My Sweet Children Salvage a Lack-luster Summer

Whether vacations or stay-cations, the best are shared with those you love. My sweet children, Bronwyn, Chas and Katerina (Chas's sweetheart who has become a child of mine), gave me the most precious days of summer. It all happened over two weeks, unexpected, and too perfect not to record for days when I miss them so.

Summer passed without the things that usually make this season so memorable–sailing adventures on the Sara Grace, croquet matches in our back garden, walking the beaches in search of pretty shells to sketch, a goodly amount of porch-sitting with a book and lemonade, and cooking up some bountiful summer produce and seafood for local buddies and guests from afar.

A lost summer due to the muddle of selling our 1778 historic home, organizing for movers, and filling seven storage units with things left to weed out and purge for a down-sized life. Ouch to aching backs and hearts.

A summer lost finding and closing on the ideal Craftsman Bungalow, but with spirits dampened from a painful closing process due to survey problems. The Annandale House was designed by architects in Chicago, transported by rail to Beaufort, and assembled in 1915. It's the closest I'll get to a Frank Lloyd Wright House. For those who wonder if we are leaving Beaufort, no, the new house is on Ann Street, two blocks from the old.

A lost summer packing up what we would need for an extended rental between selling one house and renovating the next. Hauling several dozen giant TJ Maax bags of personal items up a steep flight of stairs to the rental condo.

OK, I'll admit not all things were dismal, thanks to the kind couple who bought our house and offered to rent us their furnished, water-front condo while we renovate the new house. Perhaps I should mention that it comes with spectacular views of dolphins, wild ponies, yachts, splendid sunsets, and couldn't be more delightful landlords.

A lost summer due to Covid. I took a brief but memorable trip to Ireland in early June but lost the following three weeks in isolation because I contracted Covid on the trip. I had the good luck to leave Ireland one day out from U.S. lifting Covid test requirement for all citizens re-entering the U.S. At that point I didn't know I had Covid and what a shock it would have been to discover on day of departure that I could not go home. That was a blessing, allowing me to recover at home, avoiding the costs of recuperating in isolation in a hotel in Ireland until Covid-free. I hope I did not infect anyone on the plane. I wore a mask and perhaps even contracted the illness on the plane. Who knows? But, as I said, summer lost.

By late August I was ready for something sweet and redemptive, something that could salvage a lack-luster summer.

So there we found ourselves digging out from the shadows thinking that perhaps we should go to Asheville to visit Chas and Katerina before Katerina returns to Bangladesh for the next phase of marketing the on-line education program called Cholpori, om which she works as Co-Founder and Creative Director.

Cholpori means, "Let's Read." It is a primary education system for learning for home and classroom, preparing kids for success with the challenging Bangladeshi curriculum, using animation, games, and stories to bring fun to learning. Take a peek at https://www.cholpori.com. Katerina is pictured above in front of Chas's cabin with friend Cory's cat.

I can't remember a better trip to Asheville. Our Airbnb set the stage for a perfect weekend (https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/20970417). Libby's place caught my eye with this header "Views, Sunsets, and Privacy- Next to Grove Park Inn.

The photos and location looked great but what attracted me were the reviews. Not only, "This is the best Airbnb ever" reviews, but also and especially, the reviews where previous guests mention bear sightings right outside the window. I booked immediately and will explain why.

Katerina spent almost six months in Asheville with Chas last summer and again this summer without a bear sighting. Chas says that is almost impossible since the two of them hike trails off the Blue Ridge Parkway several times a week. I knew I would elevate my status with her if I could orchestrate her first bear sighting.

We arrived on Thursday evening with plans to go out to dinner. However, the sunset view from the patio through the forest were simply mesmerizing, so I suggested that Chas and Katerina pick up a pizza and salad to eat at our Airbnb.

When they arrived we put the pizza box and salad on the terrace table and we went inside to get some plates and utensils. While I gathered things up, Charles showed Katerina and Chas around the apartment. I turned to go back out to the terrace. Looking through the glass door, I saw a mother bear and two cubs about three feet from the pizza box. Apparently the mother had smelled an easy dinner for the babes.

I called out to my gang, well maybe I squealed for them to come quickly to see the bears. They all ran to the door and looked out with me as the mama bear backed up and then scurried away, her cubs running behind. We were so stunned and excited that only Charles thought to get a photo of the last bear in flight. What a great start to the weekend.

Chas was on deadline at the UNC-A STEAM LAB to build an animatronic bobcat, the final, life-like woodlands creature in a collection of holiday singing animals that will be shown at the upcoming NC Botanical Gardens Holiday Lights Festival. Katherina suggested a day of sightseeing in the city while Chas worked, and ending the day at Chas's lab to see his progress and then dinner out.

From our day in the city, I can now suggest three must-do activities: The Basilica of Saint Lawrence on 97 Haywood Street built by architect, Rafael Guastavino, the Champagne Book Store in Grove Arcade, and the Marquee gallery in the River Arts District.

Renowned architects were drawn to Asheville in the late 1800's to work on the Biltmore House. Many like the Spanish architect, Rafael Guastavino, fell in love with Asheville and stayed for many years or forever, building the gorgeous city scape. That is why Asheville has so many spectacular buildings constructed as a side-line to the architects' Biltmore work or later as they lingered to enjoy the mountains.

I walk around Asheville with up-turned chin looking at the architectural details on commercial buildings.

I remember being told that in the 1950's, town councilmen had the idea to level the downtown area, which was mostly abandoned, in order to build a giant shopping mall that they thought would attract visitors traveling along I40. I have heard locals joke that luckily the town was too poor to raise the money to tear down the buildings. Due to poverty, not foresight, the buildings were saved. By the 1990's young chefs and artists began opening restaurants and galleries in these old buildings, making Asheville the culinary and artistic hub of the region.

When Chas was a teen, he spent part of the summer with our friends, Ruth and David Gaynes, who lived in Asheville. Ruth contacted Charles and me in Bangladesh by email to "warn us" that Chas passed his days walking around the Kenilworth neighborhood looking at old houses as if intending to purchase.

Chas was befriended by the head of the historical society who took him to see one of the most spectacular homes in the neighborhood. The Chiles house (https://chiles-house.com) was built by prominent Asheville architect Ronald Greene, who designed the iconic Gothic skyscraper known as the Jackson Building in downtown Asheville, as well as other notable buildings.

It was in a state of extreme disrepair when Chas saw it (https://chiles-house.com/architectural-features-of-chiles-house/chiles-house-in-disrepair/). He met the elderly owner of Chiles House who at the time was living in the kitchen and adjoining room, the rest being too dangerous, and not heated. She told Chas she would probably freeze to death if she lived there another year, and after several visits together, he was told she would sell it to him for $350,000. He called us in Bangladesh and told us we should immediately sell our Beaufort house and use proceeds to restore this old mansion. Maybe not the Beaufort house, but certainly the rental house in Durham, and bought that one. Parents don't always know best.

While our family has long appreciated Asheville's architecture, the admiration grows to astonishment when we take time to learn the history of specific buildings. When Katerina suggested that we tour the Basilica, Charles and I were delighted.

Architect Rafael Guastavino was credited with reviving an ancient tile and mortar system that had been used in Spain for centuries. The method applied layers of thin tile bedded in layers of mortar to create curved horizontal surfaces. Floors, roofs, ceilings and stairs were formed with this system, usually in the shape of vaults or domes. He used this method, which created a strong, almost fire-proof surface, throughout the Basilica of Saint Lawrence in Asheville.

Guastavino patented this method in the U.S. His work may be found in over one thousand buildings including Grant's Tomb, The Great Hall of Ellis Island, Grand Central station, Carnegie Hall and Duke Chapel in Durham.

Katerina knows my passions –architecture, books, cuisine, ethnic clothing and wine tasting-which led us to a four-for-one next stop at the Grove Arcade, within walking distance of the Basilica. Slipping in the side door of the Arcade we found Asheville's Spice Walla factory and a women's clothing shop, Caravans, which carries designer clothing made from Asian and African fabrics. Then we settled in for a glass of champagne, lunch and a browse through delectable books at what is locally known as the Champagne Book Store, also in Grove Arcade.

Battery Park Book Exchange and Champagne Gallery in Grove Arcade is a book lover's dream. Katerina found a book on Ukrainian art glass, which fortuitously included a glass bear. I bought a Peter Carey novel set in nineteenth century France and America called Parrot and Oliver in America, which models the character, Oliver, on Alexis de Tocqueville, and gives him a feisty sidekick. Both were used books, a bargain at $20 and $14. I ate a flavorful grilled pimento cheese sandwich with heirloom tomatoes and salad in one of the many nooks designed for cuddling up with a book and a glass of champagne.

On its Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/batteryparkbookexchange/), the bookstore boasts trading books by the thousands and wines by the glass. " Oenophiles bibliophiles take note! Our store offers you the marriage of two of earth’s fines pleasures, books and wine. Add to that our bistro with a beautiful selection of cheese/charcuterie boards, paninis and fresh salads.

Peruse thousands of books in dozens of categories while sipping a fine wine, sparkling wine or Champagne. We purchase used books from our customers, so our selection is constantly expanding. If you have one book or an entire library that you'd like to sell or trade for wine, email: bpbookexchange@att.net. or lsbookexchange@bellsouth.net".

It was late afternoon but Katerina insisted that we swing by the Marquee Gallery in the River Arts district just to get a taste of its offerings. This is definitely a place for anyone who lusts for vintage Décor, ethnic fabrics, and really cool antiques.

The Marquee is a design-centric market place. I could have spent a day there, but in our brief walk through I did purchase an Indian Kanta cloth quilt and spotted a vendor, New Leaf Lane, with lamps made from architectural antiques, that we will have a spot for, and wish I had bought. I can just picture the lamp in the corner by two original stained glass windows in the Craftsman House on Ann Street.

After a day of visual and culinary feasts, we headed for the the UNC-Asheville STEAM Studio, the workplace and play-space for our son, Chas. We found Chas and two talented undergraduate students, Kwali and Matt, in the process of engineering metalwork and fine-tuning computer software to animate a life-like bobcat for the NC Arboretum.

Perhaps Chas's next creature will be a bear, in honor of Katerina's big bear summer. Katerina sent me a text and video while I was writing this. She told me that while she and Chas were taking a drive on the Parkway today, she saw three more bears. In her text, she thanked me for breaking the no-see-bear spell on our weekend in late August. It was that kind of picture perfect weekend that seemed magical, and I will always believe it was.

We had reservations to try out a new restaurant on each night in Asheville, but ended up canceling one of them to eat at home. That night we pulled Chas from his Bobcat and ate at Benne on Eagle, which professes to prepare African inspired dishes. Having lived in two African countries we think they would have done well to stick to some authentic African cuisine, as well as the "real thing" when cooking African American soul food. While the restaurant nods reference to location, "The Black", there were no blacks dining in the restaurant. The restaurant is on a block in downtown Asheville where African Americans once had shops, Blues and Jazz, and food. Except for the restaurant, the block was still as a corpse.

While we were not impressed with our four entrees at Benne and Eagle, the food gave us a chance to share delectable memories of eating in Africa. We also explained to Katherina, who is Ukrainian, how formerly enslaved Africans seeded delicious American cuisine. They cooked renditions of comfort food remembered from the home country using the ingredients they found in America. Corn meal mush, for example, became a stand-in for Fufu, which is made from pounded cassava and generally served with a mouth-watering ground nut stew made from okra, onions, chili peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, ground peanuts, and whatever seafood or meat is available. One might think of groundnut stew when eating North Carolina's Brunswick Stew or some of Virginia's stews that include ground peanuts.

The next morning Charles and I walked down the hill to the Grove Park Inn, a splendid hotel with a storied past (https://www.omnihotels.com/hotels/asheville-grove-park).

The historic inn had been one of Charles's parent's favorite places so we imagined them there. They stayed there annually while Charles's father attended a NC convention of Psychiatrists. Two of my dearest friends, Penny and Stan Rule, became engaged while staying at the Inn. It is that kind of dream-like setting where vows are formed and kept.

The Inn boasts the most splendid sunset views in Asheville. But luckily, in our no longer best kept secret, we enjoyed the same view a few yards up Old Toll Road at Libby's Airbnb without the Grove Park price tag.

We would not have discovered the incredible Gallery of Crafts located behind the Grove Park Inn, if Chas and Katerina had not urged us to check it out, knowing our passion for fine art crafts. While we didn't buy any of the beautiful pieces due to lack of space in our new home, Charles did select a necklace made by Faryn Davis for me to remember our weekend. [https://fernworks.org/pages/about}

Faryn grew up on a farm in rural western North Carolina and spent her childhood collecting natural objects. She paints with toothpicks, tiny brushes and pens, embedded in hand-poured, thick layers of proprietary resin, then cuts and polishes each one into a dream-like 3-D landscape populated by woodland creatures. Each pendant is backed with hand-cut American basswood.

At mid-day, we met up with Chas and Katerina to hike Sam Knob in the Black Balsam area off the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is one of Chas and Katerina's favorite places for sun-downers.

On this day, Chas suggested Sam Knob because the sky was clear enough to catch summit views from the rock outcrops at the top of the trail. He had taken us there on a previous winter visit but cold rains made for a miserable hike and he wanted us to experience it in better weather. He knew I would love the wild-flower and blackberry meadow along the first part of the trail, and the ferns and mountain laurels along the shaded forest climb up the mountain, and to my husband's delight, the opportunity to gently remove two snakes from the trail.

We cleaned up after the hike and had dinner at Rhubarb. Food deserved no special mention but our company was superb. It was so noisy in the restaurant that we decided to cancel Sunday night's dinner and eat at home. We were looking forward to dining with a dear friend after a long lapse in contact and wanted to be able to hear ourselves talk. We were also quietly hopeful for another bear sighting over a terrace dinner at Libby's Airbnb. In the meantime, we needed a good sleep for an eventful day ahead.

For several years, I told Chas that I wanted to go river-tubing when we came to visit but it never worked out.

This weekend he determined that the water and weather were perfect. So, we drove down a serpentine canyon road, at times almost vertical, to reach the Green River, at a popular spot for river rafting. There are vendors that offer tubing excursions, but Chas had his own gear, because he and his housemates enjoy tubing throughout the summer.

We were slightly delayed because two of the four tubes blew off the back of Chas's truck and we had to detour by Dick's Sporting Goods to purchase two more. I was a bit wary of the river, swift at times, and clung to Katerina's rope, since she is like a super heroine to me. As I discovered, once again, those things that create trepidation, tend to bring the greatest rewards.

To ice the cake on a perfect tubing day, we ordered a medley of Italian dishes from a local eatery and invited an old friend, Ruth Gaynes, to join us for dinner and sunset views. We had not seen her for years so there was much to catch up on and an opportunity to introduce Katerina to another friend who held an important part in our family history, and thus our hearts.

We met Ruth Gaynes about 40 years ago, first at her home in New England and later when she moved to Asheville. As a weaving instructor at Penland School of Crafts, she invited Charles up for a weekend to show his collection of Peruvian textile fragments to her students. What I remembered about that trip was her son, Amos. While Ruth and Charles talked textiles for several hours, her son Amos, never moved from his focus on building with Capsella blocks.

At that time, I was pregnant with Bronwyn and hoped that our future children would have such capacity for concentration, dexterity, visual spatial ability, and creativity at such a young age. While Bronwyn exhibited those talents in the natural world, our second child, Chas was eerily like Amos. A few years later I would watch four-year-old Chas attempt to build a perpetual motion machine using Capsella blocks. Amos, who grew up to build sound systems for MOOG, and Chas to build robotic sculptures, first with John Payne, founder of the Wedge and River Arts District, and over the last several years with the STEAM Lab.

We were eager to remember those good old times with Ruth who recently moved back to Asheville. No longer a weaver, she now crafts wood sculptures, calling herself "Chainsaw Granny." Over dinner we were reminded of Ruth's gentle spirit and the many times she gathered us round her table. As noted above, Ruth and her husband David, now deceased, provided an interesting summer for Chas as a teen, one that launched his admiration for Asheville history and architecture. We were so glad to introduce Ruth and Katerina. It is important to connect the dots of family and friends.

Check out Ruth's chainsaw creations at https://www.instagram.com/ruthgaynes/?hl=en.

After four nights in Asheville we drove home to Beaufort with happy hearts. A memorable weekend spent with Chas and Katerina, and a weekend ahead to look forward to. Bronwyn was scheduled to travel to Ecuador for three months to work with USAID to develop a national Environmental Policy in conjunction with the Ecuadorian government. She planned to leave September 19 and return to U.S. on December 21.

We wanted to see her before she left and were so pleased that she took time to visit us in Beaufort on Labor Day weekend. She drove down on Friday after work and left on Monday, a short visit packed with love.

By coincidence, our niece Leah Arbella Moore had also blocked off these days for a visit. It was the first time the girls spent together since Bronwyn and I hosted Leah's trip to Tanzania about four years ago. There would be many stories to recall, life updates to share, and a re-bonding that comes with face-to-face reunions.

Bronwyn and Shwari corgi arrived late Friday night for Labor Day Weekend. This was her first visit to our picturesque waterfront digs where we will live between our old-old home and the new-old home. Bronwyn woke early and took Shwari for a run on the beach while we waited to greet Leah, and walk to the Farmer's market.

Shwari, my grand-dog, loves Beaufort and knows all the stores that give dog biscuits and scratches. His favorite store is Harbor Specialties where he dashes behind the counter to help (or distract) Susan, Barbara and Nancy with sales, while Nancy drops treats to him between customers. Nancy is also a corgi grandmother.

Shwari's favorite bar is the Rhum Bar, with Backstreet Pub as second. Backstreet pub is the closest we come to a dog park. Dogs happily run together while their "parents" sip local brews and talk. Onlookers shoo the dogs back into the courtyard if they get too close to the gate and Middle Lane.

Shwari has several favorite things to do in Beaufort: play with Veterinarian Dr. Sara Austin's corgis; run on Radio Island Beach; bark at buoys when we sail; and pounce in the mondo grass around the Buddha pool at our old house.

As you can imagine, Shwari was disoriented, finding his grandparents living in new digs and no toys in sight. He kept trying to pull his leash to Marsh street where a hound named Bullit now lives. So, we took Shwari to the tiny back garden on Ann Street and he was not impressed. I promised to plant mondo grass around the re-installed Buddha fountain and find his favorite toys lost in one of the seven storage units.

Charles took us for a sail on Saturday afternoon so Shwari could bark at the buoys. It was a delightful sail since Bronwyn is a skilled co-pilot for her dad and I didn't have to do anything but sip my cocktail and enjoy the wind in my hair and the delicious company of Bronwyn and Leah.

Bronwyn, like her mom is a foodie, and eating out is usually on the agenda, but not this time. We now have the most spectacular dock-side dinner table in Beaufort with sunset views over the water. We agreed that cooking-in was preferable to eating-out and optimal for more quality time together. Bronwyn is a skilled bartender so she whipped up concoctions to sip while we cooked. Try gin with strawberries and basil.

The first night I made shrimp and Eastern NC stone-ground grits topped with Maque Choux, my rendition of a New Orleans dish at Café Amelie in New Orleans. The next morning, we had brunch at Magnolia Café in Beaufort, where I always get avocado toast with bourbon/bacon jam and fried eggs. For dinner, Bronwyn cooked her incomparable artichoke appetizer. I made the dinner: braised chicken thighs with honey and hot spice sauce, corn on the cob, baby potatoes tossed with fresh herbs and olive oil, and a salad. Blackberry ginger salad is my favorite for a summer dinner. Ginger peach pie gave us more time to linger at the table.

The next morning Bronwyn hugged us goodbye and took Shwari for a corgi meet-up on her way out of town, before battling labor day traffic back to DC. Thankfully she made it home and that phone call or text is always received with a prayer of thanks.

Thanks for my perfect children. Thanks for their safety. Thanks for their love.