Lake James, North Carolina

Cross-Country Trip, Day 14

Lake James, North Carolina

We spent the day at Burt's amazing waterfront house on Lake James, a body of water 15 miles long.  Here's the view from our guest room.  That's Burt's private dock in the foreground, and his boat peeking out from under it.

He took us out on his little speedboat for a spin and a swim, and then we lazed on the dock with a picnic of all our goodies from Earth Fare.   The water was clear, cold and invigorating!  I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

Is there anything better after a day of cold swimming than a hot steam and shower, followed by a delicious dinner and wine with friends?  Marina made red chard and mushroom miso soup, spinach and kale salad with golden beets, and tempeh in tomato sauce, and then we ended this lush day with chocolate walnut brownie ice cream made from coconut milk.  They say there's a big difference between pleasure and joy but today those two blended beautifully.  I was reminded once again that one of the greatest blessings in life is happy time spent with good friends (and great food and wine helps too!).  I met Burt when he and I were lawyers at the same firm.  He's the smartest guy I know, and an amazing friend.  He introduced me to a way of thinking that changed my life forever and I will always be grateful.  Thank you, Burt, for a wonderful time in Asheville and for all you've taught me.             

Santa Fe of the East

Cross-Country Trip, Day 13

Asheville, North Carolina

Asheville is known as the Oasis of the South or the Santa Fe of the East.  Downtown is a collection of restaurants that hold their own against L.A.'s best, live music venues, and shops owned and loved by locals.

Photograph by Lindsey O'Hare

Photograph by Jason Frank Rothenberg

The town is a haven for New-Agers, who believe that the magnetic ley lines of the Earth intersect here (or something like that) and/or that the Blue Ridge and Smoky mountain ranges in which Asheville is cradled provide a very nurturing energy and/or that the town is sitting on trillions of tons of quartz.  Personally, I think they all come here for the curried almond pate at Earth Fare.  I mean, that's the kind of thing that would draw me to a place.

Asheville is also home to a thriving and entrepreneurial gay community, which owns a lot of local businesses.  One of the country's largest remaining independent bookshops (and one of my favorite hang-outs when I used to frequent Asheville), Malaprop's, is located here.  Founded by two women, this is an important place, not just in Asheville, but as a beacon for independent retailing, and the founder's story of why she started the store and how they've managed to stick around for 30 years is short, inspiring and worth reading.

We spent the morning puttering around the shops on Lexington Avenue and Battery Park Lane (there's a Broadway street and a Flatiron building too -- Asheville seems to have a bit of a New York complex) and each one was . . . adorable.  There's no other word for it.  Every store seems to be incredibly well curated no matter whether it's selling rare jazz and funk CDs and records, artisan-created jewelry, vintage dresses and beaded skullcaps from the 1920s, hand-made leather-bound Italian writing journals, or every variety of incense and crystal known to mankind.  Then there are the street vendors making and selling jewelry, bottle openers out of used horseshoes, string instruments that look like ukuleles and miniature guitars, hand puppets from recycled fabric, the list goes on and on and on.  Just as everyone in LA is a screen-writer (or an actor), everyone in Asheville is an artist.   If you like beautiful things, you'll find it easy to shop here.

Click the picture and read the poem

  

Dinner was at Rezaz, another long-standing and outstanding local restaurant, this one serving a fusion of Mediterranean and European food.  The chef accommodated our vegan requirements graciously and deliciously, and we chatted with old friends who had all gravitated to Asheville from elsewhere as Burt continued his mission of convincing us to move here.   My only regret as we downed a few bottles of Rioja was that we wouldn't be in town longer to enjoy more of their company and Asheville's amazing food.  

Water, Water Everywhere

Cross-Country Trip, Day 12

Nashville, TN to Asheville, North Carolina

We had miserable weather on our way out of Nashville, and Marina's driving was heroic.

When we finally got away from the rain, the Blue Ridge Mountains rose like temptresses, drawing us closer to one of our favorite places in the world, Asheville, North Carolina.

About 10 years ago, we shopped real estate in Asheville in a serious way.  We were all set to move here and set up ranch with horses, goats, chickens and ducks, but as often happens, life took a different turn and set us down in Los Angeles instead.

Our first stop this time was for groceries at Earth Fare and I felt like we were back in LA again, with all the beautiful organic fruits and vegetables from California, except that I had sticker shock when we were rung up at the cash register.  Not counting the wine and beer, we spent close to $100 for a couple bags of produce and packaged goods.  It turned out to be worth every penny because we thoroughly enjoyed our picnic of curried almond pate, untuna vegan salad, marcona almonds, olives and black sesame seed brown rice crackers.  But I'm scooping myself.  That picnic came two days later, at the Lake.

After days of wandering through Texas and Arkansas and Oklahoma, it was good to be wandering the food aisles of a decent supermarket with my people again -- people who enjoyed eating healthy food and didn't mind paying an arm and a leg for it.   Now that's California!  But wait . . . we weren't in California, we were in Asheville.

We stayed with one of my dearest friends, Burt, whom I've known for almost 25 years.    Here's the view from his pied-a-terre in Asheville.

After a bit of catching up with Burt and meeting his new beau, Ronnie (the epitome of a Southern gentleman!), we went to dinner at Mela, an Indian restaurant that does a terrific job combining traditional dishes with Western elements, such as tandoori shrimp on a Caesar salad.   Of course we stuck to the tried and true veg thali, which was pretty good.