Asheville, Day Two (Part I)

Saturday morning found us being bad B&B guests once again – we skipped David's breakfast. We told him after we checked in that we would be doing that, so he wouldn't have to waste ingredients, and he seemed disappointed and kept trying to figure out a way to accommodate us. All I wanted was for him to let us do our own thing. Anyway, we headed instead to a local institution -- Tupelo Honey Cafe downtown. We had first eaten there on our first visit and have been wanting to go back ever since. I even remember what I had on that occasion – sweet-potato pancakes, which were amazingly delicious.

We arrived about twenty minutes before the 9:00 a.m. opening time, and there were already a few people milling about. Soon, a line formed. “The world starts at nine o'clock” a passerby mumbled as she elbowed her way past us. Our breakfast ended up being as delicious as we remembered. J. went for the sweet-potato pancakes this time, while I opted for French toast, served with skillet-cooked blackberries. Both were excellent, but it was the pancakes that once again took the cake, pardon the pun. Moist, fluffy, and brimming with the slightly starchy flavor of sweet potatoes, they were quite possibly the best pancakes either J. or I have ever had. The coffee was excellent, and the service very good as well – far from a guarantee in Asheville.

Sated, we headed out of town toward Dupont State Forest. Dupont is the newest state forest in North Carolina. The land was formerly owned by the DuPont corporation. A factory was located on a small portion of it, but most of it was a private hunting preserve for the company's executives and their guests. The factory site is still closed to the public as DuPont is finishing up some toxic waste cleanup there, but the rest of the land has been sold to the state and turned into a public forest. There is apparently some talk of turning it into a state park (this would presumably disallow hunting and allow an admission fee to be charged). Dupont's chief attraction is its waterfalls. There are several, and the trail we had planned to hike would allow us to see three of them. The morning was overcast and it started to rain right as we pulled into the parking area, but luckily the rain was short-lived and the rest of the morning and afternoon proved to be gorgeous. The early part of the trail, as far as Triple Falls, was quite crowded, but worth it. Triple Falls were spectacular – falling more than 120 feet in three sections, they were apparently used to film The Last of the Mohicans. Once we made it to the top and crossed the covered bridge, the crowds disappeared as if by magic, and we were left to hike the rest of the way to High Falls and Lake Dense in glorious solitude.

We covered about six miles in all, not an enormous distance, but by the end were were ready for a refreshment. We headed into town and stopped at Jack of the Wood Pub. It was a pleasant place to chill out on a hot afternoon -- dark, cool and cave-like. They brew their own beer under the Green Man label, in addition to serving some other locals. I tried the Porter. Pleasantly dry and slightly smoky, it was good but not particularly memorable. J. opted for the ESB, which was also a solid but not really distinctive brew. By this time, it was time to head back and get ready for dinner at Savoy, which really deserves its own post.