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 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.

Rewind -- December 24 & 25, 2011 -- Asheville, North Carolina

We went to visit Kent's family over the holidays in Asheville. During our visit to Biltmore one of the drivers mentioned the Guastivino dome in the Saint Lawrence Basilica downtown, so we stopped to visit. It truly was beautiful. I'm glad the FLIP is small and quiet, as people were privately worshipping.

Wanting some fresh air on Christmas day, we drove threw the Montford historic district. While we saw many gorgeous old homes, I fell in the love with the orange bungalow. Love it!