Fleeing Hurricane Irma – Part II

Saturday September 9th:

I left the Holiday Inn Express in Greenwood SC after a desultory free breakfast, and hit the road at 10:00

Most of the front portion of the trip, the  44 plus miles in a northerly direction to Greenville, SC, was on US-25 which threaded its way through rural South Carolina. This was a good road, basically a 4-lane divided highway.

Coming out of Greenville, I remained on US-25 and did so into North Carolina. Even before Hendersonville, one could see that the terrain was changing. Bigger hills could be seen to the north. This made the road a bit more complex to drive.

I would hit a lengthy bit of stop and go approaching the Asheville Regional Airport. But it only added a half hour additional to the journey.

I had told my Airbnb hosts that I would arrive at 1:00 PM and I arrived at the Dogwood Grove address at 1:06 PM.

The house was up in the hills and there was plenty of forest to be seen. The first picture below is of the solarium just off the bedroom.

The second image is a view of the bedroom which came equipped with a TV, a small refrigerator, Wi-Fi, private entrance, private bathroom, and with the ceiling fan in use, there was no need to run the AC.

I chatted with the hosts and found them to be very warm and inviting. They were also former New Yorkers like me.

Time to get my bearings. Coming out of Dogwood Grove, I’d eventually run into Route 70 and that would leave me with a choice. Shall I go Right or Left.

I turned left and that took me in an uphill direction. Within minutes I was looking at the entrance to a tunnel. No surprise there as the road is called Tunnel Road. But I didn’t know that beforehand.

This was one scary tunnel. Though quite short it was unexpected and I hadn’t time to switch from sunglasses to regular glasses. Even with my headlights on – it was till way dark. I mean really, really dark.

I could barely see the car behind me, and sometimes the approaching car hadn’t put his headlights on, so it was harrowing from beginning to end. I’m talking about a minute or a minute 15 seconds tops of sheer automotive terror.

But I made it through safely twice – out and back – which enabled me to return to write this for you.

Dinner was decided by a coin toss. Heads it would be Outback at 611 Tunnel Road, tails it would be the Yoshida Express at 30 Tunnel Road. The coin came up heads. So I headed out for some steak and some bloomin’ onions plus a side salad.

Of course leaving the apartment at 5:45 PM on a Saturday night was too late. Parking lot was filled  and people were waiting outside to get in. So I need a reversal of direction. Back on to Tunnel Road in the opposite direction.

The Yoshida Express featured Japanese style food. Steak and Chicken with fried rice and seasoned sweet carrots would do just fine.  Only aside from the style of the food, and some Japanese decorations, the place was in Asheville, NC – and I didn’t see any Japanese staff, or even hear any Japanese.

The price for the entrée, salad and a beverage was $13 and change.and then there was a mandatory tip of either 15% or 20% or a custom tip – fill in the amount yourself. I don’t mind tipping or even service changes like they do in Europe – but

– this place was completely self-service. Carry the drink to the table yourself, pick up your salad, then the entrée at the counter, then ‘bus’ your own table when finished. So the tip was for the counter girl/cashier who took your order and likely the cook..

The food was okay but the whole tip business turned me off. I would later find out that Asheville had a good many fine Japanese restaurants. I should have done more research.