Caviar and Champagne (JK! Burgers and Beers)

The last few days I spent in Asheville, North Carolina with Tim and his mother. It was a quick two night trip, but it was wonderful to get a chance to explore a new place that I'd never been before. Plus, it's less then four hours from home and makes for a perfect little weekend getaway. Or, um...Sunday-Tuesday getaway. Details.

Anyway, the thing I was most excited about was the food. We really do live in the middle of nowhere out here in Georgia, and the nearest restaurants are more often than not chains or fast food. Of particular interest to me was a restaurant called Posano - a completely gluten-free restaurant. It was so wonderful to eat out and not have to be that annoying person who asks what ingredients are in every sauce and then just has the damn plain salad anyway. I still had to steer clear of soy, but I ended up with an incredible burger and fries:

Sure, the bun was kind of sweet and clearly not made from wheat, but the burger patty itself was flavorsome and juicy. The fries were topped with Parmesan cheese and even the ketchup was clearly homemade and had a little acidic kick from the vinegar. Naturally, I used this opportunity to drink a beer. No, not an actual beer, but this came in a bottle and had bubbles so we can pretend that this sorghum-based alcoholic beverage was beer. It got me a little buzzed, so I'm not complaining.

Honestly, the dining in Asheville was fantastic. It seemed to me that the majority of restaurants in the downtown area were independent establishments, and there was nary a golden arches in sight. I guess the health-conscious locals are pretty picky about their food too, because most menus were clear about gluten-free or soy-free foods, and there were a number of vegan and vegetarian options.

Once place we all really liked was the Early Girl Eatery. Maybe "liked" is an understatement, because we went there twice in a 48 hour trip.The first time I got a big salad, but asked them to top it with their famous grit croutons - amazing. It's basically just cornmeal that they have clearly fried multiple times in some crack-like oil substance, because they are crispy and fatty and delicious.

I guess I had met my limit of locally grown, organic healthy food for a while, because yesterday on the ride home I stopped for what I can only imagine is roughly a gallon of sweet iced tea, southern style, from Dunkin Donuts.  In my defense, all sizes are 99 cents. It would be fiscally irresponsible for me to choose a small size and throw money away, diabetes be damned.

I also managed to convince my fellow guests at the hotel in Asheville that I was a complete freak by - wait for it- actually working out in the fitness room. There was a glass door separating it from the lobby, so I got my fair share of stares and general disbelief from people walking by. Monday was a three mile easy run and Tuesday a slightly faster 7 miles. I also burned calories by walking around the city constantly for two days, opening and closing the same map 84 times a minute because I don't understand directions and asking "is this gluten free?" at 5 restaurants each day.

Do you ever take weekend trips somewhere new?
Not often, but we have whenever we have people staying with us. Last summer we went to Savannah with Tim's mom and New Orleans with a friend, and this year we went to Florida to see my dad and brother and then this trip to Asheville. I would say it's a lot of work driving for such a short trip, but Tim does all the driving anyway.

Are you good with maps/directions?
No. Just no. Sometimes I use the car GPS when traveling the same route I take all the time, just to be sure. I also have to do that thing where I face the exact same direction as the map in order to really understand my location. (Anyone remember that scene in Friends when Joey is in London and has to "get in the map"? That's me, spot on.)