Dinner and Music at Tour De Smo

Looks like a good Irish Pub food!  Just got back from Dublin. Count spouse and me in - we'll be at Biltmore that day.

https://jackofthewood.com/menu/

  I am Interested.  @Lane Anderson do you  have any idea where Friday and Saturday night Eats are?  Jack the only issue is the  35 minute plus ride at night in the  mountains/speedster. Maybe we can  share some Ubers.  

Hi Jack,

 Sounds like fun. Count me in for 1.

Thanks

Good, Tom.

Marty Grzynkowicz posted:

  I am Interested.  @Lane Anderson do you  have any idea where Friday and Saturday night Eats are?  Jack the only issue is the  35 minute plus ride at night in the  mountains/speedster. Maybe we can  share some Ubers.  

Hey Marty--Lane will tell you that there are some restaurants within walking distance of the motel.  I don't know much more than that as far as the grub quality.  ---Lane or someone who attended last year can chime in.  Everyone can get to Asheville however they like---I'll drive as it it's only 1/2 hour and it's on I-40 a wide road and as I recall it, a straight shot to Asheville with not much as far as  turns.  I drive that route fairly often and it's an easy drive.  Uber is a good idea too if available there in Dogpatch.  

Jack's right.  There are several good places to eat just a 5 minute walk from the hotel.  Given that evening traffic in Asheville can get a bit congested, I would expect the drive to Asheville to be a bit more than 30 minutes.  I-40 is interstate, of course, but about a third of the drive is on multi-lane surface highways, which are usually pretty clear.

The main roads are in beautiful shape down there. Wide, smooth, so easy peasy. Not like the twisty 2 lane we'd be on all day.

Having said that, I'll have my Audi as well, we're flat-towing. As will Cory and Jeni, and Maddie and Ron. Plenty of larger capacity daily-drivers to jump in the back seat.

So don't fret, my gloved friend LOL.

Dayyum I'm gettin' fired up for this!  The BMW is all mechanically sound with the 90k mile service just completed an hour or so ago.  Just need a good clean up and it's ready to go.

Audis, BMWs, daily drivers...

Are little fibreglass Speedsters still welcome?

Of course.  I had mines there last year and it was wonderful.  Unfortunately it’s, um, otherwise occupied at the moment.

@Jack Crosby, count me and Jian Ping in.

Great Michael.  We are going to have a nice caravan over to Jack Of the Wood.  I'll have a GPS as will others and it will be an easy run over to Asheville.  The plan s to get a section of the restaurant together for our group---this is why I need to provede them with a number of attendees.  Great you and Jian Ping will join us.

I have a list going and will publish the list soon.

We will have plenty of time after Asheville to regroup around a fire at the motel.  Plus two additional campfire evenings after this one.

Who else?

Bob: IM S6 posted:

Audis, BMWs, daily drivers...

Are little fibreglass Speedsters still welcome?

Yes.

The flatland hicks will be there, slumming along in a Type 1 speedster with mismatched seats, 10,000 bug splatters, and brake dust all over the rims. I’ll be the guy with the paint that looks like it was shot with rock-salt from 13 years of cinders.

Should you loiter in the mountains, perhaps you’ll recognize me by my taillights (they aren’t beehives, and they don’t use an LED array), or the Illinois AV plates (58 TUB). 

I’ll be the guy with the loud pipes, bald head, and pretty wife.

I definitely won’t be wearing driving gloves.

And he will be moving with a certain degree of alacrity, I'll wager.

Lane Anderson posted:

And he will be moving with a certain degree of alacrity, I'll wager.

With all the haste and vigor he can muster from the fancy lawn-mower engine in his clown car. 

Stan Galat posted:

Lane Anderson posted:

And he will be moving with a certain degree of alacrity, I'll wager.

With all the haste and vigor he can muster from the fancy lawn-mower engine in his clown car. 

The word is bespoke, not fancy. Bespoke is about done in the oven, isn't it?

Actually, it is one of the most refined lawnmower engines available anywhere.

Toro could learn a thing or two from it. Like where to place and how to activate the exhaust cutout to scare all the ladies and children out of the way when mowing.

At the moment that feature is used at stop signs and lights to garner the attention of errant Harley-Davidson riders revving their machines.

If that thing is a clown car, then it has graduated from clown college.

Ahem, I don't think that the car is the clown.  Just sayin'... 

I couldn't agree more, Lane. 

Jack Crosby posted:

Great Michael.  We are going to have a nice caravan over to Jack Of the Wood.  I'll have a GPS as will others and it will be an easy run over to Asheville.  The plan s to get a section of the restaurant together for our group---this is why I need to provede them with a number of attendees.  Great you and Jian Ping will join us.

I have a list going and will publish the list soon.

We will have plenty of time after Asheville to regroup around a fire at the motel.  Plus two additional campfire evenings after this one.

Who else?

Jack.  Mary and I might be interested (you say there will be banjo music? ), but we can’t be sure at this point.  

Can you put us down as possibles, as opposed to probables?

Bob

Lane Anderson posted:

Of course.  I had mines there last year and it was wonderful.  Unfortunately it’s, um, otherwise occupied at the moment.

Surely you knew I was jesting, Shirley.  

Bob: IM S6 posted:

Jack Crosby posted:

Great Michael.  We are going to have a nice caravan over to Jack Of the Wood.  I'll have a GPS as will others and it will be an easy run over to Asheville.  The plan s to get a section of the restaurant together for our group---this is why I need to provede them with a number of attendees.  Great you and Jian Ping will join us.

I have a list going and will publish the list soon.

We will have plenty of time after Asheville to regroup around a fire at the motel.  Plus two additional campfire evenings after this one.

Who else?

Jack.  Mary and I might be interested (you say there will be banjo music? ), but we can’t be sure at this point.  

Can you put us down as possibles, as opposed to probables?

Bob

Bob---check out the link for the web site to see it this is something you'd like to do.

DannyP posted:

The word is bespoke, not fancy. Bespoke is about done in the oven, isn't it?

Well past "done" and long ago "burnt".

I think "bespoke" jumped the shark about 5 years back.

Many custom tailors still use bespoke but that's about it.  Usually words have some resemblance to the meaning but this one never did.  At least to me.

Jack

Looks like a nice pub (not truly Irish, but close enough), so we will join you.   We will be spending Tuesday night in Asheville, then off to Maggie Valley for Wednesday to Sunday.  So, we will join the Thursday night convoy back to Asheville, to the pub.

We have heard that Asheville is quite a lovely spot, so it's finally our chance to have a visit and look around before we head to the Creekside Lodge.

For those of you making a visit to Ashville in addition to our dinner,  you may want to check out Grove Park Inn in addition to Biltmore.

Bob: IM S6 posted:

Jack

Looks like a nice pub (not truly Irish, but close enough), so we will join you.   We will be spending Tuesday night in Asheville, then off to Maggie Valley for Wednesday to Sunday.  So, we will join the Thursday night convoy back to Asheville, to the pub.

We have heard that Asheville is quite a lovely spot, so it's finally our chance to have a visit and look around before we head to the Creekside Lodge.

 

Great, Bob---looking forward to being with you and the Mrs.  The food gets high reviews and we'll have a bluegrass band there to add to the Smoky Mountain flavor.  Our caravan will roll out of Maggie Valley at about 6:15 and plan to get to the Jack of the Wood at 6:45 for dinner.  The bluegrass band starts playing at 7.  Plus we'll have plenty of time to socialize back at Maggie Valley after we return.  We have about 15 folks so far---still waiting to hear from the rest of the attendees to reserve a choice area of the restaurant for our group.

Jack's suggestion sparked an idea about moving the cruises around to better accommodate this activity.  In my experience it's a 45 minute drive or so between Asheville and the hotel in Maggie Valley, so it might be a bit tiring after one of the long cruises like Phil's Dragon/Loop or Carlos' Blue Ridge Parkway cruise, so Stan suggested doing the Rattler (my favorite of the twisty roads) on Thursday, followed by the other two rides Friday and Saturday.  The Rattler leaves straight from Maggie Valley and runs 90 minutes or so up to Hot Springs where we eat lunch.  When finished we turn around and do it in reverse to get back to the hotel.  people can even sleep in a bit.  Easy peasy.  That would get us back early to mid afternoon, given folks time to relax before heading to Asheville.

@550 Phil and @Carlos G:  Any constraints on what days work best for your cruises?

Again, it looks like there will be plenty of tow vehicles and/or daily drivers with seating available for those that don't want to take their Speedsters/Spyders to dinner.

Blue Grass music sounds good, and hopefully no dumpster nearby for the banjo...

As you told me a couple of years ago:

Q: What's the definition of perfect pitch?
A: An accordian hitting a banjo in a dumpster. 

http://jokes4us.com/miscellane...okes/banjojokes.html

Personally, I like them...

Me too---in fact I'm heading up to Benton AR in a few minutes to play a 2 hour gig there.  All acoustic Bluegrass.  There will be an open jam at Jack of the Wood in Asheville right after the band finishes.  I'd pick a couple of tunes if there was a kind soul who loan loan me an instrument.

Assuming the revised schedule, Jeanie  and I are in as well.

Stan Galat posted:

Assuming the revised schedule, Jeanie  and I are in as well.

That's great, Stan.  We can form a presidential motorcade...

With my somewhat particular wife coming along I will be staying in Asheville.  So a dinner in Asheville sounds great.  Doing the Rattler on Thursday is appealing to me since I've never done it.  I will be heading back to Virginia Saturday morning so I will miss the Saturday drive.  Have to go to Charlottesville and drop off the car and then head back to Norfolk.  A bit too much for one day.  I'm happy to do the Dragon/Cherohala on Friday.  But I'm sure Carlos or someone else familiar with those roads could be the tour guide on Saturday. 

Maybe the rest of us can bring our spoons and washboards to accompany Jack.

Bob: IM S6 posted:

Stan Galat posted:

Assuming the revised schedule, Jeanie  and I are in as well.

That's great, Stan.  We can form a presidential motorcade...

Let them eat cake, Bob. I'm stuck-up that way.

WOLFGANG posted:

Maybe the rest of us can bring our spoons and washboards to accompany Jack.

It will be bad enough on it's own but thanks anyway for the thought!

WOLFGANG posted:

Maybe the rest of us can bring our spoons and washboards to accompany Jack.

Great, Stan---looking forward to meeting you and Jeanie in person!

Everyone still thinking about joining us fro Grub and Bluegrass please lemmee know asap so you don't get left out.  There is no financial up front money needed from anyone as checks will be separate but I must finalize the numbers very soon so I can commit to a number when I speak with the Restaurant Manager this coming Thursday at 4 pm---2 days from now.

Thanks---Jack

I’m really looking forward to meeting you as well, Jack... but this get-together is next month, not in two days. 

Uh, Jack, you mean your talk with the manager is in two days, right?

By the way, the difficulty you’ll be facing in getting everyone to commit reminds me why I try to keep the amount of planning in this to a minimum.  I’m not a great cat herder.  You can count me in for this event, though.