well kerry has come and gone. we had a fantastic time. (or at least i did-- i'll let her speak for herself). wanted to give some highlights of her visit before i forgot:
friday night: picked her up at the airport. went out to the tomato head for dinner and then hit the galleries for first friday. rounded off the evening by hitting up the new gelato store in town, which may win the award for worst name ever (coolato gelato. really guys? come on!)
saturday: 4th of july! i made muffins and quiche. we ate. then went down to farmer's market and then back to the house where we watched far too many episodes of how i met your mother. (i think)-- then we ran out to world market, starbucks, and other stores at turkey creek because really, what says i'm patriotic like shopping? (in a curious side note: we were both very surprised to discover that there are very few 4th of july activities here. i assumed that this part of the country would be all about it.) that said, though, there were fireworks down at world's fair park. so after a dinner of tapas (another traditional 4th of july treat, i believe), we drove down there, parked on campus, and hoofed it down to the park. the knoxville symphony orchestra was playing and then the fireworks began. it was no davis, but it was still pretty awesome. and i'm glad we went.
sunday: we went to asheville. and let me tell you. it's a good thing i own a house here--and that asheville is a two hour drive through mountains--because otherwise, i'd be all about living there. it was AWESOME! first we had breakfast at tupelo honey cafe, that was recommended to us by my contractor. the wait was about 45 minutes, but it was totally worth it. we split a sweet potato pancake and a breakfast bowl (with egg, pinto beans, grits, and bacon-- apparently my no meat eating is going very well). we wandered around for a little while, but had to book it because we had a 1:30 admission time to the biltmore estate, which is like 3 miles outside of asheville.
so the biltmore-- billed as "america's castle"--was built by the vanderbilts in the 1890s. it continues to be run by the biltmore family as a for-profit business, which makes me a little cranky. plus, it was $45 a person to get in (and that was cheaper because we bought our tickets online!). i will say that the grounds were spectacular-- i loved the gardens and just driving on to the property. i was not as wild about the inside of the house and wonder if i can visit the estate again without going inside the house and, if so, will i have to pay a boatload of money again? very glad i went, though.
after the biltmore, we went back to asheville, did a little shopping, and then had dinner at this place called the laughing seed cafe, which was entirely vegetarian. it was super yum. after a little more shopping, we drove back to knoxville.
monday--kerry's last day. very sad and tragic. we ate, we went to campus and i showed her my office, then we went to the mall. oh yes. oddly, despite living here a year, it was my first time in the mall. we had a good time. i bought a little make-up, she bought a lot of clothes. took her to big fatty's (southern food) for dinner and dessert where we both ate until we were sick-- and ended up taking most of the food home. score! and then tv and then bed and then she left the next morning. boo on that.
it was really special to have her visit-- it's nice when you're with friends and you can just "be" together-- though don't get me wrong, we definitely did stuff. but we also did our fair share of lazing about.
ironically, i will see her again in two weeks when i head out to california-- but that visit won't be tinged with southern charm (or humidity).
friday night: picked her up at the airport. went out to the tomato head for dinner and then hit the galleries for first friday. rounded off the evening by hitting up the new gelato store in town, which may win the award for worst name ever (coolato gelato. really guys? come on!)
saturday: 4th of july! i made muffins and quiche. we ate. then went down to farmer's market and then back to the house where we watched far too many episodes of how i met your mother. (i think)-- then we ran out to world market, starbucks, and other stores at turkey creek because really, what says i'm patriotic like shopping? (in a curious side note: we were both very surprised to discover that there are very few 4th of july activities here. i assumed that this part of the country would be all about it.) that said, though, there were fireworks down at world's fair park. so after a dinner of tapas (another traditional 4th of july treat, i believe), we drove down there, parked on campus, and hoofed it down to the park. the knoxville symphony orchestra was playing and then the fireworks began. it was no davis, but it was still pretty awesome. and i'm glad we went.
sunday: we went to asheville. and let me tell you. it's a good thing i own a house here--and that asheville is a two hour drive through mountains--because otherwise, i'd be all about living there. it was AWESOME! first we had breakfast at tupelo honey cafe, that was recommended to us by my contractor. the wait was about 45 minutes, but it was totally worth it. we split a sweet potato pancake and a breakfast bowl (with egg, pinto beans, grits, and bacon-- apparently my no meat eating is going very well). we wandered around for a little while, but had to book it because we had a 1:30 admission time to the biltmore estate, which is like 3 miles outside of asheville.
so the biltmore-- billed as "america's castle"--was built by the vanderbilts in the 1890s. it continues to be run by the biltmore family as a for-profit business, which makes me a little cranky. plus, it was $45 a person to get in (and that was cheaper because we bought our tickets online!). i will say that the grounds were spectacular-- i loved the gardens and just driving on to the property. i was not as wild about the inside of the house and wonder if i can visit the estate again without going inside the house and, if so, will i have to pay a boatload of money again? very glad i went, though.
after the biltmore, we went back to asheville, did a little shopping, and then had dinner at this place called the laughing seed cafe, which was entirely vegetarian. it was super yum. after a little more shopping, we drove back to knoxville.
monday--kerry's last day. very sad and tragic. we ate, we went to campus and i showed her my office, then we went to the mall. oh yes. oddly, despite living here a year, it was my first time in the mall. we had a good time. i bought a little make-up, she bought a lot of clothes. took her to big fatty's (southern food) for dinner and dessert where we both ate until we were sick-- and ended up taking most of the food home. score! and then tv and then bed and then she left the next morning. boo on that.
it was really special to have her visit-- it's nice when you're with friends and you can just "be" together-- though don't get me wrong, we definitely did stuff. but we also did our fair share of lazing about.
ironically, i will see her again in two weeks when i head out to california-- but that visit won't be tinged with southern charm (or humidity).
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