After my anxious morning, things brightened up! We had a great run, a fabulous lunch, and a really fun afternoon! And GREAT weather!!!
We set out on a run around 11AM and headed for the mountaintops! We ran up to the Grove Park Inn (elevation – mile high!) and back down. The first 2 miles were ALL up hill. The second 3 were much better 🙂
Post-run lawn yoga
Sportin’ KERF!
Tide-me-over snack of almonds from home
A 20 minute walk later….we made it for the Annual Wall Street Photo Shoot!!
MY OTHER RECIPES
2005 + 2006
2008 + 2009
2010!
And finally, a chance to try Early Girl Eatery. It’s been recommended 1,000 times but we had never been. Soul food just wasn’t what we were craving. But today it was!!
Other Asheville Favorites:
- The Laughing Seed
- Rosetta’s Kitchen
- Cucina 24
- The Chocolate Fetish
- The Laughing Seed again!
- Bouchon
- Tupelo Honey
- Tressa’s (for drinks + dancing)
Mom & Dad – my favorite blue glasses!!! I grew up drinking out of these. LOVE water in lightweight big plastic glasses!
Annnnndddd now we know what the hype is all about. Early Girl was AWESOME!
Lunch!
For lunch I ordered the Black Bean + Sweet Potato Cakes, which came with sour cream and avocado relish. I didn’t realize they were deep fried (that always seems to sneak up on me – I’m so naive!) but they were still realllly good. Matt proclaimed them the best thing he’s had all weekend!
I gave Matt one of my cakes in exchange for bites of his tempeh
I proclaimed this cornbread the best I’ve ever had!!! It was brown and crusty with thick grit-like cornmeal nuggets. LOVEEEEE
I got sides of beet and sauteed spinach. Both were amazing!
Matt got the famous Tempeh Reuben
HEAVENLY! I cannot even describe what was so good about this. Caramelized cabbage? Special sauce? The tempeh? And I don’t even like reubens!
Clearly we hated it all.
After lunch we went shopping!!
Amazing hand-made oatmeal bowl with handle!?!?! Yes please!! Matt bought it for me as an anniversary gift!! It came from Kim’s Clay Pots. Kim eats oatmeal out of them too!
After walking back to the B&B (Matt wore the Garmin and we covered EIGHT miles today!) we drove out to Black Mountain to try out Pisgah Brewery. The homebrewer’s only request on the anniversary trip was to try a few local brews!
MORE LOVE!
Brewing was happening!
We tried 8 of Pisgah’s beers (BTW, all day I’ve been calling it PIGsah!!) and they were ALL fabulous!! I can’t remember the last time I loved a microbrewery so much!
And get this – all the beers are ORGANIC! This place was definitely worth the drive.
Endless Summer, Leaf Amber, Doppel Bock (my fav) and a Schwarz
Hops!
Round II was Vortex I (double IPA), Vortex II (Russian Imperial Stout), Cosmos (a Belgian strong dark) and the Hellbender Barleywine.
LOOOOOVVVVVED all of these!! My fav. was the Imperial Stout.
For his anniversary present, I got him a Pisgah Organic glass! He collects pint glasses, I heart oatmeal bowls 🙂
More Mountain Mamas
Back in Aville, we stopped into French Broad Brewing
Learning about beer 
These were a big disappointment after Pisgah 🙁 I didn’t really like any of them.
We’re back at the B&B now and are gearing up for cocktail hour (wine + cheese) on the big porch. Not sure I need more alcohol right now, but we brought a bottle of wine from our honeymoon and I have to have at least a little. And I live for cheese 🙂
See ya tonight!
Wow Kath – your figure has changed so much over the past few years, looking at those photos! Girl, you look gorgeous!!
That lunch does look SO good – I love tempeh and sweet potato 🙂
Have a great afternoon!
You are always the first to comment!!! 🙂
Haha – it’s cos I spend ALL day at my computer working (for my exams, which finish on WEDNESDAY *YAAY!!* )- So I have to keep myself entertained 😀
That all looks so much fun!! I feel like I’ve seen those bowls at some craft fairs before. The annual photos are neat- it’s fun to look back and see how you’ve changed over the years but they also serve as lil souvenirs 😛
Please be careful with homemade ceramic bowls! Especially if you are heating them, eating hot items out of them, liquid, or dishwasher. The glaze (colored paint on the clay) needs to be certified, lead free, dinnerware safe, etc. It also needs to be fired at the correct temperature in order for it to become safe to eat out of.
You and Matt are adorable. So nice to see you’re enjoying yourself!
That first pic is adorable!!! Just like the mug from the last post, I must get a ceramic bowl. My collection needs some new additions. 🙂
As soon as I read your blog title, I immediately got the theme song from Married with Children stuck in my head! What a wonderful day to celebrate your anniversary!
I love your outfit. You look so grown up in the annual photo now 🙂 I love hand made bowls and mugs. I think stuff tastes better out of them! Have a fun evening!
What an amazing-looking lunch!!! I love the annual pictures!! Traditions are best!
I thought that you lived for wedding cake… 😉
hahaha. I do!!
I love how your shirt gets more colorful over the years on wall street
What a great day! That is so sweet. I would love to go there some time. It kinda makes me sad to see how much Matt loves beer and local brewers. My husband is a true lover of beer and now that he has celiac, his beer world has been turned upside down. Speaking of which, do you know of any places in Charlotte that serve gluten free beers? We will be by the convention center area next weekend and I have no idea where to begin to look. Enjoy your evening!
Bummer 🙁 I don’t know of any in particular, although the one we had last night was gluten-free and good.
Thanks Kath…maybe we will get lucky to find a place or he will just have to enjoy wine. I think he will fine with that too!
I love seeing all the different photo years. I remember a few of them just from reading your blog!
Sounds like the *perfect* day. Seriously. Hope it continues tonight!
You must go to the Corner Kitchen in the Biltmore Village for breakfast (brunch)! It is the bomb diggity!!
Aww! Congrats! Happy Anniversary! I LOVE the idea of hitting up an organic brewery. Especially that grow some ingredients!
The hubby and I are brewing a Pale Ale right now in our kitchen. haha. Actually, we’re just bottling it today. Brewing beer is a really awesome couple activity.
I love the annual picture!
My mom used to do that with my sister and I until we were about 15, but instead of on the street, she had a bathing suit that we were every year. It’s pretty cool to see us grow in to it!
Come on home to visit and I’ll give you the plastic blue glasses as an anniversary present!
Hurrah!!! So glad you had a wonderful night. And cornbread, swoooooon! This has made me decide to cook my Indian Corn Pudding (with cornmeal) for dessert tonight 😀
I love those pics of you over the years…you always have the cutest outfits too.
And totally love the new oatmeal bowl addition. How fun! I always go crazy over new pottery dishes. 😀
What a fun day . Thank you for all the pix, I liked #4 the best. Happy anniversary.
What a great day you had! You deserve your wine and cheese. A run, lots of walking, good eats, good beer tasting…does it get much better? Enjoy!
I love that color on you. You and Matt are adorable. 🙂
What fun adventures. Happy anniversary to you both! 🙂
I definitely want to start a photo tradition now.
The one of you in 2005 doesn’t look like you – did you not wear makeup then? Your eyes look so different!
Enjoy the rest of your trip.
I did ! Maybe just a different brand?
Wow, everything at lunch looks so good especially the black bean + sweet potato cakes, what a perfect combination!
I’m finally catching on…it’s your anniversary weekend – duh! Congrats to you lovebirds.
You were itty bitty in ’08 – love the outfit.
& OMG, the black bean burgers look divine – fried or not, I still would have devoured them.
Enjoy the rest of your LOVEly weekend!
I love seeing all of your pictures from different years!
Ahh, love this! I miss our trips to Asheville. We didn’t get to try too many restaurants but definitely loved Tupelo! We have a restaurant that makes a tempeh reuben..and better yet they bake the tempeh in their house brewed beer! It is SO good…Chris’s favorite. Has a really yummy vegan sauce too. All the food looks delish! I’m a sucker for pottery too!
I just at the laughing seed with my mom the other day! We walked by early girl after and now that you loved were going to have to go. Looks yummy! Love asheville. Hope you’re enjoying it
i just had dinner and that soul food made me hungry again.
I love the yearly pictures, too cute!
That first photo – absolutely absolutely the most beautiful photo I’ve ever seen of you two. Honestly. You can feel the bliss coming through even through the blur! 🙂
Wei-Wei
That first shot of you two is so great!
That pint glass with the “organic” on it looks cool. I’ll have to stop there when I’m in Virginia & NC this Fall.
LOVE the yearly photo-shoot at the same location!
I do that at a spot overlooking Cripple Creek with the Sangre De Cristo Mt.Range in the background.
This is the first year that I had my daughter in the picture, too. (First time in a while since we were in CO)
I hope she continues the tradition 🙂
Don’t mind me. Just taking notes on what I need to see and do next time I’m in Asheville. 😉
And happy anniversary!
So glad you found Pisgah! The best beer IMO! We know the owners and their heart is in the right place considering community and organic practices. Such a fun place! Tell me you guys got in a game of foosball?
What a fun day. I love the pictures in the same spot.
sounds like a fantastic day!
love your outfit! it’s so cute!
Asheville is about 2 hours from my school. Love going there to get away and have fun! It’s got a little bit of everything 🙂
looks like a delicious meal! I love that you’ve taken a picture in the same spot for years!
I live about 5 minutes from Pisgah and I am so.excited. you guys went! I always order Pisgah when we eat out so I can support our local beer peeps. We had keg of the pale ale at our wedding and it was pretty much emptied by the end of the night! Glad you had a great trip!