NC (Continued)

So after the bear shadow, we headed back to the Inn for some cocktails (except Wifey the tee totaler). Lubricated by a few martinis, we headed over to an Italian place the In folks recommended --right across the street.

It turns out that Highlands has ONLY great restaurants. It's so upscale there, that any less than fine places go out of business fast. The Italian place (whose name escapes me) was terrific. I ordered Elk for the first time, and the waiter explained that it was "farm raised Elk," which is less gamey and more flavorful. In our buzzed state, we started theorizing that the Elk on the farm had even sadder eyes than wild ones, and they all wore t shirts pointing at their neighbors, etc...

It was a definite "had to be there," but we laughed, and ate, and laughed some more.

Next day, we were up and headed to White Mountain, where we had seen the shadow bear. We decided to take a 2 mile hike up and down the mountain. We grabbed walking sticks. The trail was described as "easy to moderate." Ha! As if! It was TOUGH!

Wifey whined and complained, as expected, but made it to the top! We were rewarded with views that took away any doubt about the existence of God. The vistas, in the Fall colors, were breathtaking.

Dr. Eric took about 300 photos on his high tech camera, and we drank in the gorgeous views, and the blissful weather.

Wifey felt "empowered" that she made the hike. We celebrated with another delicious lunch at a place called "Happy Thyme" in nearby Cashiers. Again, the food was delicious --we all had some of the best soup we'd ever tasted.

We returned to the Inn, and decided to make another trek, this time to "Sunset Rock," where the locals go to watch the day end over Highlands. Wifey had had enough --she stayed behind to revel in her "empowerment." Dr. Eric, Dana, and I made the short trip.

Again --we were rewarded with gorgous views. Eric snapped away, along with a fellow we met who was an ESPN cameraman enjoying his day off. He was an Alabama grad, so we made sure he knew his team's coach was the anti-Christ. He knew, but didn't care, so long as they won.

As the sun set, the colors drenched the sky over Highlands. It was a Fall post card in the best sense.

Next am we had breakfast, and left for Asheville, in the rain. We had all been there before, and decided its motto should be: "Asheville: A Southern City where ironic, wise guy Northern Urban Jews Could Actually live happily if for some reason they decided to live in the South."

I don't think the Asheville Chamber of Commerce will be clamoring to take this as their new motto, but it's true...