Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Veganstock, Part Two

Last night, I posted pictures of the delicious food we ate at the PPK Veganstock campsite in Asheville, North Carolina this past weekend. Tonight, I've got more Asheville shots from the times my boyfriend Paul and I ventured out on our own to explore this awesome vegan hippie mecca in the Smokey Mountains.

On Saturday, most of the PPK-ers went to a waterfall and natural waterslide, but Paul and I had plans to meet up with my vegan buddy Leslie in downtown Asheville. Leslie used to live in Memphis, but moved to Asheville last year to go to herb school and to study to be a doula. She's actually pregnant right now and getting a hands-on approach in her mid-wifery studies. Here's Leslie outside City Bakery:

Leslie, her man Arthur, Paul, and I stopped into Rosetta's Kitchen, the best little vegan soul food joint on the planet, for lunch. I had the Family Favorite Plate:

It's peanut butter tofu, steamed kale, and smashed potatoes with deserves-to-be-eaten-straight-off-a-spoon noochy gravy. I also ordered a cup of their Mac & Cheeze:

It was a little dry, but still tasty. I'd order it again.

After lunch, we shopped around at the Belle Chere Arts and Crafts Festival downtown. There were hundreds and hundreds of vendors selling art, jewelry, and crafts. Paul stopped into a Port-a-Potty and found this little guy trapped inside:

We found safe not-so-icky new home for the praying mantis on a plant outside an office building.

On Sunday, Paul and I decided to play catch-up and check out the Looking Glass Waterfall in Pisgah National Forest that everyone else had gone to on Saturday. Isn't it lovely?

The water was super-duper cold though and we didn't go in past our knees. We also checked out Sliding Rock, a natural waterslide that involves brave folks sliding down a slippery wet mountain into a lake of ice-cold water. Here's some lady plunging into icy misery:

There was a huge line for the slide, and the water was too cold for us, so we just watched other people slide down.

Sunday night, most of the PPK gang ate at Laughing Seed Cafe, a fancy vegan restaurant that I'd like to have tried ... but it was really too expensive. So we joined Mr. and Mrs. Poopie Bitch at Green Sage, an eco- and vegan-friendly coffeehouse. I had the Tempeh Reuben with Sweet Potato Fries:

Yum, yum! Now that I'm back in Memphis, I really miss the mountains and all those vegan dining options. Check out this mountain behind Paul:

We come from very, very flat land, so the mountains were crazy amazing to us! And I've never visited a city with so many restaurants that cater to vegans. Then again, I've never been to Portland. Hmmmm....maybe we should hold the next Veganstock there!

25 comments:

Emily said...

pb tofu?! omg that sounds amazing! and i wish i could escape memphis for all that yummy vegan food too! lucky!!

vegan.in.brighton said...

Again, AMAZING! I'd have been way too scared to try the waterslide q or no q!

Chocolate Covered Vegan said...

I saw a praying mantis yesterday too!

Sal - AlienOnToast said...

sounds like a great trip! pb tofu sounds sooo good!

Mary said...

That all looks beautiful, the food and the scenery! I'd have been all over that waterslide.

Leslie Richman said...

Yay for vegan reubens. I had two on vacation. Yum!! I am too lazy to make them at home though :P

brandi said...

yay! i'm glad you liked it here! it really is a wonderful place, and even the non-veggie/vegan restaurants always have plenty of options. and i still get amazed at the mountains every single day, and i've been here almost two years! so lovely.

Anonymous said...

Peanut Butter Tofu and Sweet P Fries!?! LOVE IT!

Tara said...

The family favorite plate looks so yummy! Too bad you didn't get to go on the waterslide. The reuben also looks amazing!

Gina said...

That all looks and sounds so amazing, what a great experience!!

A said...

Awe... your preggers friend is so cute! And bravo to her for becoming a doulah! I had my second baby all natural and I TOTALLY recommend it! Sliding down that huge water slide thing..... yeah... that actually looks a little too scary for me though! :)
-A

nora said...

PEANUT BUTTER tofu? are you trying to kill me bianca?

Erin said...

You're making me miss the North Carolina mountains very badly! And that's exactly the rock slide I used to go down every summer as a kid. I wonder if it's smoothed out at in the past 20 years? My dad's swimming shorts got all ripped up once.

Glad you had a great time!

Sophia said...

A rock that's also a water slide, how awesome is that? Who needs an amusement park, when you have the natural wonders of the world at your disposal?
What a beautiful place Memphis, I think I might have to put it on my list of places to visit!
Veganstock looked great, what a wonderful idea, I wish there was something like that in my area.

Sorry I have been such a bad responder lately, apparently my new Virus program hates blogger and Wordpress especially and just let's me have access when "it" chooses too.
http://whatyourmommadidntknow.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

the soul food lunch and the waterfall are both gorgeous. haha! only in blogworld do we call both a meal and a beautiful waterfall gorgeous in the same sentence. that tempeh reuben isn't looking too bad either! don't you just LOVE vegan restaurants? being able to order anything on the menu without asking questions. it's the best!

Peanut Butter Swirl said...

wow that tempeh rueben sandwich sounds great!!

Heather said...

I lived in Asheville for a year, and loooooved the variety of veggie and veggie-friendly restaurants they had: Laughing Seed Cafe and Rosetta's Kitchen were my two favorites!

Sounds like you had a great trip!

Good luck with your cookbook, btw. From one southern vegan to another, vegan soul food is THE BEST!!!!!!! I dream about chicken-fried tofu. I really do.

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Sheridan said...

Interestingly, I also ordered the Tempeh rueben when I went to the Laughing Seed. Hmm....great minds....

aTxVegn said...

Such gorgeous scenery. Looks like a completely fun filled weekend.

Ben said...

If you go back to the Laughing Seed, I heartily recommend the apple-braised seitan and the vegan omelet they serve at sunday brunch... both are amazing

Jamie the Foodie said...

i love the green sage & laughing seed...i so wish there were more vegan options in our area, too. i am not inspired to make tempeh reubens soon! also, from veganstock part one--your pie looks amazing! oh, what i would give for a slab right now!

Shannon Fowler-Wardrep said...

Whoa... I live here! Not a native, but have lived here for the last five years (moved from the west coast) and dig this little-big city. Rosetta's is my all time fave place to eat. PB Tofu is the best. So giddy to see this post. :)

Leslie said...

Word- I'm on your Veganstock write-up! I feel special now...you should come visit more often lady.

Melisser; the Urban Housewife said...

Oh man, I'm dying to go to Asheville!