I’m not a writer, so I can’t have writer’s block. I’m not a blogger, so I can’t have blogger’s block.  But I’ve definitely been having trouble coming up with the topics and the energy to write anything. I think it all started in June when my dog, Hummer, passed away. Since then, I began working at Eagle’s Nest Foundation and July and August have been pretty busy months at the Inn. Between being depressed about losing my baby and dealing with the summer crush as well as a new job, I feel like I haven’t had the energy or inspiration. You’d think that with all the summer action around here, I’d have no problem coming up with interesting topics.

But I can’t think of ANYTHING that I want to/feel like write about!

I’m sure I could blog about the new piece of flooring in the kitchen I had done last week ($1600 later and it’s only 1/4 of the entire kitchen floor space). Or, I could talk about the Family Reunion Cruise I just returned from (I probably will share that soon). There’s also all the fun summer activities that took place in Asheville or the cool fall lineup, including the Flower Carpet at Biltmore and Octoberfest (another beer festival). There’s a wedding at the Inn this weekend that could inspire me to write and another one the first weekend in October that I’m preparing for. Lastly, I could always talk about my super sister, Jessica, and her admirable battle with breast cancer these past six months (another probably will blog).

There are definitely lots of topics to write about. I just need to find my mojo and get back into the groove.  I’d really love to hear from anyone (professional writer, blogger, or novice) what tips they might like to share with me and the general public about how they deal with the infamous “block” that invariably happens.  What can/do you do to get past it?

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED – WE WILL POST THE NEW DATE SOON!

Dates: June 4-5, 2010

Where: 1847 Blake House Inn Bed & Breakfast,150 Royal Pines Drive, Asheville (Arden), NC, http://www.blakehouse.com/

Tickets are still available!

Davin McCoy & The Coming Attractions are honored to be able to play two days at this festival which is going to be great fun and proceeds from this event go to eliminate Spinal Muscular Atrophy, the #1 genetic cause of death in children under the age of 2. Fight SMA with food and while sampling Asheville’s best beers and listening to GREAT live music!

The event is hosted by Chef Angela McKeller who has been featured on The Food Network and is a great supporter of the band. This event supports Angela’s favorite charity: The Hope and Light Foundation.

If you are looking for a culinary event to spice up your summer then put June 4-5, 2010 on your calender. The “Kick Back and Kook: Feasting with Brew” event is taking over The 1847 Blake House Inn! Angela McKeller teams up with local micro-breweries in Asheville (rated BEST in the country for microbrews!) and offers an exploration of taste featuring seasonal, local ingredients and evening cooking classes as separate events (details below), including an Iron Chef Competition with prizes!

Don’t miss it! Best “Kooking”, Jamming, Brewing event of the summer! For weekend packages that include accommodations, please contact the Innkeeper, Leslie Kimball, at 888.353.5227 or 828.681.5227, http://www.blakehouse.com/. Want to add an extra night or two so you can explore Asheville, the Biltmore, the breweries? Come a day early, stay a day after and you’ll get a 10% discount off the nightly rate for the extra night(s).

To buy tickets (which will sell out fast!) go to http://www.kickbackkook.com/store.php.

Events:

Friday, June 4, 2010:
Beer and Truffles
2:30 – 4:30pm
$29 per person, or attend both Fri & Sat Afternoon classes for the just $47! Limited tickets available, buy tickets in advance to guarantee your spot!

Think beer and chocolate don’t go together? One of Asheville’s most popular microbreweries will come by and explain the ins and outs of brewing, the difference between one brew and another and give a presentation on how to pair beer with chocolate! Angela McKeller of “Kick Back and Kook!” will be offering her recipes for three types of Chocolate Truffles you can make at home, but taste them now, taste the chocolate and beer together yourself to see just how compatible these flavors really are! Think it’s never been done before? Think again! Also, live music by Davin McCoy and The Coming Attractions will make this an afternoon to remember!

Soufflés Made Simple
6:00pm – 9:00pm
$45 per person. Reserve your spot early, limited to just 25 students!

Angela McKeller will take you further down the culinary path, deep into the heart of Paris. Or at least you’ll feel like that is where you are! French for “puff up”, Angela will demonstrate just how easy these seemingly difficult, but impressive dishes are for dinner and dessert! On the menu: Shrimp Soufflé with Creamy Dill Sauce; Spinach and Ricotta Soufflé and Dark Chocolate Soufflé. Bring out your inner Julia Child, get ready for Summer and say “Bon appétit!”

Saturday, June 5, 2010
Simple Summer Desserts Sampling and Brew Tasting
1pm – 3pm
$29 per person, or attend both Fri & Sat Afternoon classes for the just $47! Limited tickets available, buy tickets in advance to guarantee your spot.

Angela McKeller will offer samples of the most delicious summer dessert recipes she’s developed and encountered during her culinary career. On the menu: Chef Mike Carrino’s Cherry and Apple Tart to Angela’s own Flambéd Brandied Peaches to Chef Jerry Solomon’s Zabayon, a simple but delicious Italian custard served with mixed berries, you’ll experience it all! And yes, these all go great with your favorite beer! While this is a sampling of desserts and beers, it is also an opportunity to get to know Chef Angela McKeller, ask her as many questions as you can think of about these delicious desserts and become acquainted with one of Asheville’s best microbreweries and their brews!  Again, live music by Davin McCoy and The Coming Attractions will make this afternoon experience even more amazing.

Iron Chef Competition!
6:30pm -9:30 pm
$65 per person.  Reserve your spot early, limited to just 25 students!

Who will win? The Salad Spinners or the Wire Wisks?! “Kooky” prizes to the winners!

Paired off into two groups, munching on some of Angela’s most popular dips while you “kook”, two teams will go head to head, competing to see who can create the best meal of the evening! Who judges? You do!

Everyone is given a score card to fill out without anyone else seeing. On a scale of 1-5, you try each others dishes and rate them, putting the score cards in a bowl for Angela to tally the scores while you finish dessert. The winning team gets a prize as “kooky” as Angela is!

On the menu:

Team 1:

* Goat Cheese Stuffed Figs in a Red Wine and Balsamic Reduction
* Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli in a Mushroom Cream Sauce
* Lemon Panna Cotta with Raspberry Coulis

Team 2:

* Baked Brie en Croute with Caramelized Walnuts
* Chicken Provençale
* Crepes with Strawberries and Rich Chocolate Sauce

With Asheville as the backdrop, who could ask for anything more? Beautiful scenery, delicious food, fun, kooky cooking classes, beer tastings, live music, the Biltmore Estate just around the corner and some of the best microbreweries around.

In just a few weeks, the 1847 Blake House Inn B&B will be proudly hosting the Kick Back & Kook Culinary Event: Feasting With Brew. The dates of the events are Friday, June 4 & Saturday, June 5. We almost changed the date due to another event going on in Asheville the same weekend: Beer City Brewfest. However, there are some major differences between the two events:

• The Beer City Brewfest is ONLY on Saturday, June 5th while our event is on Friday AND Saturday. So people can attend both!
• The Beer City Brewfest is a beer-focused event. Our event is primarily a culinary event with beer pairings. The focus of Feasting With Brew is not on the Brew; it’s on the FOOD with the BREW!
• The Beer City Brewfest is not pet-friendly, but we are!!!
• Ticket prices for the Brewfest are $35/each; our ticket prices are only $29 for each day, with cooking classes offered Friday & Saturday nights for $45 & $65 each respectively.
• Feasting With Brew is a FUNDRAISER! All proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the Hope & Light Foundation (information below). Eat, drink & mingle while supporting a great cause!
• Feasting With Brew will include raffles and silent auction items including a FREE night stay at the Inn, the cookbook: Passion on a Plate and apron from Chef Angela McKeller, items donated by local Asheville shops, plus other local arts & craft items. This event is about so much more than beer.

Of course I have a bias for the Feasting With Brew events, but I am in no way dissing the Beer City Brewfest. The timing of our events still allows people to attend both!  Following are the full details of our Kick Back & Kook Culinary Event: Feasting With Brew:

• Dates & Times: Friday, June 4 from 2:30 pm – 4:30 pm & Saturday, June 5 from 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
• Culinary Themes: Friday – Beer & Truffles & Saturday – Simple Summer Desserts Sampling & Brew Tasting
• Additional Cooking Classes: Friday evening (6-9 pm): Souffles Made Simple ($45) & Saturday evening (6:30 – 9:30 pm): Iron Chef Competition ($65)
• Participating Brewery: Pisgah Brewing Company – they brew handcrafted certified organic beer
  
• Music: Davin McCoy & The Coming Attractions
• Charity this event supports: The Hope & Light Foundation

Tickets can be purchased HERE as well as on the day of the event at the Inn. There is a DISCOUNT if you buy tickets for Friday & Saturday! If there are any Asheville businesses that would like to sell tickets, please contact Angela McKeller. Ticket sellers can make a little $ for each ticket you sell!

Book a room at the Inn for the weekend (at least 2 nights) and receive a 10% discount off the ticket price of ANY event you attend! Plus, the FIRST room reservation for that weekend will receive a FREE 1847 Blake House Inn B&B soup mug. The mugs just arrived this week!

Hope to see you there!

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. It will be celebrated on Thursday, April 22 in many ways and in many countries. But what does Earth Day really mean?

In the US, Earth Day as it was named, is celebrated on April 22nd, having first started in 1970. Around the world, Earth Day is called different things and celebrated at different times, but the concept is still the same. It is a day (or period of time) for people to appreciate and focus on the Earth’s environment, either through events, fundraisers, celebrations, and other types of activities geared toward awareness.

In Western NC, we too, celebrate Earth Day. Some of the activities planned here include:

• Lunchtime Litter Walks (Tuesday, April 13, 20, & 27) – Pritchard Park – 12pm – 1pm
• Asheville Earth Day (Saturday, April 17) – Martin Luther King Park – 11am – 10pm.
• Asheville GreenWorks (Saturday, April 17) – One Stop Drop Recycling Bazaar – Charlotte Street Farmer’s Market – hard to recycle materials collected – 8am – 1pm
• Greening Up the Mountain (Saturday, April 24) – Sylva, NC (1 hour west of Asheville) – 10am – 4pm
• Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition – Into the Woods Auction & Fundraiser (Friday, April 23) – Coleman Place in downtown Asheville – 6pm – 9pm

At the Inn, I try to be aware of the purpose of Earth Day year-round, through an ongoing effort to green the Inn and to reduce waste and the environmental impact of operating this place. I wrote an earlier blog on my efforts at becoming green and those are ongoing.  Even today, my son built a 4′ X 7′ garden box so that I can start growing my own vegetables, herbs and fruits for use in cooking here at the Inn. While a small gesture, it’s just one step in a checklist of things I am doing around here to become more eco-conscious.

As travelers, we all have the responsibility to pay attention to the amount of trash we create while on the road (we tend to produce more trash away from home than at home). We should also pay attention to the practices of the places we stay at and eat at and support those businesses that make an effort at eco-friendliness.  In Asheville, there are plenty of accommodations and restaurants that are going green. Check out Posana Cafe and Green Sage Coffeehouse Cafe and you’ll be impressed, not only with their food, but with their “greenness.”

For me, Earth Day is something I try to be conscious of all year. But even if you only celebrate Earth Day on April 22nd, many people can do a lot of good. Come to Asheville during our Earth Day celebrations, and you will receive a 40% discount off the 3rd night of your stay (between 4/13 – 4/27).

Although Asheville is a relatively small city, it is a popular tourist destination. When I speak to potential guests on the telephone, I find myself educating many on all that Asheville, and the surrounding cities and mountains, has to offer.  Asheville is not just the downtown area, although downtown is definitely a must-see, must-experience part of the city.  I also have to explain that for most people, you can’t really experience all this area has to offer on foot; you really need a car (or some other long-distance type of transportation) to get around to everything. Therefore, being a B&B in South Asheville about a 10-15 minute drive from “downtown” is not a bad thing because guests are going to be driving all over this area anyway.

For example, southeast of Asheville is Chimney Rock Park and Lake Lure; south of Asheville is “South Asheville” and all the development going on including the opening of several restaurants, spas/salons, shopping areas and movie theaters plus Hendersonville (the apple capital of the south) and Flat Rock; southwest of Asheville is Brevard with all its glorious waterfalls, Dupont State Park and Pisgah National Forest with pieces of the Blue Ridge Parkway and tons of hiking; west of Asheville is “West Asheville” and its new revival of the area shops, restaurants, and artist community; further west is Waynesville, Cataloochie Ski and Elk area, and the Cherokee Reservation; northwest of Asheville you have several starting points for white water rafting and other water adventures; north and northeast of Asheville are lots and lots of cool places and mountains to explore including the Blue Ridge Parkway, Boone and Blowing Rock, Linville Caverns, Mount Mitchell State Park, Grandfather Mountain, and several ski locations; and east of Asheville is Black Mountain.

There is so much to include in the list, but I assume the reader gets the picture.  Asheville is much more than just downtown Asheville and in order to really get the flavor of this area, visitors need more than a couple of days. However, I totally understand that people may not have a lot of time and want to pack in as much as possible during a short or long stay.  That’s where the Go Blue Ridge Card comes in.

The Go Blue Ridge Card is one card for about 30 different attractions. One card, one fee, up to 30 places to visit! You can get a 2-day, 3-day, or 5-day card and days do not have to be used consecutively. You have up to 2 weeks to use all of the days on your card.

Some of the attractions included in the card are: BILTMORE ESTATE, Grayline Trolley Tours of Asheville, Lake Lure Tours, Chimney Rock Park, Grandfather Mountain, and Wildwater Rafting, just to name a few.

This is a HUGE savings if you plan to visit more than 2 attractions on the list.  The cost of each ticket is as follows:

• 2-day: $84.99 (adult); $54.99 (child – ages 3-12)
• 3-day: $114.99 (adult); $59.39 (child – ages 3-12)
• 5-day: $159.99 (adult); $94.49 (child – ages 3-12)

To add a little excitement (and incentive) to guests, during the month of APRIL, I am offering a SPRING BREAK MID-WEEK DEAL:

• stay 3 nights in any room priced $130/night or higher (Sundays – Thursdays), receive a complimentary 2-day GO BLUE RIDGE CARD.
  
• Stay 4 nights in any room priced $130/night or higher (Sundays – Thursdays), receive a complimentary 3-day GO BLUE RIDGE CARD.
  
• Stay 5 nights in any room priced $130/night or higher (Sundays – Thursdays), receive a complimentary 5-day GO BLUE RIDGE CARD.

This special may not be combined with any other discounts, specials, or offers. Complimentary card is for one person and reservation must be booked between 4/1 – 4/24 for stays to be completed by 4/29.

Book a 3-night reservation at 1847 Blake House Inn Bed & Breakfast for travel dates between April 3 – May 16 (that’s Biltmore’s Festival of Flowers) and be entered into a drawing for either 2 FREE tickets or 1 FREE Annual Pass.

Reservation must be booked between February 22 – March 23 to qualify for the drawing. Winner will be notified via email and will be featured on our Facebook Fan Page. No other specials or discounts may be applied to the winning reservation.

If you have been to Biltmore before, there is exciting news this year. The Estate will be opening the new Antler Hill Village, adjacent to the Winery and River Bend Farm. The Antler Hill Village will include a new exhibition space, village green with live entertainment, dining, shopping, and a new outdoor adventure center. As part of this project, Biltmore Winery will be enhanced to offer a newly-designed tour and tasting areas.

Because of the extraordinarily cold and snowy winter this year, we are all awaiting Spring and the massive flower display at Biltmore with excitement and anticipation.  Winning free tickets/annual pass is just the perfect excuse to come to Asheville and enjoy it all with us.

Come stay at Blake House for 2 or more nights, between 2/15 – 2/18 and receive a FREE student spa service at Privai Academy (up to $30 value). Students will be close to the end of their training program and are just about ready to go out on their own. However, all are fully supervised and quite capable.

My mother and I have both received facials and have scheduled more services. If you don’t mind a 10-minute drive from the Inn, you will be surprisingly pleased. While all the spa services are performed by students, you will be pampered during your appointment and in some cases, a one-hour service may stretch into an hour and twenty minutes of sublime treatment.

Here is the list of student services:

Let me know when you make your reservation what service you would like and the day you prefer. I will try my best to get your day and time, but these student slots fill up quickly so make sure to provide me with a couple of options.

Asheville is slowly becoming a foodie’s paradise. From restaurants that embrace the Farm to Table concept, to vegetarian restaurants, to eco-conscious cafes, this city is on the verge of something great. Already known as an artist’s city and home to the grand Biltmore Estate and Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa, Asheville can now add food city to its resume.

Within the past several months, one of my innkeeping comrades, Chris Ortwein, has started offering food tours in downtown Asheville & Biltmore Village.  There are three different tours, each with between six – nine restaurants or shops where tour goers get to taste test foods, wine, local beer, spices, chocolate, and just about anything food-related. In December, my mother and I went on the Biltmore Village Tour and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, as well as stuffed ourselves with everything from calamari to beet soup to chicken skewers.

Today, we braved the chilly and sometimes rainy weather, to go on one of the two downtown tours.  I enjoyed myself even more, if you can believe it. Everyone met at the Grove Arcade at 1:45 and off we went at 2:00. Our first stop was the Flying Frog.  I had eaten lunch there several times, but had never been downstairs where they serve dinner. The Chef at the Flying Frog, I learned, is German and Indian, so his menu combines dishes from both cultures. We sampled some duck breast over sweet potatoes and arugula with an apple butter sauce. I had never tried duck before and was pleasantly surprised.

Next, it was on to The Chocolate Fetish, my favorite place. I already buy chocolate truffles from there for our Romance Packages, but I got to try something new today. They were serving dark and milk chocolate truffles topped with two different types of sea salt. Salt, you ask? Yes, a very fine and expensive type of sea salt. The combination of chocolate and salt was surprisingly delicious. I will definitely try those again.

Stop 3 was the Spice & Tea Exchange where we got to sample some run-of-the-mill pork rinds sprinkled with a spicy salt mix. Again, surprisingly good. Mom vowed to come back after the tour to pick up a pitcher they had that had a small canister-type thing inside where you can put lemon, lime, orange slices, or whatever you want. Fill the pitcher with water and the juice from the fruits will seep into the water to taste it without the seeds getting into the water. There was also a spice she wanted to get. But since we had to keep moving with the tour, we had to come back afterwards.

Stop 4 was the Green Sage Coffeehouse and Cafe. The owners of the Green Sage are the same people who started Earthfare. After it became successful, they sold them and started the Green Sage. It calls itself the greenest restaurant in Asheville, and for good reason. Just about everything they use, buy, sell, whatever, is produced locally, recycled, or composted. The restaurant produces so little trash that it only needs one small trash bin. There was a line to the door of customers waiting for coffee, tea, smoothies, or other quick-make foods. Our group got to taste some delicious tomato soup, a quiche, turkey sandwich, and a veggie burger of some sort.  The drink was a red berry sparkling cider that I had never seen before. Everything was delicious!

Next, we were off to Fiore’s, an Italian restaurant with a Tuscan flare. Here we got to sample some beer from local brewery, Asheville Brewery, called Old School Pale Ale. Delish! Along with that was a small caesar salad and a New York-style pizza with tomatoes, garlic, and spinach. i don’t typically like thin-crust pizza, but there was something about the crust. While it was thin, it tasted fluffy. Very good pizza.

Then, we walked several blocks to the Soda Fountain inside the Woolworth Walk. The Woolworth Walk is “store” with artist booths throughout and a small soda fountain off to the side. Here we had a root beer float which really hit the spot.  Afterwards, we crossed the street to Mayfels and got to sample a binette (sp?). It was a puffed, warm, doughy pastry shaped like a small square and sprinkled with powdered sugar. Served fresh out of the oven, they were wonderful after being out in the cold.

I had always heard good things about Cucina 24, but had never been until today. Located on Wall Street, the backside overlooks the intersection of College Street and Patton Avenue. It’s owned by two brother chefs and they serve upscale Italian food. Chef Brian demonstrated for us a crepe filled with a cheese mixture (with a bunch of other savory seasonings which I can’t remember). Rather than roll it up like a traditional crepe, he rolled it into a ball, then baked it in the oven for about 5 minutes. It came served with a slightly spicy chunky tomato sauce, just the way I like it.  I definitely will be going back there!

Our last stop on the tour was Carmel’s, a restaurant I have been to many times. It’s located omn one of the corners of the Grove Arcade, where we first met for the tour. This place is great, especially during the summer when you can sit outside and people watch to your heart’s content. Today, Chef Sugar (as she’s called) demonstrated a tuna, avocado, cucumber dish that was topped with a sauce mixture that I can’t remember. I am not a fan of raw tuna, but was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed it when it was paired with all the other items.

I had not been to most of the places on the tour so I am extra glad to have been able to go today. Thanks again to Chris for opening the tours up to innkeepers (at no charge) as he gets them going. I was able to pick up menus from most places for the menu binder I keep at the Inn for guests and now I can recommend some of these places. Plus, there are a couple I definitely want to return to. One of the benefits of attending the tours is that you receive a passport afterwards that can be used for up to 5 days after the tour at all of the places on the tour. And you receive a discount, typically 10%, when you present the passport for a future meal.

I hope to be able to go on the other Downtown Tour before the end of February since it also has several restaurants I haven’t been to. Right now, I am offering 2 FREE tour tickets to guests when they stay 2 or more mid-week nights (Mondays – Thursdays) in February. This is a $50 value and well worth the ticket price. Biltmore Village tours are on Tuesdays, Downtown Tour 1 is on Wednesdays & Fridays, and Downtown Tour 2 (the one we went on today) runs on Thursdays and Saturdays. All tours start at 2:00 and last about 2 1/2 hours. Walking and eating, a great combination!

We are offering FREE Asheville Food Tour tickets to our mid-week guests during December, January & February.

Guests who stay 3 or more nights (Mondays – Thursdays) in December and 2 or more nights (Mondays – Thursdays) in January or February will receive 2 FREE tickets to one of Asheville’s food tours. This $50 value keeps on giving because once you go on a food tour, you receive a 5-day passport to receive 10% off dining at any of the restaurants on the passport.

There are currently 3 different food tours and each tour has different restaurants. Tuesday tours visit Biltmore Village. Wednesdays and Fridays visit one set of restaurants in downtown Asheville and Thursdays and Saturdays visit a second set of restaurants in downtown Asheville.

Each tour only takes up to 12 people so it’s a good idea to schedule your tour early.  Please keep in mind that there is a minimum headcount requirement for a tour and it may be canceled due to low headcount, but it will not be canceled due to weather. Tours run rain or shine.

Once you make your room reservation at Blake House, I will ask you what tour you want and will make reservations for you. For reservations with at least 7 days notice, I will have your tickets for you when you arrive for check-in. For reservations under 7 days, you will receive your tickets/passport when you meet for your tour.

Check out the Asheville Food Tours website for additional information. I have been on the Biltmore Village Tour and can say firsthand that it is fabulous! We had so much food to sample between the 7 restaurants visited that we didn’t need dinner that night.  The downtown tours feature more restaurants so I recommend that you not miss this opportunity to sample a lot of the good food that Asheville has to offer.

This year, I have seen an increase in travelers looking for the best rate or deal. Since a bed and breakfast is vastly different from the average hotel, it would be difficult to beat the prices offered by these chains.  The average B&B guest is seeking the experience of staying in a B&B; the uniqueness and history of an old house, the opportunity to meet and talk to other guests, and the freshly cooked and prepared breakfasts each morning, plus all the other niceties that come with the B&B.

Still, B&B guests want more for less this year and in an attempt to entice guests without simply giving the cheapest room, I have been busy putting together several packages and specials that I hope everyone can benefit from. Some are listed here, and some are listed on our Specials/Packages Pages on the website. Make sure you look at everything before making your decision and mention the special you’d like when you make your reservation (one special/package per reservation):

• Lavish Luxury Savings - During the month of September, purchase a Romance/Anniversary/Spa Package and I will pay the sales taxes.  The sales tax rate is 7.75% so that could be enough of a savings to pay for your lunch that day.
• Halloween Happenings- Stay 3 nights, including Halloween night and receive a Halloween goodie bag, plus a fresh pie of your choice from our local bakery.
• Thanksgiving Thank You Special – Stay 4 nights including Thanksgiving and get the 4th night for HALF price/stay 5 nights including Thanksgiving and your 5th night is FREE.
• Traveling With Your Pet Special - Between 11/29 – 12/20, stay 4 or more nights and we will waive your pet fee each night.  That’s a savings of at least $40! All other pet policies apply.
• Tanks for Traveling Special - During the months of January and February, stay 3 or more nights and receive a free tank of gas ($30 gas card).

Hope to see you soon!