Malaprop's

When I arrived at Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe I checked my large backpack at the counter like the sign on the door told me to do.

The bookseller gave me a laminated picture of Neil Gaiman, author of Coraline and American Gods, and attached another copy of the same picture to my backpack.

The last time I had checked my backpack was at the Art Institute of Chicago. The simple act of surrendering my backpack to a stranger brought back so many memories.

I walked around the store sans backpack, wanting to buy everything in it. I had recently downloaded The Book Thief for my Nook, so I wasn't in the market for a new book per say. But, I mean, I buy books like some people buy shoes. Anymore, though, I just buy the books I can download. I'm probably a failure in Malaprop's eyes because I love my Nook...a lot. And Barnes and Nobles is the Fox Books to Malaprop's Shop Around the Corner. If you don't get that reference, go rent You've Got Mail immediately.

Malaprop's had a local charm, and I can see my future Asheville-resident self browsing its shelves later this year. I loved the section titles: They had the typical fiction and non-fiction sections, but they also had regional fiction and regional non-fiction sections. They had a banned books section, and a self-sufficiency farming section. Even an Appalachian cooking section.

What I loved most, though, was the shelves dedicated to Malaprop's staff favorites. A person's personality really shines through the books he or she enjoys! My favorites are: To Kill a Mockingbird, Fried Green Tomatoes at Whistle Stop Cafe, The Help, The Art of Racing in the Rain, and Into the Wild. For a moment, just think about your favorite books, and what they may say about you.

I could have spent hours in Malaprop's, but I was hungry. It was 4:30PM, and I hadn't eaten a thing all day.

I couldn't leave without buying something, though, it just didn't feel right, so I settled on knickknacks: a photo of the outside of Malaprop's, which I put in my postcard basket as soon as I got home; an "Asheville Freak" sticker, which is now proudly displayed on my computer; and a Malaprop's coffee cup.

I didn't mean to go to Malaprop's. I stumbled upon it when I was walking around downtown. I remember reading about the store when Googling fun stuff about Asheville, but I never wrote down the address. I found it because I wandered without being lost. And on a coffee cup in that store I found a version of myself.

A girl with a braid in her hair reading a book slumped down in a chair, which she had resting on the two back legs. The girl had one foot dangling, another kicked up, and a piping cup of hot coffee on the ground next to her. It's the Malaprop's logo, and I took it as yet another sign that Asheville is it. The front of the cup said, "Peace. Love. Books." How Aim, right?

I saved the free cup of coffee coupon that I got for purchasing the cup for the next time I'm in Asheville. I hate wasting free things, so it's my excuse to go back soon. Maybe I should have checked for an expiration date, though?

The Tupelo Honey Cafe Experience

Based on a recommendation from the bookseller at Malaprop’s, I’m sitting in a restaurant-sized café in Asheville—Tupelo Honey Café. I just ordered a Porch Swing (adult iced tea), and my waiter is bringing me a homemade biscuit with blueberry jam and honey. He said it’ll go great with the tea I ordered. I’ve already decided I’m going to leave him a really nice tip, and I haven’t even gotten my drink yet.

I don’t know if it’s possible to fall in love with a place. Let me rephrase that. I know it’s possible to fall in love with a place, but I didn’t know it was possible to feel at home in a strange city until today. Asheville is my home even if Brad and I never make the move.

I walked into Mast General Store and nearly bought a shirt that said, “Hippies Use the Side Door.” I left without the shirt, but with a bright attitude and brighter smile. There was a person in a full-body checkered suit playing the harp on the corner, and across the street another man was playing trumpet. I saw the most stunning graffiti on my journey: a memorial for a mother’s battle with breast cancer, abstract designs, old slavery scenes.

Wandering downtown, I looked for nothing but an experience and randomly ended up outside of Malaprop’s: a world famous bookstore. And because of Malaprop’s I wound up here at this café.

…a place where my waiter told me to “Be on the vibe.” Where he said, “Be open to the path and something will work out for you.” He’s wise. He’s fun. And he hand-delivered a meal that warmed my belly and my heart.

A homemade biscuit topped with blueberry jam and homemade honey, shrimp and grits, and pecan pie. I’m in the south, and I’m in love. It’s 4:45PM, and this is the first thing I’ve eaten all day. I was too nervous to eat before the job fair and too excited to eat after it. This meal may very well be the only thing I eat all day. But it doesn’t matter because I’m on the vibe.

I keep getting looks. I’m the girl on her Mac in the café. People may be wondering why I’m here alone..maybe not. I don’t feel alone, though, I feel like I’m finally home.