Despite all of the rain on Saturday, we still managed to photograph a few waterfalls (although after the Linville Falls incident, pup remained in the car). Plus, there were some lovely cascades along the Blue Ridge Parkway, so I guess rain does have it’s good points sometimes.

After our second mile-long trek in the damp, we decided to scrap hiking for the rest of the day and hit Jack of the Wood, a brew pub in downtown Asheville. We warmed up with a Green Man porter and ESB which went ever so nicely with the basket of chips with scallion blue cheese dip and ploughman’s lunch. Mmmm. We figured we would retrace our steps on Sunday and hit the waterfalls we missed in some better weather!

For my birthday this year, Eric got me a spa package at Umstead Spa in Cary. Because of my sister’s wedding, our trip to Peru and the NC nonprofit’s conference were all back to back in late-August/early-September, I waited until now to make the reservation.

After dropping my car at the complimentary valet, I was whisked away to the spa area where a giant fluffy robe and massage slippers were waiting for me. I arrived early so I could take advantage of the whirlpool hot tub before my “Body Glo” exfoliation treatment and massage. The description from the Umstead website:

Your body will be exfoliated with a rich blend of sea salt and Umstead Bath and Body Gel, after which our luxurious Umstead Body Butter will be applied leaving your skin ‘baby soft’ and refreshed.

You lay on a table covered with towels (with one draped over you) and six rain-style showerheads above you spray warm water down while the sea salt rub is applied.  Absolutely lovely and very relaxing. Immediately following this was my 50 minute massage with lavender oil. The hiking this weekend did a number on my hips, so the therapist concentrated on that area and my lower back. My actual treatments only took about two hours, but I was there for about 3.5 hours total, trying out the sauna and hot tub again and reading trashy magazines while sipping on water laced with cucumbers.

I finally pried myself away from the spa to have lunch with Eric at Heron’s and I continued my day of luxury with the Market Menu and wine pairings…

Somerset Farm Vichyssoise (Carolina Hen and Arugula Pesto) with Four Graces Pinot Gris
Roasted Southport Snapper with Joseph Drouhin Chardonnay
Roasted Peaches (White Chocolate Rice Pudding and Burnt Almond Ice Cream) with La Yunta Late Harvest Torrontes

Everything was delicious and Eric very much enjoyed his grilled cheese sandwich and creamy tomato soup with a cheese crisp. A wonderfully indulgent and relaxing day.

Thanks, Eric! :*

Our first day of waterfall hiking was a bit of a wash… literally. We knew it was going to be wet/muddy because it had rained for a full week before our visit to the NC mountains, but we were very much hoping it wasn’t going to rain all day on Saturday.

As you can see from this very sad schnauzer face, it did, in fact, rain and this photo was taken before the torrential downpour that was our mile hike back to the car at Linville Falls.

you wouldn’t mind carrying me all the way back to the car, right?

The weather cooperated on Sunday and we were able to do more hiking and stay relatively dry. Riesling spent much of her time in the car like this…

She did do about 4 miles of hiking with us, including this short hike to an unnamed falls off FR 63 near Craggy Gardens.

I’ll be posting more photos of the 10 waterfalls we photographed this week. Visit the Flickr photoset of our trip for updates and check out some of the other waterfalls we’ve photographed here.

Today was my grandmother’s birthday;  she would have been 90 this year. I still think about and miss her daily.

A strange fact about me – I love leftover spaghetti. So much so that I sometimes requested it for my birthday meal when I was in grade school. My mom would make up some extra spaghetti (with red sauce, of course) with dinner the night before and I would enjoy the warmed leftovers for my birthday lunch. And now you know. :)

Over the summer we were approached by a pest control guy walking door to door trying to sell us a service package. He explained that whatever they sprayed would kill all the bugs and eliminate the numerous spider webs we had in corners and eaves. Noticing our dog, he added that all these chemicals would somehow be safe for Riesling to walk through even if she licks her paws. (Suuuuure.)

We politely declined and sent him on his way mostly because I happen to like spiders and it’s not like all those chemicals will form a mosquito net around our house. (Although, if that technology ever becomes available, sign me up!)

The truth is, those chemicals don’t know the difference between the good pollinating insects and the bad biting insects so it’s just not for us. Plus, then we couldn’t get photos of this beautiful orbweaver spider…

She’s pretty large; her abdomen is the size of a nickel. We like her there because she catches and eats all the other kinds of bugs. :)

Right after we got back from Peru, we agreed to pup-sit our friend’s mini schnauzer, Pasha, for the weekend. Riesling doesn’t particularly enjoy the extra attention, but they do enjoy tugging on the rope together.

(grrrrrr!)

Sometimes I have to break things up and start over. Clearly, when I have the rope, I also have everyone’s full attention!

(my pants are rolled up due to bug bites, not a fashion preference)

Inevitably, Riesling wanders off by herself to chew on bunny.

(what? bunny is tasty.)

After lunch, we grabbed a cab and headed over to the Museo de Oro (Gold Museum) for a look at an amazing display of weapons. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but an entire room filled with swords was a surprise.

We weren’t allowed to take photos at the Gold Museum, but suffice it to say that they have a ton of knifes, ammo and guns in that place. Not unlike some of the security guards in from the the Governor’s Mansion in Lima’s Plaza de Armas…

The light was lovely for another 10 minutes, so I rushed around the square taking as many photos as possible before it got too dark.

(Basillica Cathedral de Lima)

And finally, here’s a brief video of our 30 minute cab ride to the airport around 6pm. It was like this the whole way.

Our cab from the airport (a reasonable 60 solas [$20] for 4 people) dropped us off in the heart of Miraflores and from there we set off to explore the area and spend some time before lunch. Eric and I popped into a local supermarket for some chips and bottled water and our new friend Dave bought himself a pair of shoes (American Airlines lost his luggage and he had been wearing the same slip-ons for three days, including the Machu Picchu hike).

After that, I basically handed Eric the map and asked him to get us to the dot that was our lunch place location. :)

The streets were a little tricky but the signage was fine and we eventually ended up on Av. Pardo where we could walk down the middle of the street. This avenue dead-ends into a park overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It very much reminded us of certain parts of California.

Our main destination in Miraflores was La Mar (website in Spanish), which is supposed to be one of the best places for cebiche (marinated raw fish) in the city. We arrived just after noon so we got a table slightly above the main dining room which made for great people watching.

(The complimentary chips, dips and roasted corn kernels were delicious.)

I couldn’t decide on any one dish (and there are no English menus so it takes a bit of guessing), but, luckily, La Mar has something just for that type of indecision—a cebiche sampler of the five most popular choices. Thankfully, none of them included tongue.

I don’t expect that everyone will find my meal appetizing (Eric certainly didn’t) but it was absolutely delicious. And I’m not just saying that because of the pisco sour (or two) that I consumed along with it.

(the beautiful presentation from left to right: Nikei – tuna in tiger milk; Potente – clams and squid; Miraflorino – fish in yellow red pepper mixed cream; Elegante – fish in cream of red pepper; Clásico – the freshest fish)

Eric settled on the paella limeña which was rice with fish, shellfish, chicken and garlic sausage with creole seasoning. He was a very good sport as nothing on the menu didn’t have some sort of seafood included. We all left full and happy.

What’s that? You want to see some photos of Machu Picchu? Oh, alright. :)

When we arrived around 7:30am, the clouds were covering Wayna Picchu but soon afterward, the sun burned them off and we were treated to the classical view of Machu Picchu.

We definitely recommend spending the night in Aguas Calientes and taking an early bus to Machu Picchu in order to beat the crowds of people being led around by tour guides. We had no trouble finding several places to relax off the beaten path where we were undisturbed by other visitors.

I took this 360 degree video to give everyone a taste of the surrounding area. It’s not just the grounds that make this location absolutely stunning.

Getting close to several llamas was a lovely surprise and I noticed that when eating they scissor the grass with their teeth rather than chomp at it. Llamas also make a soft purring noise, not unlike a vibrating cell phone. Out of respect, we declined to mention anything about the delicious alpaca we had the night before.

(the view from the main square looking toward the cultivation terraces)

We occasionally eavesdropped on a few tour groups to learn some things, but mostly stayed to ourselves. As if to prove how small a world it is, at one point we were passed by an elderly woman wearing an NC State ball cap!

As the sun got stronger, we spent more time in the shade exploring all the various rooms and storage spaces. Don’t let the long sleeves fool you, it was quite warm but we didn’t have sunblock, so being warm was better than the sunburn I would have earned. I should add that this conclusion was largely reached after I discovered the sunblock for sale at the Lodge was $21 for 4 ounces. Note to self: plan ahead!

(photo taken before I discovered all my bug bites!)

Unfortunately, I am still paying for my choice of footware as the biting midges (noseeums) snacked on my ankles and feet all day. [Photos redacted.]