Part Three: Asheville
Asheville was the final destination on our 2500 mi trip...
We arrived in town around 2:30pm-ish, in the pouring rain, with a GPS on the fritz, and a disturbed attitude about the potential creepiness of the accommodations we chose. Joel picked out - what seemed to be - a beautiful hillside cottage set back off the beaten trail complete with living room, bedroom, kitchenette - very luxurious...
As we crawled up and up, into the mysterious mountains, we started regretting the idea of steep...private...dark...lonely...
The hill tapered into only a slight incline as the sign for the Chalet we rented shined through the rain like a lighthouse on the stormy Atlantic (how poetic). Asheville Swiss Chalets is a collection of privately owned rentable stand-alone units set on the mountainous east side of downtown Asheville. Our assigned hut, the Geneva Chalet ,was adorable. It was the perfect size for two - clean, well-stocked, and generally a delight. Judy Glicken, (who I am assuming is) the owner, left us a lovely personalized note complete with a handful of cookies from her bakery.
Our fear of heights dissolved almost immediately after a brief tour of the digs.
We collected ourselves and set out for the first destination of two for the evening. Asheville Brewing Company is one of the many local breweries in Asheville. The main thing that set this place apart from the others was...THEY HAD A RANDALLIZER!! If you recall, I mentioned the Randalizer in a previous entry about Dogfish Head. Essentially it is a piece of equipment that allows the brewers to add another layer of flavor after brewing. The beer is pumped through fresh ingredients and into the customer's pint glass. Dogfish Head has made popular the art of Randallizing and I was pleased to see Asheville Brewing Co. was on board.We ordered some finger foods and a flight of the beer on tap. The Escape Artist E.S.P., the Shiva I.P.A., the Scout Stout, and the Porter. I'm not personally crazy about Stouts/Porters - so I stuck to the hoppier, more bitter fair. The E.S.P. was probably my favorite, not real sweet, nice full body feel, pretty bitter, but a nice balance of light hops and malts. Shiva was a close second. But what was great about that particular evening was the bartender was Randallizing Shiva in fresh cinnonman and peach! Joel ordered one and made a few notes. They are as follows: "Great cinnamon overtones and added sweetness due to peaches. Cuts down on bitterness a tad. Really good speciality beer." So articulate...
The place itself was pretty neat too. They had a large outdoor theater for random showings of The Chronicles of Narnia and True Grit (it's a thematic series...) and the restaurant/bar was built right on the front of the brewery. It's all right there, together!
Dinner came to an end and we wondered up the block to a very local bar called the Thirsty Monk Pub. I would not recommend visiting their website (as it does not reflect the excellence of the establishment), BUT it is definitely a must-visit watering hole in Asheville. The place is two floors, the main level bar for primarily craft brews and the basement level bar for all Belgians. Because Belgian-style beers won this year's "Beer hipster's are obsessed with for a second," the dedicated Belgian bar is a fabulous idea to appeal to Ashevillians. We ordered a local flight at the main level bar. It included some tasty brews including the Highland Tasgall Scottish Ale, the Blue Point Hoptical Illusion, and (my personal favorite) Nantahala's Appalachian Extra Pale Ale (APX).
The next day was our adventure at the Biltmore! The picturesque American palace boasted its own vineyard. Of course, wine from the Biltmore made perfect NC souvenirs and it wasn't half bad either!
The evening was spent at a very small, local brewery called Greenman Brewery, which sported the man-of-leaves as the logo. The brewery/bar/garage was tiny - accommodating maybe 20 people - and looked as if it had been an auto body shop at one point. The front door was essentially an oversize garage door that remained open. Straight back, behind the "bar," was the brewing quarters. Two big silos and some odds and ends around. The production was obviously very small. To the right, the bar - complete with life-sized statue of Yoda, Darth Vadar and Storm Trooper Lego-man Clocks, and a number of truism bumper stickers - stuck out of the make-shift metal wall in front of the production area.
We spent the night sipping on a Greenman flight (complete with IPA, ESB, Stout, and Porter - pretty standard fare), enjoying the week's soccer highlights on the TV above the bar, and relaxing under the interior heat lamps while the cool evening air blew in and out of the garage door. The brews may have been only marginal, but the atmosphere was hard to beat. Aside from the in-house brews, I enjoyed a Mojo Risin' by Bolder Brewery (in CO)...a slammin' double IPA - one to even rival 90-minute.
All in all, our trip to Asheville was a success. I will certainly return for a long weekend or lazy week of relaxing if only to stay once more at the Swiss Chalets.
FIN!
The next day was our adventure at the Biltmore! The picturesque American palace boasted its own vineyard. Of course, wine from the Biltmore made perfect NC souvenirs and it wasn't half bad either!
The evening was spent at a very small, local brewery called Greenman Brewery, which sported the man-of-leaves as the logo. The brewery/bar/garage was tiny - accommodating maybe 20 people - and looked as if it had been an auto body shop at one point. The front door was essentially an oversize garage door that remained open. Straight back, behind the "bar," was the brewing quarters. Two big silos and some odds and ends around. The production was obviously very small. To the right, the bar - complete with life-sized statue of Yoda, Darth Vadar and Storm Trooper Lego-man Clocks, and a number of truism bumper stickers - stuck out of the make-shift metal wall in front of the production area.We spent the night sipping on a Greenman flight (complete with IPA, ESB, Stout, and Porter - pretty standard fare), enjoying the week's soccer highlights on the TV above the bar, and relaxing under the interior heat lamps while the cool evening air blew in and out of the garage door. The brews may have been only marginal, but the atmosphere was hard to beat. Aside from the in-house brews, I enjoyed a Mojo Risin' by Bolder Brewery (in CO)...a slammin' double IPA - one to even rival 90-minute.
All in all, our trip to Asheville was a success. I will certainly return for a long weekend or lazy week of relaxing if only to stay once more at the Swiss Chalets.
FIN!
No comments:
Post a Comment