Goats on the Roof, and other less stupid things

A summer roadtrip to Asheville, NC, required driving through Athens and northeast Georgia. One of the odd tourist attractions located along the way is Goats on the Roof. "Why are the goats on the roof?" you might find yourself asking. My advice: don't consult the (incredibly stupid) literature available at the gift shop to answer that question, because you will groan yourself to death.

 But at least the goats are cute.

While in Athens, we visited the state Botanical Garden, because it's free and awesome and has things like pitcher plant bogs and honeybees on blue bachelor's buttons (alliteration both intended and not).

 

Another oddity encountered along the interstate passing into Atlanta was a giant yellow bilboard that just reads "JESUS".. much like your thoughts might read if you're sitting in traffic on I-275.

Asheville: the {insert nickname here} city

Seriously, what is Asheville's nickname? Here's my exploration of potentials.

Wildflower City: It has a nice botanical garden, with cool rocks and lovely plants like jewelweed, ironweed, and some sort of phlox.

 

Culture City: It has a cool sculpture walking tour you can take around downtown.

Foodie City: It has some good restaurants and breweries, even a bar that makes their own sake.

Future-site-of-a-water-war City: Apparently it's in one of the driest areas of North Carolina situated immediately next to one of the wettest.

Surely one of these must be close!

... Okay, I just looked it up, and apparently Asheville's nickname is "Land of Sky." Yeah, I guess it has some sky. Case closed.

Chillin' Like an Ashevillain

I've been on a number of domestic trips lately, and I have yet to post about any of them. So here begins a series of a few posts that will be mostly pictures, mostly to remind myself of what I've been up to the past few months.

First up: Asheville, North Carolina. Hipster capital of the South and very Good Eats.

The whole reason for the trip: Yonder Mountain String Band with the Infamous String Dusters playing at the Orange Peel. Great show, great bands, great venue. I wish Track 29 or any other of Chattanooga's music venues had more of this place's feel.

Yes, it is.

 Chimney Rock... because it looks like a chimney. Pretty sure this is a national park, too, though it was closed for the season after we drove tens of miles down winding mountain roads to get to it.

 It was cold, okay?