Jaws

We’re back from Southeast Sharkfest in Asheville, and WOW what a show! Kai and Nat (and John and Anita and Maggie and Eugene and everybody else) have every right to be proud of the way this one came off. There’s a lot I could say here, but it would sound like a really cheesy letter to my mother, so I’ll just give you the highlights.

• Hilton and Lucy, our former next-door neighbors (and quite possibly the best next-door neighbors ever invented) were there. Yes, this in itself constitutes a highlight. If you live in Atlanta and wonder whatever happened to Mambo, it’s been reincarnated as Mojito.
• Dinner Friday night was at Mediterranean restaurant in Biltmore Village called Rezaz with appetizers at their sister restaurant next door, Enoteca. EVERYTHING that landed on a plate in front of us was really phenomenal. I had the Paella Catalonia, which was very good but a little different from Lucy’s Paella Catalan. Phil had a lamb shank that was to die for.
• Saturday morning, we arrived at the Biltmore Estate for a panoramic photo of cars and owners in front of the house, before the gates were opened to the public. The proofs look great. I’ll see if I can wrangle a digital version for both of my adoring fans.
• Saturday afternoon, while all of our friends were picking through the sharks, we committed an act of heresy and signed up for a Land Rover driving school. Oh stop it. BMW used to own Land Rover, so it’s OK. Besides, the allure of getting somebody else’s Range Rover dirty in a back corner of the Biltmore Estate was simply too strong to ignore.
• Saturday night at the banquet, we one 3rd place in class (not a bad achievement, considering the number and quality of sixes there). Then I won a really nifty poster in the raffle, courtesy of bigcoupe.com. And since I never win anything aside from the occasional t-shirt, I thought that was pretty cool. And then I won the grand pooh-bah prize: a complete refinishing kit from Gloss Haus. I made a lot of enemies when that happened. Apparently the world is full of haters.

Those are the biggies. Yeah, it was a great show, and it didn't end with a wreck. (This in itself constitutes a great show.) Watch this space for photos as I get them uploaded.