Goombay Festival

Goombay Festival took place this weekend in Asheville, NC and featured African and Caribbean arts and crafts, music and food! Several reggae bands performed as well as the Heather Hayes Band, headlined by the daughter of the late Isaac Hayes.

Food is always an integral part of any festival and Goombay was no exception. This stand is run by a Jamaican and the food is authentic with patties, cocoa bread, ackee and codfish, rice and peas, plantain - you get the idea. Really good stuff!

One Love Jamaican restaurant is located on Market Street and in the area of the festival. They were doing a good business on Friday evening and I intend to check them out soon.

A Sunday Drive in the Country

Yesterday my wife and I decided to visit several open studios that were taking part in the Leicester (pronounced Lester) Studio Tour. Leicester is located in Buncombe County in western North Carolina and about 10 - 20 miles from Asheville. These studios are located in the residences of artists and run the gamut from pottery to jewelry, metalwork and "regular" oil/watercolour artwork.

Due to the distances between the various studios (and the late hour we started the tour) we only visited three studios and a Bed and Breakfast that had an example of each artist's work. The picture above was taken from the deck of the B & B.

Standing there on the deck and looking across the valley I was reminded of the countryside in Jamaica. With a little imagination it could be taken between Browns Town and Alexandria if you forget about the missing stone walls that run alongside the road and between the different properties. The B & B would be the "great house" on top of the hill. The owners even had goats grazing on the hillside! Ah, the thoughts of an expat....