I took a red-eye flight out of Seattle on Tuesday, landed at 8am in Asheville, and the adventure began!

My gracious host from the Biltmore Estate picked me up at the airport (one of the tiniest I’ve been to), and then took me on a tour of the downtown area. I was rather impressed by the feel of the place…definitely more of a “city” than a “town”. There were tons of cute streets filled with galleries, restaurants, microbreweries, and public parks with water fountains. Because they never tore down the buildings when all the other cities were doing so, Asheville has retained much of its Art Deco architecture.

Next up: Inn on Biltmore Estate

Adventure on,

Kristen

Once again, I am here to remind you that Saturday is Record Store Day! Get yourself down to your local music dealer, and buy yourself some new tunes with that hefty tax refund (or go to the used section for some cheap ones if you’re like me, and owed Uncle Sam all your spending money).

I checked out a few independent record stores in Seattle this week, and they are ALL having some kind of special and/or in-store performances by some great bands. Nothing like being entertained with live music while you shop!

Oh, and one store manager I talked to, J.R. from Jive Time Records in Fremont, said that, if you’re like me, and don’t own a record player anymore, you can easily get one all set up for between $80-100. Not bad. And, if I do, here are some of the records I would buy:

I heart Television.

Surf’s up, dudettes!

For your inner child.

Man, I remember doing the mod dance to this song.

OK, just kidding on the STYX one.

For some amusing posts from years past, please check out some of my older musings on this loveliest of days:

2009 Record Store Day

2008 Record Store Day (where you can read all about my days at working for Rolling Stone Records in Chicago during my “glory days”!)

Adventure on with headphones on!

Kristen

Welcome to a picture from my home town of Seattle. No greater icon exists than the Space Needle!

Instead of travelling myself, recently I’ve been hosting other travellers and showing them MY city! It’s a nice change, and has given me a truer picture of what people see and love in Seattle. I must admit, I do tend to complain a lot about the rain, lack of excitement, dreary winters, etc., but we really do have some great things to offer. Come check it out yourself some day. Tell them “Gill sent ya!”

Adventure on, even if it’s in your own backyard!

Kristen