How to enjoy some Opis One

I am in Asheville, North Carolina. I have never been in this area, but if I were to describe it in two words, I would use hilly and friendly. Last night, we went to a restaurant called the "Fiddlin' Pig." It is, of course, a BBQ place that features live Bluegrass Music each night. We stumbled across it as we drove up and down Tunnel Road, trying to make a selection between all of the various chain restaurants. When I travel, I like to stay away from the chains. I can get a mediocre pasta special at the Olive Garden in Chicago any time I want. I don't need to travel 600+ miles to get the same meal. So when we settled on the Fiddlin' Pig, we had high expectations; which were pleasantly met.

My first experience with Asheville was not as pleasant. US Air lost my luggage and had no ETA on when it would arrive. Traveling on business and losing your luggage is not fun. I had no idea if I was going to be able to make it to the appointment we had the next day or not. When we arrived at the restaurant, I just wanted to fill my belly and move on. It's hard to have that tough attitude when you walk into a place and there are little kids dancing on the dance floor to a group of musicians enjoying the hell out of themselves.

Bear with me, there's a relevant point.

Our extremely friendly waitress wanted nothing less than to make sure our visit to her establishment was perfect. She made food suggestions, presented everything with a smile and an anecdote, and made the insignificant stop (in the grand scheme of travel related activities), very memorable.

Tonight, we had the same experience, and then some. We went "downtown" where the tallest building is 18 floors, and the equivalent to the Magnificent Mile includes a General Store. You can't expect too much when many of the restaurants are empty. When we arrived at the highly suggested Doc Chey's, we were, once again, pleasantly surprised. We happened to enter the place that everyone in downtown Asheville wanted to be. There was an actual wait for a table. We enjoyed a glass of wine at the bar, interacted with the bartender to get her suggestions for dinner, were seated within a short 10 minute wait, where we interacted with our waitress, Deana, who actually took the time to talk with us and make sure our needs were beyond met. The food was very good (Japanese noodle shop), and additional suggestions were made to enjoy the rest of the night.

Bear with me, there's a relevant point.

When we arrived at Tressa's, a Blues club, where the bartender was fruitier than the lemon and limes he used to mix in his drinks (his admission), the patrons can smoke (until January 2), and the live Blues band played Jazz, I immediately began conversing with a couple next to our table. What caught my eye about them was the compact humidor they donned. It contained four cigars, each of high caliber, and they were full of cigar knowledge. We talked a lot about cigars and I asked them about drinking wine with cigars. The couple were obviously very into their favorite pastime. She kept a couple of humidors at home, filled with 30-40 cigars, and he had a couple of his own at her house, with another 3o.

They offered one of their stock to me, but I wasn't in the mood. I explained to them that I enjoyed smoking a cigar every now and then. They assumed that my traveling companion, Nicole, was my wife, and that I wasn't smoking because she was with me. I corrected their mistake, and told them how Cyndi actually enjoyed the smell of cigar smoke. We also talked about the mixture of wine and cigars.

This is where there's a relevant point.

I told them that I was going to uncork the bottle of Opus One I received a a gift on my 40th birthday. As an incredibly nice gesture, they offered to send me a cigar that goes with the drinking of this fine bottle of wine. I gave them my personal information, and I truly believe that at some point in the next 29 days, a cigar will arrive at the house.

Asheville is filled with hills and friendly people. I've seen nothing less, and I think, in 29 days, I will feel nothing less.