The Four Points Hotel. Or Maybe Only Three Points.

     This past Sunday Tom and I drove from Columbus, Ohio to Ashville, North Carolina for a reunion of the Appalachia Club, a  group Tom and I both belonged to when we were students at the University of Dayton and whose members did volunteer work in rural Eastern Kentucky. (See posts from  3/9/2015 and 3/10/2015).

     University of Dayton Appalachia Club members in the 1970's:

...and now:

    The  wonderful 3-day event was organized by a wonderful Appalachia Club Alum, Sharon.

     Sharon then,

...and now.

   To get to the reunion Tom and I  took the long scenic route down old US 23 – through Ohio, West Virginia , Virginia and Tennessee  - a 9 ½ hour ride including lunch at – where else? – Subway (when on the road we eat lunch exclusively at Subway),

...and dinner in the whimsically-named town of Unicoi, Tennessee,

…where we found a cute little Italian restaurant called Primo’s.

    Tom ordered the spaghetti and meatballs, which he liked well enough,

...while I had the eggplant parmesan,

         ... the eggplant part of which  came out  ‘way deep-fried, and the sauce part of which was…well, the truth is it’s rare that I ever find a really good spaghetti  sauce in a restaurant. My mother could make a fantastic  meat sauce, the recipe for which she passed down to me so that now I can make a fantastic red meat sauce.  I can also make a fantastic meatless red sauce from a recipe I once found on a box of Kroger’s  spaghetti. 
        I will share my red sauce recipes a couple of posts from now.
       Anyway, it was late in the evening when we arrived at our destination in Ashville,

     …The Four Points Sheraton Hotel, where most of the reunion guests were staying.

  We were immediately charmed by the homey   lobby and friendly staff.

We likewise found much to like about our pretty, cozy room, including the super-comfy mattress,

…ergonomic desk chair,

     ...steel-on-white bathroom,

…and the soap, shampoo, and conditioner dispensers in the shower, which I thought was such a good idea that I couldn’t believe no hotel – at least no hotel that I’ve ever been in -  ever came up with the idea before.

     Such happy campers were Tom and I that we agreed that The Four Points Hotel deserved to change its name to the Five Points Hotel...until I turned on my laptop and discovered that the WIFI in our room was somewhere between limping-snail and non-existent. And when the WIFI in the hotel lobby proved to be even less functional,    

...and the only site I could pull up while sitting in the lobby was “Problem Loading Page,”

...that spot lost its charm as well.
        However, by the following morning when Tom and I began linking up with our old college friends,

   ...first over breakfast at a great little nearby restaurant called Tupelo Honey ,

....where the food was yummy,

...then later in the hotel lobby,

...or on the street,

...Tom and I came to learn over the course of the conversations that we were among the luckier Four Points Hotel guests:  our friends shared stories of  clogged drains, a jammed shower element,  non-functioning air-conditioning, and a lack of hot water.
      Then when this  sign suddenly appeared in the hotel lobby:

...we all knew we were in for a kvetch-worthy experience, especially as the young desk clerks seemed clueless as to  where the closest public restrooms might be.
     But then it occurred to us that in the grand scheme this really wasn't so bad.
     After all, hadn't we survived worse?

     To be continued...