Asheville

I love Asheville... so for my birthday we took a trip to visit for the day. It was the most perfect rainy day and the trees are bursting with oranges and reds and yellows. Thankfully the rain relented while we walked around- taking pictures with my new 35mm Canon AE-1 (thank you Andrew), drinking espresso and a macchiato on top of Double D's double decker bus cafe, and walking in and out of various shops. My favorite- an incredible little garden shop with beautiful little buds in tiny vases, with a winding garden out back. She had amazing varieties of flowers and sweet garden trinkets.

We had dinner at a restaurant/bar called The Admiral, co-owned by the owner of The Whig here in Columbia. Recommended to us by our friend Nate, it was absolutely incredible. Although it makes its home in a cinder block on the outskirts of town, by dinner they are a classy restaurant with much older patrons, later transforming into a hipster bar. They have the most inventive menu, changing daily- I had seared skate with smoked potato puree, baby arugula and lemon and capers on the side. Andrew had nuskes (translation: a hunk of bacon from the pig's belly) which was INCREDIBLE- over brisket hash and grilled brussels. For dessert- bread pudding made from Krispy Kreme donuts with a coffee cream anglaise on top. We loved the similarity to our favorite dirty Columbia bar plus the comforts of classiness (better alcohol) and impressive indie chefs (after looking them over, Andrew says: "man, if those guys can cook amazing food, so can I." yes, you can). please visit it when you get the chance!