A post in which I head for the mountains*

I was up too early - insomnia again - and fell into the internet vortex for a while, culminating in my driving to Spartanburg for a buddy visit.  But it was a nice visit, and I decided to treat myself and pick up breakfast from Panera on the way in.  I don't usually do that because of the calories.  I LOVE the baked egg souffles, but they have 19 grams of saturated fat in them, but they are gorgeously delicious.  So with a 950 calorie breakfast under my belt (with the addition of a chocolate croissant, and really why would you bother to stop without picking up on of those, right?) (oy), I lay down for a nap.  I know.  But I had been up really early, and I knew today would be tiring. 

When I got up, I got cleaned up, packed a bag with various layers of clothes (it is pretty, but still unseasonably chilly), and headed out.  It was a beautiful day, although unfortunately a bit too early for everything to be in bloom.  I made it up in good time, and met Angela, Joanne, Karl, and Joanne's boyfriend du jour Luigi at a tapas place called Curate for lunch.  It was fantastic.  Seriously.  Everything I tried was really delicious.  I met Karl, who is a big teddy bear of a guy with gi-normous hands (just sayin').  He was really nice, and I fell right into conversation with all of them. 

After lunch we wandered over to The Asheville Wine Market for a bottle of Lambrusco, which we both love.  I picked up some taralli, which I love, and which are inexplicably unavailable for love or money in Greenville.  We then headed to the Chocolate Lounge for dessert.  That was really the only thing that I really wanted to do today, other than meet up with them and spend time.  I am not a 'chocolate person', per se.  I like chocolate.  It is not a religion, nor does it sustain my soul, as it seems to for some.  But the lavender liquid truffle at the chocolate lounge is seriously one of the very best things I have ever put in my mouth.  And I have had some good stuff in my mouth.  It is worth the ride up there just for that!

We took dessert back to Joann's apartment, and talked for a while.  She has a great little place, with a big window that looks out over the city to the mountains.  Usually when Angela comes we are all over the place, but today we were more relaxed.  We chatted and drank wine, and kind of caught up on each other's lives.  She and Joann ran to the dog park with the dog, and Karl stayed behind to talk with me, occasionally running to check on a load of laundry.  He's a really nice guy, and I really like him.  He's a foodie too (although his knowledge is more extensive than mine), so we had common ground and I really enjoyed getting to know him a bit. 

Lisa, Cole, and Ava showed up about 6, and we were back off downtown for some supper.  The place they wanted to go looked conspicuously trendy to me, and I was a bit put off, but there was an hour and a half wait to get in, and we decided to go back up the hill to a place Karl had seen called The Noodle Shop.  The food was pretty good.  I mean, nothing was burnt.  But after such an amazing lunch and dessert, dinner was just a bit of a let-down.  But the company was great, and it was good to all be together.  I really enjoyed dinner.

After supper, we went by the Chocolate Lounge, but by that time there was an enormous line out the door (that place seriously needs to expand, or put a liquid truffle barista out on the street, or something), so we just went on back to the apartment.  I hung out for a while and visited with Lisa and the kids; but it was getting late, and I had a long drive down the mountain, so I didn't stay too awfully long before bidding my goodbyes and heading out.

It was a lovely day, and I'm thinking seriously about visiting Pennsylvania now...