Day 19: Take a Trip / Make a Change of Scenery
With all of the Holiday hubbub and my impending surgery, we decided to get the heck outa' Dodge for a couple of days and drove to Asheville to visit with friends and family - of course there was MUCH magic to be had with our visit, so I will be dividing the trip into multiple, magical posts.
Magic #1: On Tuesday last, Tracy and I loaded up the car and the CD player and drove to the mountains, often singing (not quite) at the top of our lungs.
Magic #2: While in Asheville, we visited Malaprops Bookstore (twice). The first visit we lingered in the small shop, perusing over and buying a plethora of books - one of which I had wrapped by the loveliest of women with whom I struck up a genial conversation. BECAUSE we had bought so many books (support your independent bookstores!), we got a coupon for a free cup of coffee.
We decided, the next morning, to head back to Malaprops to cash in our free coffee. As we were sitting in the little café, who should come up and say hi to us by name, and chat for a bit, but Virginia - the woman who wrapped my book (and a slew of other people's books) the previous day. I am always so impressed when people, whom you've only met once, remember you.
Magic #3: While we were galavanting around downtown Asheville, we visited the Grove Arcade - a lovely old office building with first floor shops selling local fare. (The Grove Arcade just happens to be where my Grandfather had his doctor's office once upon a time.) While there, we visited a lovely yarn shop and couldn't leave without buying a beautiful, orange felted hat for me (which proved to be quite useful when it later rained).
Magic #4: We also visited the historic Grove Park Inn to view the National Gingerbread House Contest, which was insanely amazing, as was the architecture et. al for the Inn. It was decided that upon my 5-year mark of being cancer free, we'd go back and make use of their fabulous spa facilities. (so, calendars marked for 2017 spa weekend!)
Magic #5: Reconnecting with Friends and Family - telling stories, playing music, eating great food, and realizing just how connected we all are (details in a separate post).
Magic #6: As we were preparing to head back home, at the advice of a friend, we made one last stop at Beaver Lake just north of where we were staying. It was a drizzly, grey day, but the lake was calm and beautiful, and ducks greeted us as we walked by. It was a nice, Zen way to end our visit.
With all of the Holiday hubbub and my impending surgery, we decided to get the heck outa' Dodge for a couple of days and drove to Asheville to visit with friends and family - of course there was MUCH magic to be had with our visit, so I will be dividing the trip into multiple, magical posts.
Magic #1: On Tuesday last, Tracy and I loaded up the car and the CD player and drove to the mountains, often singing (not quite) at the top of our lungs.
We decided, the next morning, to head back to Malaprops to cash in our free coffee. As we were sitting in the little café, who should come up and say hi to us by name, and chat for a bit, but Virginia - the woman who wrapped my book (and a slew of other people's books) the previous day. I am always so impressed when people, whom you've only met once, remember you.
Magic #3: While we were galavanting around downtown Asheville, we visited the Grove Arcade - a lovely old office building with first floor shops selling local fare. (The Grove Arcade just happens to be where my Grandfather had his doctor's office once upon a time.) While there, we visited a lovely yarn shop and couldn't leave without buying a beautiful, orange felted hat for me (which proved to be quite useful when it later rained).
Magic #5: Reconnecting with Friends and Family - telling stories, playing music, eating great food, and realizing just how connected we all are (details in a separate post).
Magic #6: As we were preparing to head back home, at the advice of a friend, we made one last stop at Beaver Lake just north of where we were staying. It was a drizzly, grey day, but the lake was calm and beautiful, and ducks greeted us as we walked by. It was a nice, Zen way to end our visit.
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