If you’ve followed my blog in the last week, you know that my husband and I traveled to Asheville, NC over the Memorial Day weekend specifically to check out Tupelo Honey Cafe, a restaurant coming to our town — Knoxville, TN!  (Can’t say enough about their Southern fresh cuisine and lively, personal service!)

After our bountiful brunch at Tupelo’s, we strolled downtown Asheville in search of unique shops that were open.  If you haven’t been to Asheville, let me tell you that unique is not hard to find! And that’s why we love going there.

First thing to catch our eyes were these adorable little onesies in the window of Spiritex, 61 1/2 N. Lexington Avenue, an organic apparel shop with clothing made within 120 miles of Asheville! 

OK.  I know infants can’t wear these very long.  But how fun to dress ’em up, add a cute cap, and take pictures for the relatives !

It was fun just buying something from Graceland (Yes, that’s her name)!

Malaprop’s at 55 Haywood Street is celebrating its 30-year anniversary all this month with specials and speakers — their website lists all the June events!

This store is one of the best indies we’ve seen, thanks to people like Martha who keep the displays fresh and the parade of authors coming to read and sign.

We loved the  carefully arranged displays and interesting titles — like this one!  We had to read some of it on the spot!

Regional books and books of local interest — like self-sufficiency/farming — lined the shelves.  Malaprop’s thrives on finding books that readers in the Asheville area are interested in taking home.

They really believe in — and showcase — local community interests. 

I loved seeing this Mom reading to her little one right there in Malaprop’s!

Down the street at 51 N. Lexington Avenue, Nest Organics offered a compost maker (under-sink size) in their window. Nest Organics sells non-toxic and environmentally friendly products for babies and children, home goods, and Savvy Rest mattresses — customizable organic bedding!

Gaea Gifts, 61 N. Lexington Avenue, sells organic t-shirts like this one with a VW bug right out of the 60s!

Cornerstone Minerals, 52 N. Lexington, offers agate obelisks,  tumbled stones, fossils, and these lamps that cast a soft glow through the storefront window.

And Write On, 28 N. Lexington, has a wide array of unique cards, small gifts, stationery, and hand-made papers for wrapping gifts.

We walked into Kress Emporium, 19 Patton Avenue, pleased to be greeted by familiar art — from Knoxville artist Cynthia Markert! I had seen some of her early works — women reminiscent of the flapper era — painted on boards in downtown Knoxville.  But here was a display of paintings, prints, cards, and one-self portrait — paintings in golds, purples, browns of rarely smiling women — with those engaging stares that almost pull me into their world.

Kress Emporium is a maze of booths filled with jewelry, pottery, and plants in a jar . . .

and art, too — paintings and hand-blown glass orbs!

But this sign stopped us in our tracks:  Zombie Prom.  We had to get closer to see just what was in this booth!

As we moved in, the owner surprised us by saying, Wait!  I’m bringing in my hats from last night’s Zombie Prom!  Have you got just a minute to wait?  You’ll want to see these! And Simone Bernhard, the designer and booth owner, was right!

I had never seen zombie hats — but here they were!  Simone (Chapeaux by Simone) says she does a lot of research on brains just to get the right configuration!

But there was another sign in her booth that caught my eye: World Domination Through Fascinators — yes, like the fashion accessory that became familiar to Americans during the wedding of Kate and William!  This could be my one and only chance to model a fascinator, so look closely!

Since we’ve visited The Mast General Stores in Valle Crucis, NC (original), the one in Boone, NC, and our own store in Knoxville, the one on 15 Biltmore Avenue in Asheville felt homey and familiar with its rugged outdoorsy clothing, camping gear, and old-fashioned kids’ toys!

We checked out their Memorial Day displays and new-fangled Crocs . . .

only to land in my favorite section — Candy By-the-Barrell! I love how you pick up a basket, grab handfuls of Cow Tales, Slo Pokes, and Tootsie Rolls and have ’em weighed by the pound!

We smiled at this t-shirt, but we love Asheville just the way it is!

We passed right by a restaurant — Curate — because we weren’t ready to eat again, but we did a double-take when we saw a young man carving a — what is this? a leg? a ham? Well, we couldn’t resist.  We walked right up to the bar and asked him what that was. Tyler (he introduced himself immediately) told us the name in Spanish and then translated –Spanish ham, fed only acorns — a delicacy that they serve in this tapas bar! Right then, we canceled previously-made plans for dinner and asked for a reservation here! You’ll have to check out my next blog to see how this dinner at Curate — and afterward at French Broad Chocolate Lounge — unfolded!

After all that shopping, walking, and talking, we stopped at Chocolate Fetish, 36 Haywood Street, for one last treat before heading to our B & B! (OK. We have a serious chocolate problem!)

Cakes, “Ecstasy Elite Truffles,” and beautifully hand-crafted pieces awaited us. 

Something new to us was a milk chocolate pistachio frog — literally a hand-size cup of creamy chocolate filled with caramel and pistachios!

We said good-bye to shopping — for that day, at least — passing open-air tables and people reveling in the sights and sounds of Asheville!

The eclectic mix of people and the unique shops contributed to a day like no other, for Asheville is just as artsy and whimsical as everyone says it is!

If you’ve been to Asheville, leave us a note, so we’ll know where you like to shop.  And don’t think for a minute that we wouldn’t have gone into Tops for Shoes . . . if it had been open!  Oh, well. We’ll just have to come back!