New Age Mecca

Asheville, NC, pops up on national rankings for a variety of things:

• The "New Age Mecca"
• The "New Freak Capital of the U.S."
• One of "The 50 Most Alive Places To Be" (Rolling Stone)
• One of the "Best Places to Reinvent Your Life" (AARP Magazine)
• "Beer Capitol, USA"

All seem to be true. Our first day here, we walked around this funky Northampton/Berkley-ish town, which seems to be the gathering place for all southerners of an alternative bent. It was bustling with youth (is grunge back in style?), street musicians (including an amazing Appalachian woman playing spoons with a bluegrass quartet)

  

Let me know if the video quality is bad. I can't tell as our wifi is so weak.

. . . and cafés (dogs allowed!) While Marls napped at our feet at the cafe, I had shrimp and grits with a spicy cream sauce, and Laurie had biscuits and gravy. (She had been pining for a real southern biscuit for days so finally her dream came true in the form of two fluffy, buttery, steaming pastries.) Two men at a table next to us leaned over and held out a plate of hot Beignets for us to sample, in what we've come to recognize as typical Southern hospitality. We'd noticed a lot of people wearing beads and dressed in costumes, but weren't sure if this was standard Asheville (New Freak Capital of the US style, or something special.) The men told us that at 3pm, Asheville would be holding their Mardi Gras parade. As people gathered six-deep along the streets to watch, Laurie retrieved our New Orleans Mardi Gras beads from the RV so we'd fit in. Didn't need them -- just like in New Orleans, strands of beads were being tossed to all spectators. With bands and floats, Asheville got their freak on. They take it just as seriously as in New Orleans, but with a few more tattoos and pretty much everyone is white.

Afterwards, we went back up the mountain for a quiet evening campfire overlooking the river valley. Today, we are spending a rainy 21 degree day inside the RV, doing laundry, writing, and researching our next few stops. Which will include, before leaving Asheville, a visit to the Biltmore Estate, the Vanderbilt's mansion with 8000 acres of gardens. Appropriately, F. Scott Fitzgerald lived here — wonder where he got his idea for Gatsby….