Visitors and Villas

Happy Monday my Friends!

It's been a very eventful week.  For starters, I began my new job and it's interesting and hopefully will be challenging and fun, even though I have to wake up at three in the morning to achieve the paycheck.  I will soon be learning to operate heavy machinery and trying not to tip over.  I watched about 15 videos of forklifts doing just that this morning.  Scare tactics, people.  They totally work.  Remember that car crash victim video/slideshow they made you watch in traffic safety school?  Kinda like that, without all the dead bodies.  The only carnage I saw was destroyed bags of concrete and shelving. 

I finally got The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo on CD, and it's finally, ten disks in, getting exciting.  I know why I couldn't get through it before.  Thank goodness for that whole recorded books thing because I'd never have read it otherwise.

That's not very exciting though.  Ready for excitement?  My father Ken and his wife Brenda arrived in Asheville Thursday night, and we got together on Friday.  I took them to the botanical gardens and we had a nice lunch in Haywood. 

This was the table marker, in the background you can see the toy guitar.  Cute, no?

We attempted to go downtown but there was a craft fair going on and no room at the Inn (or the parking garages) so we decided to put that off for another day. 

Saturday dawned sunny.  Yes, you read that correctly.  There was sun.  Dad and I went for a hike to Douglass falls and then the sky opened up for a bit.  I wasn't completely sure if it was spray from the waterfall, which had swelled to three times what it had been in May, or actual rain until we hiked back.  Thankfully it didn't last.  We went on to eat lunch at Mela, the Indian place, and since the craft fair was still going on we parked outside of downtown and hiked in.  This worked to our advantage as he got a walking tour of downtown in the bargain.  And we got more hiking in, albeit Urban style. 

We parted ways for a little bit and Molly and I decided we should go check out a band she saw online at a brewery, which dad had mentioned he'd like to do.  We met him at the French Broad Brewery and watched a very fun band called Wasted Wine.  They had squeeze boxes, fiddles, drums, bass and regular guitars, a chime box of some sort, and more.  They had a very gypsy feel to them.  So I asked Dad after the show if I could have five bucks for their CD, and with money in hand I went up and chatted with the band.  I bought the five dollar CD, and then the singer/fiddle player handed me another CD, this one ten dollars, because I was so cool.  We're going to see them again when they come back to town for sure.   

This show being over, we checked out the Thirsty Monk downtown.  They only served beer as well, and I was beginning to think that I would be drinking water all night, when I noticed on the menu that they had Linderman's Frambois.  Yay!  I got to drink beer too!  Our friend David showed up and we all chatted for a bit, then we parted ways with Dad and went on to David's house.  He changed and he, Molly and I went dancing at Club Hairspray.  It was almost empty, so we had the dance floor to ourselves.  They played almost everything Molly requested, although they did not have Die Antwoord.  Don't know these guys?  You should really check them out.  They are something else.  Crazy, I tell ya.  But so good.  Anyway, they also played a country techno song, which we weren't sure what to do with.  So when in doubt, square dance, right? 

We ended up back at David's and had an impromptu dance party in his living room, with his roommate Scott joining us.  And Scott can seriously dance!  Like two step and swing and stuff.  I told him this was a very good thing in this day and age.  Are you paying attention, male audience?

Sunday morning Dad and Brenda and I headed to Biltmore House.  I have to say, it's pretty darn expensive to get in.  (Sixty Bucks) but it was SO COOL!  It's 250 rooms, though you only get to see about thirty of these.  The house itself covers 4 acres.  Want a picture?

 

 

The house tour took about an hour or so, then we went on to the gardens.  Yay, gardens!

 

Carpe Diem

 

Dad

 

Grapes and Sunshine

 

 

The Conservatory

 

Hothouse Bloom

Alligator Shrubbery

Dad and he are both mugging!

 

 

It was really warm by the time we finished with the conservatory, so we left and went to the village on the estate.  (Size of total estate today?  89,000 acres.)  There they had a nice visitor's center where we happened to be during the monsoon of the afternoon.  Handy.  We finished our day up with a BBQ place, 'Bama style, and then parted ways because I needed to get ready for work today.  I did get to see both of them for breakfast after work, and they're continuing on to Tennessee and flying toward home tomorrow.

 

I had such a nice time, even though there were some grouchy moments on all sides.  I was very tired the whole time, but I rallied and it was worth it.  I'm so happy that they came to visit, and that I got to see Biltmore and got to play all day on Saturday.  C'mon visitors, it's fun here!

 

It will be nice to try to find some semblance of a schedule this week, and hopefully I'll figure out when and how long I should sleep for.  I have survived my first week of work coupled with visitors, so I know I'll be fine whatever happens. 

 

Until next I write,

 

Shanti Elena

 

P.S.  I took this one from work the other morning...