“Uh, no… do you?”
That was the start of our trip, when we realized neither of us had bothered to map out the route. We only took a slight unexpected detour when we missed a turn around Frederick and took Rt. 15 to Leesburg, VA before turning west again. The drive was uneventful. Saw lots of black angus littering the rolling hills of rural Virginia.
We stopped for dinner along the way at Macado’s in Christiansburg, VA. It’s a nifty sit-down joint specializing in sandwiches. The decor is “nostalgia explosion.”
We were impressed with the nice rest-stops in Tennessee. They are vastly superior to the filthy wallows of Jersey Turnpike.
We got into Asheville around 10ish. No one was home at our first choice, a log cabin motor lodge on the north side of town. We ended up at Super 8. It was clean and warm and good.
After our free breakfast at the WaffleHouse, compliments of Super 8, we road into town and caught the historic trolley tour through Asheville. It was highly education. About 2-3 hours in, we realized we absolutely love it here. Everyone in town seems to know they have it good.
Highlights downtown:
- The Asheville Art Museum
- The Laughing Seed – some of the best vegetarian food I’ve ever had. We split a cuban and sloppy jo.
- Za Pow! – the only illustration gallery in the Southeat. Lots of local artists’ work with a sci-fi / comics flare.
We checked in at the KOA campsite and found our spot occupied by ducks (and geese, but ducks are cooler). They seem pretty fearless. I think they are just lulling us into a false sense of security so they can steal all our duck food.
