Hello Asheville

David's new phone finally came in. Hooray! After ages of waiting with no internet or GPS, we are finally back in the 21st century.

We met his friend, Sean, for lunch at this amazing Bar-B-Que place called 12 Bones. When we arrived, a line was forming out the door. Everyone ate til they couln't stuff another morsel down their throats except Arianna, who only ate my bread. We went to a place where Sean works calle Arcade. It's a restaurant and arcade during the day and a bar and arcade at night. He gave us some free tokens and access to free sodas and tea and we were in business. I had to force David and Aurora out of there. Aurora was really pretty good at pinball and Arianna just wanted to shoot things.

After Arcade, we went to a little splash-park fontain and let the girls play. I thought we'd be there all day but Aurora was being wierd and decided not to even go in. Athena told me some kid pushed her out of the way and was so offended by it, she didn't want to go back in. She's so sensitive, my baby. Arianna harped on Athena's comment but I know for a fact Arianna wouldn't have allowed some kid to push her like Athena will. She'd go down fighting. There were a lot of kids in the fountain, so we left, changed their clothes and walked around the downtown area.

It's a pretty little city with a lot of local art flair. In our wanderings, we went to an old Woolworht's store that still had an old fashioned fountain/ice cream shop intact. The rest of the place was set up for local artists to rent a booth and display their craft for purchase. We ate ice cream. When we finished, Aurora and David perused the local art set up within the store while I sat at the table with the little girls and played "Find the Spoon." It's funny what'll keep a kid's attention but usually it doesn't have to be an expensive toy, as long as your attention is involved. Aurora bought a couple little things. Athena saw litle card she wanted to buy but didn't have enough money. Rory was not about to loan her sister money, she's a frugal little gal. Each time that kid makes a purchase, she counts her money twice.

After strolling the downtown area, we headed to the car because Arianna was spent and it looked like rain. At the campground, we had dinner in the rain and turned in early.

Arianna was playing rough in bed, as she will do when she's not ready to sleep, and fell off the top bunk. Athena felt so bad because she was trying to move Arianna out of the way, and Ari fell. Luckily, she was alright but we were all pretty scared for a minute there. It took Athena longer to settle down than Arianna. Arianna got to sleep with Mommy and Daddy and the big girls got to have Mommy rub their backs while Daddy snuggled Baby Sister.

Tomorrow, we begin our trek back home to Tallahassee. We figure we'll stop south of Atlanta for a little R&R at a hotel.

Today I Learned: The only reason Asheville is even on the map is because this was a resort town for the rich to play. The Biltmore is here, the largest house in the counrty. We didn't go because it's too pricey and walking around old houses is boring for kids. Back in the day, many famous people came here to vacation or stay for a season, especially if they suffered respiritory ailments. Asheville is a hub to the arts, from modern to folk art. I already knew that but I didn't know how much I'd like Asheville art. If I had the dough, I just might buy a lot of stuff here. Many restaurants here only serve local food. The local and slow food movement are embraced in Asheville.