I Now Have A New Definition Of The Word Weird

I have just about died and gone to heaven. 

More about that later. 

And really, this post is mostly going to be pictures with explanation and some discussion. 

First off, I give you this.

That's what it looks like when you're just approaching the Great Smokey Mountains from the south. I snapped that through the windshield and somehow completely lucked out when it came to the sky. And, well, everything. 

But before we really get into the transcendental gorgeousness of North Carolina I must inform you that many years ago Mr. Moon and I stopped at a giant antique store AND cat museum somewhere between Asheville and Athens. We spent quite a while looking at the antiques but never made it to the cat museum and I've always regretted that. We were discussing that on our drive today and I googled it and damn, if it wasn't about sixteen miles from where we were. 

So. We had to go. 

It's changed locations and is no longer by an antique store but is free-standing and by golly, we found it and we stopped. 

We went through that door, paid our ten bucks, and I will never be quite the same. 

I felt as if we had entered an alternative world which I had no idea existed. The first thing we encountered was the man who runs the museum, who OWNS the museum. He is quite old. He sat on a couch. He barked at us. "Where you are from?" and many other questions that I cannot remember because I was completely traumatized. 

Finally, we got away from that scary web and began to explore The American Museum Of The House Cat. 

Look. I'm not even going to try to explain. 

There is no way I COULD explain. 

These pictures only barely skim the smallest bit of the surface of the deep unfathomable weirdness going on there. 

And after about half an hour I said, "I gotta get out of here."

Not only was my mind completely fried but I was having some weird allergic reaction and my eyeballs were burning. 
Although that could simply have been from what they were looking at. 

Okay. Two more. 

And then we left and went to lunch in a completely tourist destination small town where a train pulled up just as we were about to go into a restaurant and many people departed the train including boy and girl scouts and started spreading out to go into the restaurants and twee shops and after the American Museum of House Cats, that was NOTHING! 

All right. 

That is enough of all of that. 

We've made it to our destination in Old Fort, North Carolina where we are staying and the house is pretty much my dream house. It's very old and gorgeously restored and has everything I could possibly imagine wanting INCLUDING A KITCHEN AID MIXER. And the creek. 

Our room. 

I told Mr. Moon to buy me this house right now. He laughed. 

He laughed! 

What is wrong that this man? 

The one thing this house does not have in it at this point is anyone from Jessie's family because wouldn't you know it- August has strep again. We'll going to wait until tomorrow when he's been on antibiotics for a day and I guess that's okay although I did cry when Jessie told me she thought that was best and I agreed with her. 

Fucking strep. 

Meanwhile, Mr. Moon and I are enjoying the peace and quiet here, the sweet sound of the creek rushing over rocks, and the promise of seeing those sweethearts tomorrow. 

Love from the beautiful and bizarre state of North Carolina...Ms. Moon