I crawled out of the lab in the afternoon and followed Joshua and his wife Lauren to the Clear Channel radio studios where Joshua was going to fill in for Matt Mitan (Take a Stand) [radiovoice]on 570AM WWNC[/radiovoice]. And guess who was cordially invited to sit in on the broadcast? This guy!
I gave my opinion of Tennessee's new "Guns in Bars" law and commented a little on the national healthcare thing that everyone's been talking about. A fun three hours if I may say so myself. We were joined by Micah and Agnes, the show's producer. I've met a couple of Agneses in my life but never one under the age of 60... or quite as purty.
While we were on the the air, Bele Chere kicked off downtown. Bele Chere is the summer street festival in Asheville. This year they had four music stages and the streets were lined with vendors hawking everything from pan flutes to Pisgah Ale. I caught the tail end of a set from the Dirty Guv'nahs out of Knoxville, then I grabbed some grub. I ate what was supposed to be a steak and cheese sandwich that required eight napkins and a bottle of hand sanitizer to get off my face. Due to the carnival flair exuded by Bele Chere, I was extremely disappointed to not find a fried snickers bar stand. But being able to drink on the street made up for it. There's something I find liberating about drinking outside or smoking inside. It must of been awesome to smoke on an airplane 30yrs ago, but then some whiny bitches complained and the price of plane tickets went up to cover the cost of removing ash trays from the armrests.
Joshua, Lauren, Forrest, and I browsed around the festival and stumbled upon the Camel cigarette tent [no smoking allowed inside, ironically (I think that's the proper way to use the term "ironically")]. The Camel people provided me with some free SNUS [sarcastic]YAY![/sarcastic] and a pack of Camel crush. They also provided the opportunity to have your picture taken with a couple of good lookin' Camel girls in front of a green screen where they would imprint a background of some cityscape. What am I going to do with that? Put it next to the photos of hot chicks I had taken in non-imaginary locations? The free cigarettes where nice though.
Later we moved over to Skybar which is a fire escape balcony that alcohol is served at. It's acutally a pretty cool place if you're with couple of friends. There's a nice view and it's the only bar I've been to with an elevator attendant. Who knows what wonders this fair city will have in store for me tomorrow?
Saturday
Wake up. Check. Shower. Check. Consume a box of Pillsbury Toaster Scramblers. Check.
I went to pick up my dry cleaning but missed them closing by 15 min. So I just headed over to Burgermeister's for a late lunch. Yeah! Good brew selection and great food. I grabbed a Wedge Pale Ale and a Cowboy Country or Country Cowboy something... it was a bacon cheeseburger w/BBQ sauce. These are some big ass burgers so bring your appetite.
After eating a lunch that was sure to result in a 5lb. dump the next morning, I went downtown for day two of Bele Chere. I met up with Joshua at the 570AM tent which was next to one of the music stages. Charles Sayles was jammin' away on the harp while Not Danny McBride was wailing on guitar.
He has a great sound. I'd love to catch him at Bourbon Street Blues and Boogie Bar in Nashville if he ever comes through. After my blues fill, I headed to another stage across the downtown area to see Sons of Ralph. They're a North Carolina bluegrass band who's lead singer, Ralph Lewis, has been playing since the 1940s.
That evening I got to sit in on Speaking of Strange (Joshua's radio show I mentioned earlier). Left for home the next day and got pulled over in Knoxville. Here's some more pic's of the festival:
In addition to my stay in Asheville during the summer, I returned in October to attend a dinner show with a psychic entertainer. A psychic entertainer is a magician/conjurer/mentalist that puts on a show simulating psychic powers. We took part in a recreation of a Victorian era seance. We were at the Madison Inn in Black Mountain, NC. It's a bed and breakfast. Emphasis on breakfast. Great place to eat when you're in the area. Rooms are reasonably priced as well. Made it back home the next day. A week later, a rock slide took out I-40 in the winding "gorge" area just between Tennessee and North Carolina. Looks like the next trip is going to be the long way.
He has a great sound. I'd love to catch him at Bourbon Street Blues and Boogie Bar in Nashville if he ever comes through. After my blues fill, I headed to another stage across the downtown area to see Sons of Ralph. They're a North Carolina bluegrass band who's lead singer, Ralph Lewis, has been playing since the 1940s.
That evening I got to sit in on Speaking of Strange (Joshua's radio show I mentioned earlier). Left for home the next day and got pulled over in Knoxville. Here's some more pic's of the festival:
In addition to my stay in Asheville during the summer, I returned in October to attend a dinner show with a psychic entertainer. A psychic entertainer is a magician/conjurer/mentalist that puts on a show simulating psychic powers. We took part in a recreation of a Victorian era seance. We were at the Madison Inn in Black Mountain, NC. It's a bed and breakfast. Emphasis on breakfast. Great place to eat when you're in the area. Rooms are reasonably priced as well. Made it back home the next day. A week later, a rock slide took out I-40 in the winding "gorge" area just between Tennessee and North Carolina. Looks like the next trip is going to be the long way.
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