Arboretum

  Back in 2020, the First Baptist Seniors were supposed to go to the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville for the day.  Then, the pandemic hit, and we had to put it off until May 2022.  The date was set.  Unfortunately, a big rainstorm was headed for that way, so we planned to have a one-hour window to visit it before the rains came.  We boarded our church bus and headed up towards Asheville.

 As is often the case with so many women on the bus, we had to stop for a rest break.  We pulled into a gas station and convenience store out in the middle of nowhere.  It was just off of the interstate with a church across the street and a graveyard next to the store.  The store had two restrooms, and the women used both of them to speed up the line.  The employee at the store remarked that she was so glad to see us, because she was very bored.  I wanted to buy some candy, but the prices were outrageous.  Because we had to stop, we lost the window before the storm.

 We got up to the Arboretum, and it was pouring down rain.  I had brought an umbrella, but many people didn't.  I walked around some of the gardens under the umbrella and took a couple of pictures.  However, one could not experience the full expanse of the area because of the rain.  We went to a restaurant on site that sold mostly sandwiches.  They didn't take cash.  Only credit cards.  The manager told us thar he believed the rain would be over with by 12:30, but we had another place to go and couldn't wait.  We boarded the bus at 12:30, and the rain stopped.

 Our next place to go was the Asheville Outlet Mall which was near the Arboretum.  By now, the sun was out, and the humidity was dreadful.  Steam rose from the cement.  The mall was full of name brand stores, but no bargain prices.  I was looking for a pair of shoes at the Nike store.  The prices were just like a regular store.  They had a bookstore with some good prices, but the books were titles you never heard of.  As we were leaving, some people had been to the Sporting Goods and Hardware store and gotten a grab bag costing $5 of miscellaneous stuff.  I wished I had gone in there.  

 We left there and headed home.  Just outside of Asheville, the traffic stopped on the interstate.  We could see flashing lights off in the distance that indicated police, fire and ambulances were there.  The cars in our three lanes just creeped along.  As we got closer, we saw it was a pretty bad car wreck.  But, much to our surprise, the wreck was in the opposite lanes heading the other way toward Asheville.  All of the cars in our three lanes were rubberneckers.  I felt bad for the injured, as I felt they thought they were in a zoo.  Too many gawkers.

 We stopped again at another gas station and store heading back.  This one was outside of Clinton, where I spent two glorious years going to Presbyterian College.  Once again, the women lined up for the restrooms.  Once again, the candy prices were too much to pay.  We saw a fish restaurant nearby that looked pretty good, but we had to get home.  Despite the rain, it was a good trip.  Sometimes, it is just good to get away.  Next time, I'll take my own candy.