Deep South Tour Fall 2011 - Day 2

Day2
We woke after a good nights sleep at the Days Inn Downtown in Atlanta and headed down for breakfast which was included in our stay. There was nothing special about the buffet breakfast but it gave us the easiest start to the day when we had already decided to move on to Asheville as soon as possible as we were going to spend a few days in Atlanta at the end of the tour.
While we sat in a window seat eating breakfast a guy who obviously lived on the street sat himself down outside the hotel. We were not surprised when one of the hotel staff went out to him but instead of sending him away she took him some breakfast. We noted that as he finished and moved off he was careful to clear up all his rubbish. It was another example of the friendliness we were due to encounter all over the south.
I took a few pictures of the hotel and surrounds while I was reloading the car and we set off for Asheville, North Carolina by about 10.00.
We travelled through some of South Carolina and were intrigued by the frequent signs advertising “Home Boiled Peanuts”. I’m a peanut fan but we didn’t stop to buy and the signs disappeared as soon as we entered North Carolina.
We checked into the Ramada Inn at River Ridge in Asheville by 1300, which was a pleasing hotel/motel and as we were to find was common we had two beds of at least British double proportions. We were due to stay two nights so we needed to unpack and set up our luggage to make life easier on our tour. We put all the tea making equipment into a small sports bag that came over in the hold luggage along with books and snacks. My backpack contains the cameras, video and still, the laptop and the holiday file. Then we make sure there are enough clothes in one of our two big bags so that the other can remain in the trunk of the car. It was around this time that we realised that we had a phone problem, my UK mobile is basic and doesn’t do transatlantic, Julia’s is capable of it but we had brought the wrong charging lead and it was flat so no help. The US mobile we had bought in a previous visit had no credit on it.
We had included Asheville on the extension of the basic tour for two reasons, firstly to tick off another State and secondly to catch up with Joe Barber who stayed with us while playing for Derby Trailblazers in the 2006/07 season. We thought he had always lived in Asheville so we wondered if we would see him and his family. We had been in contact via Facebook and had his number so after a few failed attempts to ring him from the room with the help of reception Julia managed to tell him we had arrived. He works coordinating sport in the Asheville area based at the YMCA but he makes his own hours so he was able to come over and visit with us in the hotel.
He heartily recommended a visit to Biltmore House which would take up most of the following day and he was emphatic that we should eat in the Downtown area of Asheville as it is at its most cosmopolitan in the evening. Disappointingly he was unable to join us that evening as he was working then at training with his basketball team. We agreed to meet up the next day after a meeting he had in the morning and he then had to go back to work but he lead us to a Bestbuy where we were able to put some AT&T credit on to our US phone although we ended up with another number as the previous one had expired.
We spotted a Chilis restaurant as we headed back to the hotel and stored its location as they are a super-safe option for cheap but enjoyable eating. We also stopped at the local Walmart to pick up milk, which sadly is only sold in bulk, a quart being the smallest measure, cookies and chips.
I think we may have napped in the afternoon before heading into Asheville to explore and eat. Joe had recommended the Tupelo Honey Café and I’m sure it would have been good but we decided not to queue outside as there was quite a long line. Instead we chose the Jack of the Woods Pubic House, it was welcoming and we were soon settled towards the back of the bar with a beer each and our food ordered. It was apparently quiz-night and a very “studenty” group was gathering in our area. Two girls became three couples, three couples became five, we had long since given up the spare chairs at our table and their loud, young, the world belongs to us attitude would have driven us to leave as soon as we finished our food. Sadly this was not acceptable to fate and the arrival of couple six moved us very quickly, girl six on the pretext of kissing all the gathered team, turned gracefully and knocked Julia’s half full beer over her plate of food and into her lap! She, G6, was very apologetic and paid for her damage, a new meal was served to Julia on another table but we saw the group annex our previous table and chairs faster than Hitler invading Poland!
The quiz started while we finished our meal and I have to admit we would have fared very badly if we had entered, perhaps the questions were too American based but we knew very few answers. It was not a great night!