This past weekend we made the annual trip to Asheville so Bob could judge beer at the MALT Homebrewers Competition. It's the second year that we have done this.
We left Atlanta Friday afternoon, getting into Asheville with time to check into the hotel and get settled a little before going to an early dinner at the Asheville Pizza & Brewing Company. What a fun place! Surprisingly, it was very enjoyable considering that Nathan didn't nap in the car. Actually, Nathan didn't nap the whole weekend except for 30 minutes in the car on the way back to Atlanta on Sunday. But I digress, the Asheville Pizza & Brewing Company had an excellent Porter and yummy dough-knots (aka bread sticks tied into knots!)
Saturday was the competition. So we loaded everybody in the car bright and early to take Bob to start drinking! The way back to the hotel took much longer than anticipated. The car has a GPS navigational system that I relied solely on to get me back to the hotel. This was a mistake! At one point Colin asked if we could go to the hotel and I replied (while sobbing) "I'm trying but I'm lost!"
When we finally got to the hotel, Colin says, "I had fun, I'm glad you took the long way." I think he was trying to cheer me up ... it worked.
Once we had breakfast at the hotel, another car trip to try to find a swimsuit for me. The plan was to go swimming with Colin in the hotel pool while Nathan napped. I did not consider how tough it would be to find a swimsuit at this time of year. But as you recall, Nathan didn't nap at all this trip, so a swim session with Colin didn't happen anyway! I did find the mall (and my way back!) where there was a kid's play area for Colin and Nathan. They had a great time.
The afternoon nap was a disaster. I really need to work on modifying the plan when things don't go as planned. I was so counting on Nathan napping, then taking Colin to the pool (still didn't know what I was going to do about a suit though.) Things got real ugly, but I won't go into details because this blog is all about things I want to remember. I don't want to remember things getting ugly.
Finally the babysitter arrived and I was off to retrieve Bob from his beer judging thing to go drink more beer! We went to Carmel's in downtown Asheville with Ellen, a friend who used to live in Atlanta but now lives in Asheville (lucky girl!). Carmel's was amazing! I highly recommend it. Then off to Jack of the Wood, a brew pub and Barley's, a beer bar. Have you noticed that everything we do revolves around beer?
On Sunday, we went to the Biltmore Estate. Only one day left on our annual pass that we got last year! We were going to check out the winery but it didn't open until 2pm, so we checked out River Bend Farm on the estate. The best part of the farm is the farmyard where the kids got to meet chicken, sheep, horses and donkeys up close and personal. It was actually a little too up close for Nathan, although not napping in two days, I'm sure was taking a toll on his temperament. Every time one of the sheep would bleat really loud, Nathan would cry and cry. Colin was even a little apprehensive about getting too close to the animals but by the time we left he had petted a chicken, sheep and some little chicks. I was so proud of him! Boy, what city kids we have!
Time to drive back to Atlanta, which was not a fun trip but no sense in going into that which I don't want to remember anyway, huh?! Next weekend we are driving to Destin, Florida. I really hope Nathan decides to nap for that trip!
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