoy a HOT (you have to have it HOT) glazed, melt in your mouth, doughnut. They sadly aren't in the Cincinnati area except for pre-packaged boxes at the grocery store, which aren't worth the calories (maybe it's best for me that they're not here anymore), so I make a point of indulging on those rare occasions. I can't wait for the next visit.

May 29, 2012 -- Biltmore, Asheville, North Carolina

I suppose it does seem like I'm extending this vacation, but then I wouldn't mind being back in Asheville. We can never pass up going to Biltmore when we come to Asheville. It just wouldn't make sense. It was more crowded than back in March, but not too terribly packed on a weekday. Having seen the home many times, we spent our time taking in the grounds and the conservatory, before lunch, gift shops, and Antler Hill Village for the current exhibit.

Due to the heat, humidity, and all the running around, I collapsed that evening. A long shower followed by numbing TV watching fit the bill.

May 28, 2012 -- Off to Asheville

As we left our hotel in Raleigh, we kept seeing a guy at Trader Joe's jumping up and down on some raised surface. Just as we turned we realized he was making room in the dumpster for more trash. I suppose it had been a busy Memorial Day weekend. Kent's family wasn't able to host us this visit, so we stayed at a B & B in the Montford area of Asheville called Louisa's Porch, and what a delightful stay we had. The room was lovely, the neighborhood so quiet, and the the breakfast was amazing. I also got to indulge in my TV watching as they had satellite! Of course, we knew we chose well when neighbor, Leo, chose to say hello.

We had a nice walk around the neighborhood, admiring the cool bungalows before setting off for dinner at Kent's parents' home. A stop at The Hop finished the evening off nicely. As usual, I focused more on eating my ice cream than filming, but it was salted caramel and yummy. Kent had kale, which he enjoyed and wants to try the Kombucha sorbet next time. I'll stick with the salted caramel.

May 27, 2012 -- Raleigh, North Carolina, bonus

I'm still loving loving loving these chairs at the North Carolina Museum of Art (made with my iPod Touch, which for some reason Blip has decided to turn the clip sideways, but it still shows those fabulous chairs).

May 27, 2012 -- Raleigh, North Carolina

Well, we made it back to the Capital Rose garden, and luckily there were no hula hoops or loud music. In fact, it was so peaceful there were a few men doing tai chi. The early spring had caused a number of the roses to wilt already, but some were still holding up.

Next we stopped at Cup A Joe for some much needed caffeine and to check out the funky architecture nearby. After a brief (well, maybe not so brief) stop at a Nice Price Books, we went to the North Carolina Museum of Art. I love love love the lobby area in their new building because I love love love those chairs. The sculpture garden with the lotus pond and Rodin sculptures were quite lovely too. Next time, when hopefully it's not so humid, we'll take in more of the grounds surrounding the museum.

5.26.12 -- Raleigh, North Carolina

After recovering from the long drive (mostly with lots of strong coffee and very good freshly-made mini-donuts at Sola) we headed out to explore. First we tried to find David Sedaris' childhood home, but it appeared to be slightly off the street, so we couldn't get a good look at it and didn't want to have our trip affected by possibly being arrested for trespassing, so we headed downtown. Kent was disappointed that there weren't pony rides when he was a boy (and that they wouldn't let adults take part now). We then went inside the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences for what we really came to see -- the newly discovered emeralds. They were gorgeous. I lust!

It was interesting seeing that Raleigh has electric car charging stations downtown, but sad that I didn't see any electric cars charging next to them. The new massive globe attached to the Natural Sciences museum was almost as amazing as the emeralds and quite the interactive exhibit.

Then we wandered around downtown, going inside the capital building. I remember one of my early art history courses as an undergraduate seeing the slides of the Canova sculpture of George Washington in a toga. It was very amusing to us all then, but I must say it is a beautiful statue, and George has very shapely legs.

A recharging experience of our own was needed at Turkish Delights, with banana ice cream for me and Turkish coffee for Kent. Condos reminiscent of South Beach seemed to be popping up everywhere. We tried to visit the Capital rose garden, even venturing onto the Little Theatre Company's stage to get there, but a wedding reception with lots of loud music and hula hoops caused us to wait and try again tomorrow.

May 25, 2012 -- On our way

We decided to take a long holiday weekend and go to Raleigh, where Kent grew up, and then stop in Asheville. It was a long and somewhat boring drive. Thankfully the traffic was mostly light except for a brief traffic congestion in West Virginia. The area around Charleston, West Virginia reminded me slightly of the Cincinnati area with its many bridges. The gold dome on its capital was eye-catching compared to many others we saw.

Kent had been content to just stop at the visitors center near Tamarack, outside of Charleston, to use the facility and get some refreshment. I on the other hand was curious to check out the center and, smart man that he is, he did not stand in my way of a potential shopping experience. Tamarack reminded me of a larger version of the Berea Artisan Center. There were even working artists making their wares in the facility.

We arrived in Raleigh late that night and very tired.

5.20.12 -- Mt. Airy Forest & Bellevue Hill Park, Cincinnati, Ohio

As usual I'm playing catch-up. We had a lovely Sunday in two parks two Sundays ago. First we stopped at Mt. Airy Forest, which was eerily quiet. I enjoyed all the Asian trees throughout (or the short throughout we went to on a hot day before enjoying ice cream at Putz's). It would have been nice if there was a bench or some sort of seating on the gazebo.

After ice cream (sorry, no time to film or else it would have melted) we went to Bellevue Hill Park, not far from where I used to live. I'd never been there, but fell in love with the architecture. It seemed to me like a cross between Frank Lloyd Wright and the California architects who were influenced by him (it even has cantilevers!).

While the view of downtown Cincinnati was eye-catching, I kept being drawn back to the mushroom-like/spaceship-like structures, and the view of the sky from the cut outs.