Once a month, Nina and I schedule a whole-day date. For March, it was yesterday.
We started with some flowers for my girlfriend--Gerbera daisies. (Right-click/open in new tab for maximum embiggification.)
Then we were off to breakfast at Biscuit Head, which is not only the best place for breakfast in Asheville, NC, but in the whole wide world.
Our next big plan was to head to a place called Max Patch for a hike. But there were lots of things to stop and see on the way there. First we spotted a burned-down house, which required exploration.
Much of the winding road to Max Patch follows the course of a lovely stream, which has many little rapids like this one:
This was the sight at one scenic overlook, on our heavily overcast day:
On the last few miles of the climb up to Max Patch, it began to snow. There was a brief window of time when the snow coated the tree branches, but was melting when it hit the ground, creating an effect lovelier than I could capture in photos, though I tried.
When we finally arrived at Max Patch, it was too cold, snowy, and windy to make for a nice hike, so we basically just turned around and drove back down the mountain. But the trip was a worthwhile adventure anyway.
Out next stop was an appointment for an hour in a hot tub. The Hot Springs Resort and Spa has a bunch of hot tubs fed by a natural geothermal spring, so that the water is a constant 102 degrees year round. The tubs are in private enclosures, some lined up along the French Broad River, some along a stream that feeds into the river. (We were told that tubs 5 and 8 are the best positioned, but we didn't know that in time to request them.) It was a lovely, relaxing way to spend an hour.
This is me, getting in the way of you seeing the nice view that we had from the tub (photo by Nina):
Then we headed back to Asheville, to the opening of the annual orchid show at the North Carolina Arboretum. There were so many spectacular orchids on display that it was hard to pick just one--or even just a few--to show you.
Our last stop was dinner at an excellent Nepali restaurant in downtown Asheville, Cafe Kathmandu.
Finally, we went back to Nina's house for a couple of cutthroat games of Quiddler.
And that is what it's like to spend a whole day with my girlfriend. I kinda like it--and her.
Posts
12 comments:
Ummm ... I noticed that you omitted the results of the Quiddler games ... : o )
Now THAT's a biscuit!
Game results are unimportant! Nobody needs to know!
That was indeed an epic date!
Any one of those events would have stood alone as a great time.
What camera did you use for the flower photos? Those are quite good - not that the others lacked in any way. I just know from personal experience how difficult macro photos are to take, especially of red flowers.
That Nina is a lucky lady.
Zooks: Camera is a Sony NEX-3N. See why I chose it and links to reviews, etc., here:
http://pokergrump.blogspot.com/2014/08/british-isles-trip-part-1-introduction.html
It has since been replaced in Sony's line-up by the comparable but slightly improved Alpha a5000: http://goo.gl/kDWQbY
Nice shots. Glad you got a new camera. Cell phones are ok, but not up to the awesomehood of your Sony.
those hot springs with the special hot water were the exact same type as at the david walley hot springs and resort vince stayed at and why he insisted on going to the hot tub pool everyday. there were usually a lot of people at it too.
these hot springs are the same as the ones vince loved so much and talked about on my blog the other day
SWEEEEEEEEEET!!!!!!! north carolina is cool . me and my moms use to vacation around Scaly Mtn AND SHEEEEEEIT!!! near Ga border. it was dry cty , i think bcuz right on the border was a big fuck-off liqour store.
Great photos. I love the Appalachians Mts.
Nice post, but what did you eat for lunch. This omission is seriously bothering me!
Late breakfast and early dinner meant no lunch. Sorry to disappoint.
Post a Comment