Malaprop’s Bookstore and Café have been a staple of Asheville since before my first visit, many many years ago. Small and intimate, with lots of staff recommendations, what it does not contain in volume, it makes up for in personality.
I like Asheville, but then it has a strong arts and crafts vibe which has always been attractive. The first time Gary and I toured Asheville and the mountains of NC, it was based on a book I found there featuring the Artisan Trail of NC — studios and galleries linked by location. My pottery collecting found its feet in some interesting places and among very friendly people.
Today we will push on to home and humidity (did not miss that!) and our own bed tonight. I’m satisfied that we did enough on the trip but left room for more next time. If there were things I’d do differently, they are thankfully few:
- Travel after Labor Day to avoid crowds.
- Buy “real” hiking boots, preferably leather (easier to clean).
- Pack fewer clothes, heavier sox and just as much underwear.
- Figure out how to load photos into the blog.
Some of you might ask, after following the blog, why Tom and I don’t move to the Rocky Mountain west… and the reason is people. When I was a freshman at William & Mary, I had never met so many warm and loving people as those women on my freshman hall. It was a revelation, just as much as the first Williamsburg spring I experienced in 1981. So it’s the people and relationships that keep me here — as important as place may be, as alluring as big skies and broad vistas might be, it’s the people I love who keep me rooted to this beautiful spot — and I don’t mind that at all. It makes the journeys that much sweeter.
Finally, many thanks to my husband, Tom, for doing all of the heavy lifting, literally and figuratively, on the trip. I cherished your companionship, my love.
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