Jason and I took a 4 day weekend and turned it into a road trip to Asheville, North Carolina.  It’s a little over 8 hours from southeast Cleveland according to Google, but we managed to turn it into over 11 on the way down after a speeding ticket and a stop at the wrong hotel.  That’s what makes road trips so much fun!  We listened to Origin by Dan Brown on the way there and back and still didn’t manage to finish yet.

Asheville was lovely and I was most impressed by the two bookstores they had downtown that were within a mile of each other.

First we hit Malaprop’s and I loved it.  I spent some money.  When I went to find Jason in the café he was playing an online game with an exchange student from Chile.  They were trying to get themselves on the same team, lol.  Let me just say that I complain more often than I should that the game he plays on his phone is antisocial and now I can’t.  He’s making international friends!  So, I left them playing, or whatever nonsense was going on, and went back to shopping.  If I couldn’t complain about the game I could at least spend more money on the bookstore.

Immediately after Malaprop’s we went to Battery Park Book Exchange Champagne Bar.  

This space was so cool.  Not only did it have a full bar, but the furniture, décor and the way each room of books led you to the next was a place I could have spent hours exploring.  Alas, we did not have that kind of time.  The mimosa and food were excellent.

I posted some pics on Facebook and the one that got the most attention was the mirror selfie I took of Jason and I at Biltmore.  This made me smile since I took it because of one of my favorite pics that I took of Jason and me when we visited Versailles in France in 2010.  Two audacious homes.  Here are the two pics

I could crop and blow up the one from Biltmore but I kind of like it the way it is.

I missed seeing Kathy this trip, but hopefully next time!  We’ve known each other online since 2008, but have never met in person.