We’re Back!

Posted by Sarahbear on February 12, 2010

Phallicity and I got back last night from Asheville, North Carolina. We were suppose to stay until today but Phallicity got food poisoning (from Carraba’s we think) and we decided it wasn’t worth hanging out in the hotel room all day, even though we couldn’t get a refund, so we decided to come on home. Plus it was suppose to snow today so we figured it’d be better if we beat the weather home.

We woke up Monday morning excited for our trip. We got E and D up and on the school bus and then finished getting ourselves dressed, loading up the last bag with our toiletries and such into our rental car. I double checked to make sure my sister had all the important phone numbers she would need and we were on our way. We stopped at Denny’s along the way for a warm breakfast. I hate-hate-hate thick traffic so I-75 and on past Atlanta was a nerve-racking experience. Fortunately Phallicity is a great driver so we made it through safely. We started getting really excited when the scenery changed from the flat middle Georgia landscapes into the Blue Ridge Mountains. There was also snow left over the ground from a recent storm. We don’t get to see snow very often so we were snapping pictures like the tourists that we were.

When we got to the Bed & Breakfast one of the owners showed us around. We’ve never stayed at one before, and as nice as it was I think I prefer the less personal hotel experience. The house was gorgeous, but it’s kind of difficult to get your freak on when you’re in an old, drafty, historical house with other guests. Sound travels on those refinished wooden floors and high ceilings. Our bed was gorgeous and the sheets felt luxurious. We had some champagne, flowers and chocolates waiting for us when we arrived and we took no time to taste everything.

Once we got everything unloaded from the car and unpacked into the dresser we were starving. We decided to check out the recommendations of the owners at the B&B and chose Rezaz, a locally owned Mediterranean restaurant. For an appetizer we had grilled asparagus (omg so good), deviled eggs and Toscano cheese with some sweet bread and onion jelly. Everything was good but the jelly wasn’t really my thing.  Phallicity finished his meal with a minestrone soup and I had a lamb burger with spinach and feta cheese. We walked around a bit in the Biltmore village to do some shopping. Most of the local shops had closed but a few of the chain stores were still open. We were just trying to kill some time before our Ghost Hunters tour. It’s kind of a tradition since we went on our first anniversary in Savannah, Georgia. We’ll probably take a ghost tour of every town we go to because of it. It was a great way to spend our first evening there. We got a brief history lesson as well as a brisk walk through the cold, windy city that we were really not use to.

The next morning we woke up, bright and early because that is when the onsite chef at our B&B cooks breakfast, to a three course meal. We had a  fruit salad with lime yogurt and chopped pecans, a “potato basket” filled with eggs, ham, cheese and hash browns, and some strawberry tea bread. It was so good. I haven’t actually eaten gourmet food before, aside from some that had been catered at a wedding I went to . The food was freezing by the time we got to eat it and I thought I would hate it. I was surprised to love it so much.  We decided to spend the day shopping at some of the local stores in Downtown Asheville. We stopped by the Chocolate Fetish and grabbed a box of custom truffles, Three Dogs Bakery and picked up some treats for Mischa and Pasha, we popped in the book store, a coffee shop and a few other places just to pass the time. We headed to the mall and picked up some clothes too. We had lunch at Outback Steakhouse, dinner at Carrabas and we went to see the Book of Eli. (Pretty good movie, btw).

The next morning was colder. We had a two course breakfast of strawberries and grapefruits in honey and an orange croissant with blackberry jam. It wasn’t as good as the first morning breakfast. We asked the owner what we should do since it was so cold and she suggested we head over to the Biltmore since most of the tour was indoors. We did, and even though it was indoors it was a freaking huge castle that was drafty as hell and we still needed our jackets inside. We spent all day long touring the castle and the 8,000 acre landscape, the greenhouse (conservatory) and the winery. We sampled a few wines and picked up a couple of bottles of our favorites. We wanted to eat at Rezaz again that night but the food poisoning had finally caught up to Phallicity and we wound up staying in. We watched some tv and cuddled between bathroom breaks.

The next morning Phallicity was still a little queasy so we decided to head home early. I saw no point in hanging out up there if we were going to be stuck in the room all day. The drive home seemed to take forever, partly because we caught rush hour traffic on the interstate near Atlanta. The kids were thrilled to see us when we got home and we were glad to be home. After chattering for a few hours with my sister about the trip and throwing back a Butter-beer (butterscotch schnapps with gingerale) we put the kids to bed and said good night to my sister…

…. and made up for the complete lack-of-sex at the B&B.

For pictures of the fantastic food and some highlights from the trip you can check out Phallicity’s  tumblr. Stay tuned for a detailed account of our night back at the house.