Urban Trail and Sandwiches

We got the map of the Asheville Urban Trail at the art museum and followed the bronze feathers embedded in the sidewalks.

Trudy read descriptions as we arrived at each sculpture, explaining its interpretation of some particular aspect of the city's history. We only followed the Gilded Age portion of the trail, since by the time we reached the end of it we were both thinking more about eating than sculptures.

Downtown Asheville is very pedestrian friendly. Maybe it's that the buildings don't tower over the streets. Maybe it is the folks milling around outside and the sidewalk cafes here and there. Or maybe it was just that we stumbled on The Mellow Mushroom pizza place just as we were beginning to really need a meal.

We sat outside, watching folks walk by watching us watch them. It was late in the day, and we sat in the deep shade of an arbor with blooming wisteria growing in profusion overhead. Having just left 90-degree weather, we were happy to have our jackets with us. And we were particularly happy when our sandwich and calzone arrived.

The Mellow Mushroom is a very groovy place. For me it felt like college in the 70s. For Trudy, it might have not had the same memory lane appeal, but she got a kick out of the T-shirts the were selling inside. And did I tell you how happy we were when our sandwich and calzone arrived?

The funny thing about this place was that something about the inside made me uncomfortable. When I walked in to wash my hands, it felt like I didn't belong. Here were people one, two generations my junior, looking like they had come out of my own past. But I was a one, two generations their senior, and clearly not part of their present. I felt like a gawker. I felt like a geezer. I felt like I just had to walk back to the bathrooms, wash my hands, and return to my table outside.

Given my discomfort in Black Mountain earlier in the day, you would be right to roll your eyes.

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Downtown Asheville, North Carolina

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