I tell you they take ALL the fun out of flying, but let me start at the beginning.
We woke up at 7:30am got ready, said our goodbyes, and my Dad drove us to the airport at 8:30am. We were there by 9:00am. There was a line at security, so by the time we got through and got to the gate it was after 9:30am. We had STARBUCKS (I had a skinny mocha latte with a NUTRISYSTEM breakfast bar and Eric had tea and a blueberry muffin). I bought PEOPLE and ENTERTAINMENT magazines, so I’d have something to read on the flight, if I wasn’t sleeping. Our flight left at 10:40am on time, but – unfortunately – it didn’t all go smoothly.
When we left San Diego and went through Atlanta, I had my pink suitcase on wheels, my matching pink carryon, and my pocketbook, which is a small black leather bag – nothing like a big tote or anything. Eric carried his big duffel bag, my laptop and his little bicycling backpack. Two times we brought it all on the plane – no problem. We’d put the two big pieces in the overhead, and put the laptop and the small pink carryon under the seats in front of us. Now, Eric had his big duffel bag on wheels, which made it so much easier, but they had to complicate things!
For this flight, we were in the first row – lots of legroom, but no seat in front of you to put your stuff under. The woman at the gate decided we had too much stuff. She said, “You have three pieces each and you’re only allowed two.” I said, I only have two bags and my POCKETBOOK. I can put my pocketbook in my suitcase.” She wouldn’t let me. We said we’d put it all in the overhead bin, and she said “There’s no overhead bin for the first row.” Now, that’s a big lie. There’s technically not an overhead bin by the first row, but there are overhead bins throughout the plane and we have as much right as anyone else to use them! She was making it seem like we were discriminated against because we had the first row!
So, Eric checked his big duffel bag and the cart it rolled in on. When I got on board, I sat down right in the front, because we were in the first row. As more people boarded, I kept seeing women carrying THREE bags. So, of course – me with my big mouth – I said, “SHE’S carrying three bags!” So the flight attendant (a really cute woman) said, “Ma’am I have to ask you to keep it down.” I was SO mad I was seething. I saw at LEAST four other women carrying three bags – some much bigger than the three I had! I kept pointing it out to Eric and the flight attendant, until Eric started telling me to “shut up” because he was afraid we would be put off the plane and she told me if she had to warn me one more time she would get the captain.
I asked her if she didn’t understand that I was so mad that we had flown twice and had no problem and now the woman at the gate made us check a bag and then I see that other people were allowed to come on with three bags. She said she saw and didn’t understand why I was “singled out.” I told her I wanted HER name, because I wanted to write a letter to DELTA and I wanted to say that SHE witnessed at least 3-4 other people come on board carrying the prohibited three bags.
This positively ruined the flight for me. I was also mad at Eric, because instead of saying “Peppy, I understand. You’re right, but there’s nothing we can do about it.” He just kept telling me to shut up! I felt like no one understood how I felt and I felt it wasn’t fair for me to have to check a bag and no one else! I wouldn’t have minded if I didn’t see so many other people do what I already did twice, but wasn’t allowed to do a third time!
Anyway, when we got to Atlanta, I was NOT in a good mood. We had a fast lunch at a seafood place (I had lobster bisque, and it was really good, but I was SO mad I really couldn’t enjoy it!). We had a four hour layover, but we just sat around and Eric tried to get me into a better mood.
By the time we got on the next flight to Asheville I was feeling better. This flight was a REALLY small plane and all the bags had to go in the cargo area. I knew our bags were on the plane, but I was REALLY worried about Eric’s bag finding it’s way from West Palm to Atlanta to Asheville. The flight was very short – less than an hour – and it was a small prop plane, so Eric was pretty nervous. He looked out the window most of the flight, while I slept. I’m really good at sleeping on planes!
I have to admit, we were very lucky because – again – both flights took off without a hitch – no cancellations – no delays, but it would have been a LOT nicer if I hadn’t had that incident in West Palm Beach.
When we got to Asheville we deplaned (don’t you love that word? Why don’t you debus or decar?) and it was gorgeous outside – sunny, warm and slightly breezy. No jackets required! I was so happy. I really didn’t know what to expect, but it was in the mid 70s! The Asheville airport is very small, so the ENTERPRISE car rental desk was about 20 feet from the baggage claim. I got the car, while Eric waited for (and found) his duffel bag and luggage cart.
Our car is a black NISSAN ALTIMA – which is really nice. There is no key for the ignition, just a keyless entry system and a button on the dash you push to start the car. Very futuristic!
We drove about 12 miles to our cheap motel (ECONO LODGE) and checked in. It’s recently been remodeled, had great reviews online, and didn’t cost much, so we decided to stay here for tonight and tomorrow night. Saturday morning we’re driving to Charlotte, and we’ll stay in a nicer hotel Saturday night.
We showered and changed and drove about 5 miles into downtown Asheville. It’s adorable! There were blocks and blocks and blocks of cute boutiques, art galleries and restaurants – no chains, all individually-owned crafty, artsy stores. We found a spot right away and walked around a lot, trying to find the perfect place to eat dinner.
We finally settled on CHORIZO LATIN FARE (the best Latin cuisine from Spain to Argentina!), because the food the people were eating while sitting at the outdoor café looked SO delicious! There was also Cuban, Italian, Thai, Japanese (sushi!) and lots of bar & grills.
This adorable chandelier hung in CHORIZO. I loved it!
We looked at the entire menu, but decided (as we often do) to just order a bunch of appetizers (or tapas as it is called here). We started with tableside guacamole with corn and flour tortilla chips, Tostadas – corn tortillas stacked with portabellas, grilled vegetables, goat cheese and salsa fresca. Then, we had a Volcano – crab meat stuffed potato dough, fried and served with an avocado sauce and a seaweed salsa.
I cannot tell you how delicious everything was! There was a couple sitting nearby who was talking about taking home their leftovers and we started talking about leftover and ended up talking to them for about a half hour! They live in Colorado, but have a place in Hilton Head. They were just visiting Asheville and thought it so strange that we came all this way for Eric to mountain bike. They said he should try Colorado and Eric said, “I did!” Then, they said, “What about Utah?” Eric said, “Been there, done that.” Then they said, “No wonder you’re here – you’ve been everyplace else.” I said, “You have NO idea!”
After dinner we walked around the corner to a fudge/ice cream/candy store called KILWIN’S. I thought it was a family-owned place, because it really looked like it had been there for years, but it turns out that it’s only been open a week and it’s a franchise! Eric got a bear claw (which was huge cashews in caramel with chocolate on top), and we both got some ice cream (I got cappuccino chip and Eric got blueberry and something called Asheville mud). We decided to take it all to go and eat it back in the room. It was yummy and the perfect end to a great evening out!
There were lots of interesting sculptures and statues we saw while walking around the downtown area.
This giant iron stood outside the FLATIRON BUILDING in downtown Asheville. I thought we had the only one in New York!
Hey! They're REALLY Copycats!
Eric and I weren't really sure what this thing was supposed to be, but it was interesting!
These three larger-than-life size gals were out on the town in downtown Asheville!
No town is complete without a crazy wig store!
Now, Eric’s watching TV in our king-size bed and I’m sitting at a table blogging. The room is really nice. They give you a microwave and a small fridge, which is great because we stopped at a local supermarket – INGLES – to get some drinks for Eric’s ride tomorrow and now they’ll be cold! Also, we brought NUTRISYSTEM oatmeal for breakfast and it’s best in the microwave, so now we can have breakfast here before we head out!
We’re going to be up and out early, because we have to drive bout 40 minutes to the place where Eric’s renting the bike and they open at 10:00am. I’ll drop Eric off to ride and then I’ll see what I can find around there.
So far, downtown Asheville did not disappoint – and all the stores were closed by the time we got there, so I’d love to go back during the day and really check them all out! We also passed an entire block of warehouse-size antique stores, so I'll be sure to drop by there, too!