Remember how I was on vacation last week? It was a fabulous break from the routine. My husband, however, is convinced that I was trying to kill him. Now where would he ever get that idea?

Meeting Kevin:

Yes, the Fictional One, the threatener of my life, serial collaborator, and Waco, his girlfriend met us on Sunday at The Smoky Mountain Brewery for lunch and a couple of beers. It’s true, Waco is real! I even have photographic evidence which you will have to take my word for, as I’m sworn to keep their identities a secret. I know, I know… Take it up with, Kevin!

Not only did we survive the encounter, meeting them was a blast. It was like hanging out with friends we’ve known all our lives.  We spent about two hours together before they had to head back home. Next time, they get to come to Philadelphia!

Hiking the Smokies:

Besides meeting up with the man who regularly promised to bury us in an anonymous grave over the past two months, we spent a good amount of time in the National Park. This is the other reason my husband thinks I’m trying to kill him. Sigh. My man is not the athlete he used to be, bless his heart. Day one we hiked the Gabes Mountain Trail to Henwallow Falls, a round trip of just over four miles. It is categorized as moderate in difficulty. Granted, it does wind uphill nearly the whole time. With rocks and tree roots to pick your way around. I was in my glory until I saw how far behind Harry was falling…  

Tuesday, it rained so Harry had the day to recover.

But then, Wednesday we hiked two more waterfall trails!

Meeting Elizabeth:

In the meantime, I posted a poem inspired by these beautiful mountains surrounding us. That’s when we discovered that Elizabeth, my amazing poet friend lives in nearby Asheville. We had plans to visit The Biltmore Estate one day anyway…

so we made plans to meet for a drink. Pretty cool, right? Here we are at The Wicked Weed Brewery. We had a lovely time with Elizabeth and enjoyed getting to know her better. (By the way, I would also be in my glory in Asheville — for a small city they have like 25 brew pubs! Ahem, I’ll be back!) And bear in mind that I’d been roaming around in the wind and mist for the entire day, so pardon my less than stellar appearance!

What a treat it was to meet my blogging friends in the real world! Don’t pass up the opportunity if it ever presents itself.

The nine-hour drive was well worth it. I even got the unexpected pleasure of visiting Woodrow Wilson’s Presidential Library and Museum in Virginia on the way home. For the writer with a World War One fascination, this was awesome, trust me!  And Harry survived.  For now…