Asheville, North Carolina

I made it to Asheville today even with the thunderstorms in Chicago which delayed my flight out of Sacramento.  I got a little carried away with my carry on so they made me check it in Sac. With the back up of flights at O'hare my luggage and I did not arrive at the same time. So now I wait.  At least I had the essential toiletries and stuff like that.  And the local Target provided a fresh shirt and cooler pants.  I mistakenly wore a pair of super comfortable fleece pants.  Big mistake, way to hot!  Well, I'm learning.  A seasoned traveler I have not yet become but I plan on changing all that so I'm taking copious notes.

My first order of business was to check in to the Sweet Peas Hostel which I would recommend to anyone.  At $26 a night for a bunk it is a steal.  And it is smack dab in the middle of the downtown club and gallery scene.  The sounds of the music playing from the club next door gently migrate through the brick walls and lends a wonderful ambiance.  The place is spotlessly clean, simple and has a great kitchen.

My second, and more important order of business was a block and a half stroll to the immensely popular French Broad Chocolate Lounge.  The place was hopping about 9pm with live music and I had to wait in line to get chance to plunge into the decadent Quintessential Chocolate Cake.  It was a thick slice of moist cake layered with chocolate cream and frosted with rich chocolate ganache.  Of course I had to order a small cup of local, organic milk, whole fat of course, because that is all that was offered.  Let me tell you, I went into a coma after that and ruined the delicious, light, healthy dinner I had just eaten.

Tomorrow I am off adventuring with camera in hand.  I plan to see some galleries, drive the Blue Ridge Parkway and go check out Highwater Clays and Odyssey Center for Ceramic Arts.

Of course, tomorrow I need to go back to get the proper chocolate, either a signature truffle with flavors like white jasmin, masala chai, indian kulfi, and canela picante which has cinnamon, dark chocolate and cayenne.
  Umm, somehow I don't think that coming to Asheville is the best place to start a diet.  People here are chocolate connoisseurs and there are other chocolate cafes.  Yikes!

My body is still on California time but here it is 1:45 am so I had better get to bed.