(no subject)

[rootofnewt]

I suppose I should go to bed soon. I let boy have time to fall asleep first since he has to work tomorrow.

The trip to Asheville was pleasant. We stopped for coffee and chitchat with melanie in Johnson City. She and her youngest daughter are lovely and sweet people.

We arrived in Asheville with plenty of time to eat dinner (brought with us) and change from our travelling clothes. Our hotel room was HOT. We were on the top floor and the AC wasn't working so well. We left early and walked around downtown before heading to the civic center. We went into the civic center early, around 7:30, just to get some blessed AC.

The concert started late--TW didn't take the stage til after 8:30. At least half of the crowd didn't even get to their seats before 8pm (ticket price listing start time). And then we had drunk ass people constantly getting up to go out for pee breaks and smoke breaks. Who the hell pays at *least* 75 bucks a ticket and then spends half the show outside smoking?

Anyhow, the concert itself was great. We wandered back to the hotel sometime after 10 and asked the front desk where we could find a grocery store open late at night (I wanted salad, dammit). They looked at me like I was insane. The girl mentioned one and said,"it's way far away." She then proceeded to give me directions that were less than intelligible and downright wrong. I found two grocery stores--both closed--and all the scenic parts of town. I went home and made do with tomatoes and onions and dressing--no lettuce or cheese. For the record, the way far away store was less than five miles.

We got up this morning and went downstairs for a subpar continental breakfast. I wasn't expecting to eat anything, but I'd at least like the OJ to be refilled and the milk to be cold. They had absolutely no wholegrain cereals, so Tom snagged the last two hardboiled eggs and we checked out and left in search of grocery stores. We found two natural market type places where we bought brown rice sushi for the boy and salad fixings for me.

Then we started the long drive home. I knew I wanted to take the scenic route and we did. In fact, we averaged 14mph the first five hours. After that, we stopped enjoying the overlooks and short hikes and visitor's centers and just drove drove drove. We had snack/food stops, but we drove and drove and drove.

Fortunately, it was a great day for driving. From Craggy north, we had rain and thundershine (or sunder, as boy calls it). For a good long while north of the Viaduct, we had thundershine and were driving straight toward a brilliant rainbow.

After we got into VA, we took 58 down the mountain and caught 57 to 29. I bought the worst cup of coffee I've ever had the pleasure of tasting at a BP on the Lynchburg bypass. It was truly horrid. I couldn't drink it. Thank god for barbecue corn nuts and their taste bud numbing qualities.

We really enjoyed our day. We spent 12 hours on the road, but it was scenic and slow and lovely. I'd be much more exhausted had we taken the 5.5 hour I-26/81/64 trip back home today.

Comments

Jericho

[(Anonymous)]

Did Jericho go to doggy day-care? Ashville, ??? Where is that?

Love, Mom

[fiendmorte.livejournal.com]

Who the hell pays at *least* 75 bucks a ticket and then spends half the show outside smoking?

They didn't allow smoking at a Tom Waits show? The wannabe Californians are taking this shit WAY too far...

[wolfden.livejournal.com]

Glad you had a good trip. It sounds like fun. Where did you stay? So I can avoid it when next I am in Asheville.

[krasota.livejournal.com]

The venue is the civic center auditorium. Places like that SHOULD be non-smoking.

Re: Jericho

[krasota.livejournal.com]

He was boarded here. Asheville is in Western NC. It's a neat city. If you can find level campsites, you should visit. The mountains up there were 10-30 degrees cooler than down below.

[explodingcat.livejournal.com]

The funny thing is, Tom Waits is a Californian and he gave up smoking around 1980. Strange, but true.

[fiendmorte.livejournal.com]

Of all the places, wouldn't the ones with the most open air-space be more conducive to smoking without bothering the non-smokers?

[fiendmorte.livejournal.com]

That's true, but there's nothing like Tom Waits with some bourbon and a few packs of cigarettes.

[explodingcat.livejournal.com]

Especially if you're listening to the vintage Waits of the 1970s.

[fiendmorte.livejournal.com]

You know it!

[krasota.livejournal.com]

A concert hall is absolutely not conducive--there are curtains, wall treatments, and upholstered seats. The smoke would make the furniture and walls absolutely disgusting really quickly (I remember when movie theaters were still smoking zones--it was nasty). People are seated (with assigned seating, no standing) in very close quarters, so they can't get away from the smoke. The air filtration is generally not top notch, so you'd end up with a layer of smog. Add in the litter, the fire hazard, and the horrific air quality and it just doesn't make sense.