Summer Passion: Leaving Miami

From the messy desk of Paul Levine...

Last Fall, I moved back to Miami after 13 years in Los Angeles.  Ah, what a glorious winter it was.  And oh, how summer arrived with squalls and thunderstorms and swarms of mosquitos.

So, the smart Miamian heads north whenever possible as soon as stone crab season ends.  (May 15).

The first part of this summer's sojourn is in the mountains of western North Carolina, just outside Asheville.  Here's Marcia at our summer cottage:

No, wait!  That's the Biltmore mansion in Asheville.  It has 250 rooms and 43 bathrooms, and was built at a time when few people had ANY indoor toilets.  This is where we're staying:





Though the cabin is on a gravel road in the woods, we do have indoor plumbing and direct access to the Blue Ridge Parkway where we take our academically challenged mutt to hike. 

We're going native, eating deep fried pickle slices.

 

Enjoying nature.

And generally just happy to be out of South Florida during monsoon season.  There are lots of Miamians in these here parts.  Just up the road in Boone is novelist (and Edgar winner) James W. Hall.  I'll be interviewing Jim this Sunday evening at 7 p.m. Eastern on my "Pulp Friction" podcast.  Maybe we'll discuss the best way to grill bison burgers...and maybe talk a little about books, too.

 

 

Paul Levine...