So, despite rain, and attending many day time sessions and nighttime receptions at Type A Mom, I still found time to take daily walks around the very beautiful little mountain town of Asheville .  Here are but a few of the many photos I took during those walks.

 

Robin of Ballstowallyall.com’s very apt postcard, me totally pulling off orange in the airport gift shop (I know, right?), this lovely estate in the mountains that I could see from our hotel, the regular view from our hotel, Thomas Wolfe’s house / memorial, and my super-favorite place The Sister’s McMullen – where I went daily for the best damn homemade mint iced tea I’ve ever had, delicious cupcakes and the nicest guy working the counter.

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The ‘Double D’ coffee shop double-decker bus, downtown Asheville stuff, canopy like trees, a very fitting bumper-sticker for that conference, art thingy on the side of a building, Loft – a store I took a whole lotta photos in, and I bought some pretty rad treasures there too.

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No one wanted to walk the 3rd day because of the rain…rain schmain, Mast General Store – a huge old place with all kinds of old-timey goodies, the Mellow Mushroom (where we ate dinner twice because it was so good and the service was great), and an awesome bit of graffiti by the record store.

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I loved walking the backstreets, seeing the seedier and overgrown areas, the mailbox just looked cool, the toilet on the loading dock made me laugh, dove carrying a hand-grenade graffiti, overgrown ‘Love’, The Orange Peel (missed Brian Posehn by only a few days, damn!), the top of the hill at Lexington, long sloping drive ways, that pair of heels was a surreal sight, and the sculptures around town reminded me of home.

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While looking for one record store, I found another – Static Age, where I looked through local vinyl and bought a few 7-inchs for Gary, laughed at the cassette section sign, and walked past a tattoo shop that has a waterfall thingy outside, then onto Kress where there were more art sections than I can include here.

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Antiques are something North Carolina is kinda known for, and this one shop (The Leader) was a fun mix of actual antiques and novelties (I picked up a horseshoe there from the 30’s, for just $4, sweet!). They had so much European war stuff, it was ridiculous. Then I went onto a stationary shop (Write On) with metal creatures and super-cool stickers, paper products, and gifts. I passed by an interesting gallery that was sadly closed, but had many sculptures of bottom-heavy women in the window, and then I wandered in and out of several vintage and funky clothing shops.

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After 3 days of walking around, I went through one last cute store full of vintage-y jewelry, fun dresses, and loads of accessories, and wound up savoring a bit of my last overcast day in the bins of Voltage Records, where I found many great records, and even the 45 of the first song my husband and I danced to at our wedding (we love Willie Nelson). After buying records, a few little things for the kids, and one last stop at The Sister’s McMullen, I headed back to the hotel in time for the cab that would take us to the airport…and wouldn’t you know, that rain started up again (and me without an umbrella).

Farewell, Asheville – I loved hanging out with you!