Black Rose and Beyond

There is the Yellow Rose of Texas, Red Roses for a Blue Lady and The Black Rose of Hendersonville. As the sign simply states and I think modestly understates a very nice downtown restaurant serving a variety of international and all American foods. Today's Special was a Lamb Gyro with Tzatziki Sauce served in a spicy, crispy and toasted to perfection Pita Wrap.

 One beer is not quite enough while two is too much so our so sweet and helpful hostess solved my dilemma with a half a glass of ice cold Murphy's Irish Stout.
A couple of cups of coffee with a scrumptious slice of Key Lime Pie and we were done.

 Black Rose, just one of many great restaurants downtown Hendersonville and one that should Not be overlooked!

So after a slight over indulgence at lunch and Thanksgiving just a couple of days away, the lingering guilt drove me to pedal back up to Jump Off Rock to burn off a little steam. 
The sun was already setting on this overcast, warm and gusty day but when I reached the top I was not (and have never been) disappointed. The sky is a watercolor canvas in continuous motion.

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Sunday Stroll Down Main Street

Many places are closed. That is the preamble, but with all the places that are Open in Hendersonville on a balmy breezy November Sunday before Thanksgiving, there is no shortage of places to enter let alone window shop and dream.

That being the case we started at Homestead across from the court house and worked our way down to a Piece of the Pie, where we picked a slice of Jack Daniels and Key Lime, back to Four Seasons, where we found a beautiful wreath for the front door and mehri & co. of N.Y. where I suspect one or two of their selection of lamps will soon illuminate our bedroom.

We dined at Champa where the fare is an exquisite fusion of food and art. Then home again; and all of this without broaching a bridge or traversing a tunnel or patronizing a parking lot.  

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Drawbar Cliffs and Pinnacle Mountain

Draw-bar Cliffs and Pinnacle Mountain. I just want to emphasize the "and" while I start posting today's 9.9 mile 3000 foot climb. Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. This well known mantra may well have been based on the life and times of Chip. With the possible exception of early to bed, Chip is up and adam at o'dark thirty and stays that way into
the o'dark hours of every day. He stays positively focused, optimistic and otherwise motivated through each intervening hour, vigorously burning both ends of the candle. This weeks travels brought him close to one thousand miles with journeys through Valley Forge and the Delaware Water Gap. All of that fueled by a successful launch of his latest entrepreneurial venture on 11/11/11. Now while most people, namely me, would say OK enough is enough for one week, Chip is planning and packing for the Saturday Hike to Heaven. This weeks cloud 9 was Drawbar Cliffs, the planned banquet including Bratwurst (Johnsons Original, Beer   and Navel Oranges. As I was getting the fire started Chip yelped a couple loud OMG's and other expletives from the far corner while reaching into his backpack. At first I thought he'd been bitten by a snake but.... I grabbed the wrong meat!!!! (that's what she said). What it turned out to be was he had grabbed hamburger instead of the Bratwurst from the freezer. Clearly not a reason to go back. So we grilled out sirloin instead of pork and I can live with that.
On these outings where tourists are sparse, we always seem to meet a few great people and today was no exception. Here is pictured a fine couple from Charleston (the other most beautiful place in the world), a Minister traversing the church of God, who gave us information and directions to an ancient trail and Petroglyphs (cave drawings), sure to be on our itinerary for future trips and a young lady we met on our return trip at the juncture of Mills Creek and Pinnacle Trail, a very steep and strenuous jaunt to the top of Pinnacle Mountain that Chip had not detailed as part of our venture until it was too late to re-think and refuse.


Now my advise to Chip was simply this; Put a camera in your Rav4 and click a few shots along way on your endless road trips. Submit them to Carrie, your daughter and editor in chief and let her share these memories with the world through her Clausens Blog.

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Catfish in the Cellar - The Cypress Celler

I have never had catfish before and there was just something about the name that made me ask for salmon instead. But there comes a time when one must expand ones self imposed culinary boundaries and today was, once again, my day to jump into the pond.

My life saver and preserver in this venture was this engaging young lady with her Mardi Gras smile and Hurricaine charm. She said Try it, you will love it and if you don't love it I will get you something else. Now that is a gamble that even I am willing to take. The food at the Cypress Cellar is Creole, Cajun, Carolina and inCredible. It is cool weather comfort food with a spice and crunch that warms your body, heart and soul. The catfish with pecan sauce was li te tres bon!
These lovely people just happened to be nestling in for a late lunch about the same time as I and although entereing as strangers we left feeling as friends. Much love, fun and blessings to you as you travel back to Old Fort, North Carolina.

Bob and Fran Leave for Thailand

Most of us spend our whole lives searching for meaning in life. Others appear to have found it and still others create it in their simple act of sharing. So this is Bob and Fran. The weekly gathering of health seekers will be temporarily postponed until these two return from their annual pilgrimage to Thailand. A land so far away, so exotic, that most of us never dream of going let alone living there for half of each year. So for a minute I just wonder, are there kindred spirits waiting on the other side of the world for their return, just as we have gathered here tonight to wish them bon voyage? It's just a thought.

Tonight we all shared a delicious meal at the China Dynasty in Horse Shoe NC. Hendersonsonville is the meeting and melding of multicultural experiences for those who seek to find them. And so Qi Gong is not just a physical exercise class although is does involve stretching. It is, by experience, the stretching of ones personal boundaries from self to selfless, from limits to limitless and as posed creating the smiles in these pictures, from saying cheese to chi. It is the energy of Qi Gong with Bob and Fran that has brought this group together and their energy will be missed.
Namaste, Bob and Fran
Namaste

Kanuga Center via Willow Road

Was it 20, 22, or 23 miles? As usual the electronic gadgets disagreed but the bottom line was we didn't get there by pressing the remote and switching to the Travel Channel. There is something very real about each surge of power from the pedal to the wheel and the wind in your face when you finally get that down hill reward. Heading out with nothing but a notion to do something we rode up hills and through neighborhoods and on roads I have only heard about; Champion Hills, Lake Osceola, and the beautiful Kanuga Conference Center. These two know and love Hendersonville in very special ways. Exploring the highways and byways, paths, trails, lakes and rivers together via foot, bike, motor cycle and 4 Runner. They know it with an instinct born through a history of experience together. They have a way of pursuing and consuming life with purpose, energy and enthusiasm as a daily quest for adventure and today they shared one with me.

Travels in Wine Tours

Overmountain Vineyards in Tryon NC

Hello and welcome to all of you who shared a magical day in the mountains as guests of Travels in Wine Tours. 

I am in the process of uploading the pictures and thinking of the appropriate words to describe and remember this wonderful and colorful occasion. To Bonita and George for inviting us, to Kimberlee and Derek for their informative, entertaining, gracious and personal presentations and to all of you who created the atmosphere of fun, frolic and friendship experienced throughout the day, we express our heartfelt appreciation.
For those of you fellow shutter bugs who took pictures, please email any that you would like to share along with your "Love Stories" to be posted in 1 Thousand Reasons 2 Love Hendersonville. 

Green Creek Winery in Columbus NC

Alvin Pack Green Creek Winery

The Wine Tour began at a very reasonable 11am, a respectable time to start meeting new people and also start tasting the premise of the tour. Our First Champagne toast was around 12pm, very respectable, in the Burnt Shirt Vineyards. This a fun, informal and earthy way to start the day. Grapes, after all, are a fruit crop and need to be planted tended and harvested before they can be fermented into the seemingly endless rows of selection on your grocers shelves. Our simple walk into the vineyard reminded us of that basic fact. Our tour then proceeded to three winery's who grow harvest and produce their own distinctive wines. Green Creek Winery's, Mr. Alvin Pack explained the process of producing the worlds first Red Chardonnay. We also enjoyed a selection of cheese, crackers and shrimp with an incredible Chardonnay Sauce also developed by the ingenious Mr. Pack. 
We then traveled to Overmountain Vineyards in Tryon, NC. Overmountian is in a word, majestic. This is your vision of the wine country. As you gaze out over the mountains and feel the soft crisp cool of the evening air, you could very well be in Modesto, Sonoma or Napa Valley... or Heaven.

The wine aged in stainless steel is crisp and clean whereas the liquids aged in oak are "oaky". Each has it's distinctive aura and taste and each is the pride of the vineyard. Oak barrels cost over $1000 dollars, hold 59 gallons of wine, produced from the yield of 1000 pounds of grapes (give or take). Think about that next time you pop a cork.

While our personal wine sommelier, Kimberlee tended bar, Tess discovered that she was old friends with the owner and host, Lita Lilly.

The day could not have been more perfect....

as the sun set into the mountains, the air cooled, the wine chilled, the open fire and hearts grew warmer.

Our last stop was Parker-Binns Vineyards in Mill Spring NC. As if hedonism had not already been quantified through the course of the day, at Parker-Binns we paired our wine with Dark Chocolate... (a moment of silence please). Owners Karen and Bob Binns made everyone feel right at home.

Owner Bob Binns

Owner Karen Binns

By this time in the evening everyone was feeling like old friends. I send my best wishes to the EMS couple who traveled here from Charleston, the chemical engineers who understood my Smart Strand carpet, the NJ couple, "Big Small World" who pioneered the Interactive White Board in the classrooms, the newlyweds from St. Augustine who gave us tips about Key West and the Gamecock fans from Laurens who shared our victory today; We hope you enjoyed your stay in Hendersonville and we hope you come again soon. And of course our thanks again to Kimberlee and Derek Travels in Wines Tours for a truly wonderful day.
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