Tom met us at his cottage in Asheville, and was very flexible with timing -- we got there a bit early, as rain cut our earlier plans short. The place is clean, neat, well furnished, and in a quiet neighborhood not far from downtown Asheville. Tom alerted us to the Gingerbread house competition in the Grove Park Inn a few minutes away, which we visited on the following (rainy) day, and it was rather fun, despite the fact that we're adults and the place was mobbed with children. We also hit up a number of galleries and resaurants ... Asheville is worth visiting, even in the rain, and Tom's cottage is a good base independent of the weather!