Tales from the Road: Asheville, Day 4

September 13, 2012 - Asheville, NC

This was my favorite day of the trip as it featured two of my favorite things: (healthy) food and books. 

I wanted to visit a well-known independent bookstore in downtown Asheville, Malaprops. One of my favorite authors, Patti Digh, lives in the area and often mentions the store/café.  Oh, my goodness, this place is heavenly! They stock a wide selection of books on many subjects, beautifully laid out. Their vegetarian/vegan section was amazing! 

The store was so warm & welcoming, I found myself with arms piled high in a short time. The local section was where I did the most damage to my bank account, gathering up several novels for upcoming Yule gifts.  I spent so much money (really, only $100, and well worth it) that I was led to a little section of books and told to choose one, or even two, for free! How lovely is that? After doing so, I happily made my way over to the café where Chip was drinking coffee, a free cup given to him as a thank you for his generous purchase.  I ordered a Fire Distinguisher which was a delicious spicy latte served in an enormous cup; delicious! Unfortunately I forgot to request soy milk, oops! 

I asked the (young, adorable) barista to recommend his favorite vegetarian restaurant in Asheville; without hesitation he led me to Rosetta’s Kitchen. With lunch plans in mind, Chip and I headed off to shop a bit more. We were immediately enticed by the incredible aroma trailing from one store, turned out to be a spice/tea shop. Mmm…we made quite a few purchases there as well as at the Native American “bead shop" where a sage kitty offered us a sample. We were able to cross a few more gifts off our holiday list, can’t elaborate any further on that or I might ruin someone’s surprise! 

Sage Kitty

Shopping is thirsty work, according to Chip, so we meandered into a pub for liquid sustenance.  The cutie pie bar maid at Bier Garden served us our beverages and we commenced to chatting about our pets. Her dog, Jinxy, sounds like he'd make a good friend to Loki; maybe we'll arrange a doggy park meeting the next time we visit. 

On the way back to the car we passed by the local library, noticed their used book sale and even though we had more than enough reading material to keep us busy, we just had to stop in. Ahem..we left their quite laden down with tomes, limped our way to the car and off to lunch!

Rosetta’s Kitchen is an adorable “hole in the wall,” would’ve driven right past if I hadn’t been ardently searching for it.  The décor is bright & colorful, staff is very friendly and helpful, and the food? Oh, my. I have never been to an all-veg restaurant before so I was practically hyperventilating at the thought! So many choices, all of them available to me; no thinking, planning, asking for substitutions, etc. etc.  All I had to specify was vegan and poof! Dozens of options appeared before me! I’d heard great things about their tempeh “wings” so we ordered a serving to share, along with Pad Thai for me, black bean chili and grilled cheese sandwich for Chip. Everything was amazing and, to my surprise, spicy enough even for me! 

Pad Thai, Tempeh "wings" and local brew

 

 We wobbled back to the car and to the motor home, spent the remainder of the afternoon/evening lounging around the campsite, reading and enjoying a nice cozy fire. A perfect day! 

Blessings,

Michele~