The Pickers Pop In!

WEEK THREE--Alicia left on Monday and the Pickers arrived on Tuesday--just enough time to get clean sheets on the bed! (I like that. Time for her to get clean sheets on the bed...she hasn't even been down to the basement where the washer/dryer are. Nor has she made a bed in 5 weeks...) The weather is not cooperating--it's chilly and rainy but Suzie and Jerry are good sports. They arrive late afternoon and since the weather is not good, we have dinner in and play bridge. Jim and I are thrilled to get this much bridge time since none of our Florida friends play. Unfortunately, we didn't choose the seats with the bathtub orientation and the Pickers killed us! (In all fairness, we did get to bid on one hand in three hours... but we failed to make our one spade bid...) It was still fun!

The next day we went to Grovewood Village. This 11-acre property is home to the Grovewood Gallery which offers a large selection of American-made arts and crafts created by more than 400 artists and crafters from around the country. The Village is also home to 10 resident artists who open their studios to the public one Saturday each month. There is also an impressive collection of handbuilt furniture and a wonderful outdoor sculpture garden. Grovewood Village originally housed the weaving and woodworking industries of Biltmore Industries made possible by the patronage of Edith Vanderbilt. Today, the antique car collection of Harry Blomberg, who owned Asheville's largest car dealership, occupies the part of the Biltmore Industries space which once housed the weaving operation. (I may have mentioned how exciting I find three trips a day to art galleries...day in and day out.) 

Grovewood Gallery

Big Blue Dog Sculpture

Giant wire rabbit in the outdoor sculpture
garden--picture doesn't do it justice

Jim wishing this 1950 MG TD were his. (You can tell by the 
pout, it's another wish left unfullfilled.)

Since I am a little obsessed with the surrounding waterfalls, we had to share at least a couple with Suzie and Jerry. Since the weather was less than ideal, we chose those visible from the roadside. The weather cleared enough for us to get a couple of photos.

                                                     Suzie, Jerry & I at Looking Glass Falls

After seeing the waterfalls, we went to Brevard, a really cute little town not too far from Asheville for lunch. The country side continues to be beautiful with all the Spring blooms.

We had dinner at Nine Mile a neighborhood eatery featuring delicious Caribbean-inspired pasta dishes. Jim donned the beret that Alicia inadvertently left behind and insisted that we call him Jacque! Not to worry, Alicia--I'll return your beret when we get to Columbus.

                                                                  Mon ami, Jacque.
                                                          (Pretty damn dashing, eh?)

The last day of their visit we walked downtown and went to the Battery Park Book Exchange and Champagne Bar. This is a really cool used book store that Jim discovered not long after we arrived. It serves appetizers, desserts, nice wines AND it's dog-friendly (Dogs are welcome inside where you can drink,eat and read someone else's books. They give away dog biscuits, but not, sadly, the wine.)  making it the perfect spot to hang out on a drizzly day. After a nice nosh, we went back home and back to the bridge table! The card god was a little kinder to us today. (Kinder? Hell, yes. We kicked butt, including a small slam bid by moi and made by Deborah. Good thing, too, since if I had overbid it, I would have been sleeping on the porch...) 

Thanks for coming, Pickers and for playing way too much bridge with us!