Asheville, North Carolina - December 3-5

Jesse's Mom, Micky lives outside of Asheville, so since we weren't able to make it for the holidays, we fit a trip in a little early.  We took Jesse's brother and his girlfriend, Angie with us on the 7 hour drive east.  We arrived late in the evening and stayed with Micky the first night.  She made dinner that night and we sat around and caught up since we hadn't seen her since our wedding in September.

When we woke up, it was raining with just the slightest bit of snow beginning to form.  Of course.  Since it was pretty cold, we didn't want to walk around too much without several places to duck into to warm up.  We headed downtown and after a bit stopped into Jack of the Wood.  The Garlic & Cheese fries sounded like a good, group-pleasing starter and Jesse and I split the fish tacos for our entree.  The fries were garlicky and gooey and just enough grease to make them the table favorite.  They were so good, it reminded you of how bad they are for you.  Now, the fish tacos on the other hand...hm....very good, but also VERY skimpy on the fish.  As in, one of the tacos only had a piece as big as a golf ball.  No kidding.  Normally I would bitch, but since we had other people with us, I let it go.  They did have the option to add more fish, but for $11 in Asheville, there should have at least been a moderate sized filet on each.  Pitiful.

It got colder and started getting a little slick out so we headed for the hotel.  Our reservations at Tupelo Honey Cafe were for 7, so we got ready for dinner and our night out and had a few drinks in the room.  Our cab arrived around 6:30.  Tupelo was still on a wait even with reservations, but we only waited 20 minutes or so.  Jesse and I ordered a single biscuit with gravy for the appetizer and then both had the shrimp and grits with crab as our entree.  Let's have a conversation about this, ok?  The biscuit and gravy?  I get it.  It was good.  BUT, I've had better.  And not to sound like an ass - but Cracker Barrel is better.  Just saying.  Though the gravy left something to be desired, the shrimp and grits was awe-inspiring.  I could literally eat it every day.

Tupelo gets a lot of negative reviews from people who think it's overrated but honestly, I eat a lot of southern food at southern inspired restaurants and this place deserves the hype.

It's always sad leaving Asheville.  We really enjoy it everytime we go.  Good thing that since Jesse's Mom lives there we have a legit reason to visit often.