UM LOVE
A
couple of weeks ago I was wasting time on Facebook when I noticed that one of
my new favorite bands, Umphrey’s Mcgee,
was playing in Asheville on Valentine’s Day.
I’ve been listening to them for a couple of years, but just recently
started to really get into them. They
are a bit more hard rock than what I usually listen to, and they are definitely
an acquired taste. Still, I had never
seen them live. I mentioned it to
Christy, but I didn’t really think she would be interested. She surprised me – she wanted to go! Of course, Christy will go see just about
anybody if it means a weekend in Asheville.
I
bought tickets and booked 2 free nights at the Hotel Indigo downtown. It’s a great hotel, since it is just a short
walk to pretty much everything.
Despite
all this, we were lucky to make it. I
had a job assignment in Cape Canaveral, Florida the week before. The 2014 snowpocalypse
hit Charlotte and most of the southeast that Tuesday, and Wednesday, and
Thursday. My flight home was scheduled
for Thursday evening. Of course, USAir
didn’t cancel it until I was already at the Orlando airport.
The
line for rebooking flights was immense.
I tried rebooking over the phone and online, but the USAir website and
phone system both crashed. I waited in
line for 45 minutes and moved maybe five feet.
From somewhere, I could hear the theme song to “It’s a small world”
playing. At this point there were
probably 50 or 60 people in line ahead of me.
I hadn’t even reached the “Disney World” portion of the line (see what I
did there?). If I’d seen Goofy just
then, I might’ve kicked him in the crotch.
At the pace we were moving, I might still be in line when Umphrey’s took the stage Friday night. Eff this.
So
I called Avis. I rented a car one-way to
Charlotte and walked downstairs to pick it up.
It would be an 8+ hour drive, and the roads in the Carolinas were still
in poor shape, but it was worth a shot.
The
first half of the drive was pretty smooth, despite the Florida drivers and
frequent tolls. The car was actually
pretty nice (a VW Jetta), except that the Sirius Satellite Radio didn’t
work. Fortunately I was able to plug my
phone into the stereo and play music from it.
I don’t think I would’ve survived that drive with only commercial radio.
I
stayed at a hotel just north of Savannah Thursday night. I slept in a bit the next morning, as I
wanted to wait for the weather to warm up a bit before I drove farther
north. That strategy worked pretty well. By the time I reached Columbia the highway was
just wet. I saw frequent signs of the
storm though, included lots of tree damage and numerous accidents. I even passed a Hummer in a ditch. Still, the roads were in good shape all the
way to Charlotte. The only challenge was
getting my car out of the parking deck.
That road is too narrow for a snow plow, and it was a mess.
I
made it home by 1pm, which gave me enough time to pack and eat lunch before we
left for Asheville. The drive to the
mountains was smooth. We checked into
the hotel, and went for a stroll downtown.
We had dinner at the Laughing Seed, which is a vegetarian restaurant,
and one of our favorite places. I got
the Harmony Bowl, which was so large that I couldn’t finish it. That didn’t stop us from ordering dessert
though!
From
there we headed over to the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium. We had purchased our tickets in advance, and
it was a good thing – the show was sold out.
I enjoyed the venue – it is small enough that it offers a more intimate
experience that a large arena. On the other
hand, it was easily the loudest show I’d experienced in years. The volume, and the hard rock nature of the
show, was a bit much for Christy.
Before
the show, the general consensus was that they would play “Booth Love” for
Valentine’s Day because it is a love song*.
It’s one of my all-time favorite songs, so of course they didn’t play
it. On the other hand, they played
“Puppet String”, which is a new favorite, along with a great cover of Pink
Floyd’s “Time”. While the volume was
LOUD, the quality of the music was exceptional, and the whole experience was
enhanced by an impressive light show.
Afterwards
we resisted the temptation to keep partying.
See, we do learn! We headed
straight back to the hotel and crashed.
We slept in a bit the next morning, before hitting Mayfel’s
for an incredible breakfast. By the time
we left there, the wind was howling and snow was falling up in the
mountains. But that didn’t stop us from
going for a hike.
I’d
kicked around a number of options for our hike.
High elevations were out due to the weather, and I didn’t want to go to
a place where we’d risk getting the car stuck, or worse. Eventually we settled on the Big Creek
section of the Smokies. I wasn’t sure how the road going in there
would be, but I figured we could park near the highway if necessary and extend
the hike.
The
drive was smooth. In fact, the road all
the way in to the Big Creek campground was open and clear. I was actually a little disappointed – I’d
been expecting some snow! Fortunately my
disappointment faded once we hit the trail.
We began seeing more snow as we hiked upstream, high above Big Creek. Eventually we reached creek level at the
gorgeous swimming hole known as Midnight Hole.
After
another half mile we reached Mouse Creek Falls.
The waterfall is on a minor tributary of Big Creek, on the far side of
the larger stream. There is a decent
view of it from a short spur trail, but getting a good angle for photos
required descending the steep, snow-covered bank. I went down and attempted photos, but a
suddenly sunny sky made for mediocre conditions. By the time I climbed back up, I found that
Christy had been busy building a small snowman.
We named him Mickey, since he was at Mouse Creek Falls.
The
waterfall was our destination for the day, but I suggested extending the
hike. Christy agreed, and we continued
upstream along a pretty stretch of creek.
Before long we crossed it on a sturdy but snow-covered bridge. The trail on the far side had a lot more
snow, due to being more shaded. We
enjoyed walking through the snow for another 20 minutes before turning back.
When
we returned to Mouse Creek Falls the light was much better for photos. I stopped for a second attempt, while Christy
continued back to the car. This time the
photos were much better. I rejoined her
at the car, and we headed back to Asheville.
We made it back in time for an early dinner at the Nine Mile Café, which
was fantastic. That’s the great thing
about living in the mountains – we slept in, had a leisurely breakfast, drove
to the Smokies, hiked 6 miles in the snow, and still
got back early.
The
plan for that evening was to go brewery hopping. We made it to two. We started out at the Asheville Brewing
Company. I had a couple of beers, and
Christy enjoyed some Irish Coffee. I’d intended to visit the Hi-Wire Brewery
afterwards, but we were pressed for time.
Instead, we headed over to Jack O’ the Wood. We met Peter and his wife Alison there just
in time to catch a show by a bluegrass band, Driftwood. The music was great – they reminded me of
Yonder Mountain String Band, but we were all so focused on conversing that the
music faded into the background. I don’t
really remember what all we talked about, but we had a great time. Christy had the quote of the night, when she
announced that some of her best friends were trophy wives.
We
stayed out late Saturday, and slept in on Sunday. The penalty for sleeping in was having to wait an hour for breakfast at Tupelo
Honey. At least it was worth it – it was
fantastic, roughly equal to what we’d had at Mayfel’s
the previous morning. We had nothing but
five star dining all weekend. It was well after noon when we finished
breakfast. We did a little shopping and
strolling around downtown Asheville before heading home.
Our
Asheville weekend was fantastic, with a nice hike in the snow, good times with
friends, outstanding food and beer, and wonderful music. The best part was getting to spend the whole
weekend with my wife.
*it’s
not. But it is sexy, and it has a great
video: http://youtu.be/3SwFSAGPgWw
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