I forget which day this happened, but at a rest stop in North Carolina, there were signs for the men’s room and the women’s room; and in the middle was a room titled Mechanical Room. You can say what you like about NC gender troglodytion, but they are looking to the future.  When I first visited the South black people couldn’t use the same bathrooms as white.  Going with a white woman would get you killed.  Now I see mixed race couples all around Wilmington. 

We hopped into the car and sped off to Asheville, where we had a date for lunch with two Opcode-era personalities, Gerry and Geary.  It was nice hanging out with them and talking about life.  Afterwards we walked around town and saw the Art Nouveau / Art Deco architecture, then headed off to our hotel.  We didn’t really need dinner that night.

Breakfast Tuesday was at OWL Bakery, which was all tasty but pricey.  They did squeeze oranges, they had rye pound cake, and they meticulously measured coffee doses.  They also made good hot chocolate.  Dreamboat barista.

We drove back into town and took a tour of the Moog factory, which was fun.  They build the old-fashioned analog gear just like they always did, with hand-soldering onto PC boards.  They also make a bunch of less expensive modern gear, with surface-mount components.  The Black Mountain College museum was closed, unfortunately.  Next time.