Our trip to Asheville, NC, in words....
You've seen some of the (many) pics we have taken during our trip. Now, I am going to start the recap of days one and two of our first vacation in three years.
My friend Amy had invited us to visit her in Asheville, NC. A lot of people say to come visit, but it's a casual thing. What can I say? She really meant it. :) I was thrilled to see a friend from my college days and her two lovely kiddos, Maya and Jake, who are similar in age to my own little ones.
Per some recommendations, hubby and I decided to go on this trip sans kiddos, and while I missed them, I am grateful we did because the time together was very needed. We get a lot of time together here in town, per se, but our dates consist of things like grocery shopping and errands, and we struggle with real "quality" time together, or at least coming up with ideas for it beyond dinner and movies.
We left on Friday at about ten AM. We stopped to visit my mama at work along the way, and while there, we snagged a replacement wedding ring for hubby (she works at a jewelry store). That was an unexpected surprise, and I am grateful we managed to get a great deal on one that fits him well. His old ring was a bit too big, and it was made of tungsten carbide, which cannot be resized.
Along the route, we stopped at the New River Gorge Bridge, the longest span bridge in the eastern United States, famous for its scenery and bungee jumping (which we didn't do, obviously). We have been there before, but the bridge is an engineering marvel, and since it was fall, we knew the view would be spectacular. It did not disappoint. The Autumn colors as we traveled onward were breathtaking. We traveled through Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, and Tennessee (land of Dolly Parton!) before making it to North Carolina. One thing I noticed about the South is that there are rocking chairs at the rest areas. It's great, and a bit hilarious. I have loved rocking chairs since I was a child, so for me, it helps me to feel right at home. :)
We arrived around seven thirty and did some shopping at Asheville Mall before meeting up with my friend. She lives in the cutest two story blue house, and the homes in general in Asheville have way more charm and personality than the nearly identical ranchers that permeate my neighborhood. I am in awe of how vastly they differ, and the various ways that their residents have made them "their own." Once at the house, we met her daughter Maya, (baby Jake) was in bed, sat and listened while her mama read her some bedtime stories, and went to bed early.
Saturday morning, we visited some local stores with Amy and family after a breakfast
of pancakes. The stores were Second Gear, a used sporting goods shop,
Small Terrain, a shop for all things urban homesteading, The Littlest
Birds, a children's apparel and supplies consignment shop, and we also
had lunch at Bandido's, a Latin fusion restaurant owned by Amy's friends
that serves 100% locally sourced food (I had the goi rolls with plum
sauce--divine). All of the stores were funky and fun, and I especially thought that the idea for Second Gear was an exceptionally good one.
In the afternoon, we did some more shopping at aforementioned mall (we bought Build-a-Bears for our kiddos...way expensive and a splurge, and I snagged some ridiculously discounted, yet comfortable hiking boots), and I went to my first REI. (I was unimpressed with REI. Low selection, and too expensive for our taste.) We attempted to find the Blue Ridge Parkway, but got lost, which ended up alright in the end because we found a beautiful drive full of golden fields, lush forest, and farmland. While not exactly mountainous, it was peaceful and lent an atmosphere of simplicity and Southern charm. We wanted to grab some authentic Carolina BBQ once we were back in Asheville, but struck out (one place was closed, and we trekked beautiful downtown Asheville in vain looking for one place that we never found). Instead, we went to Burgermeister's, another local place, serving burgers and sandwiches in a funky '80s-meets boudoir pics-meets '70s camp-meets an old jukebox motif (amazingly cool), and we both had the best burgers we have EVER tasted--no exaggeration. I had a regular grass-fed beef burger with fixings and homemade potato wedges, and hubby had the bison burger with homemade potato salad, which he enjoyed.
We then came home, chilled with Splenda, Amy's ridiculously loving and well behaved black Lab, before calling it a night.
Soon will be the story of days three and four.... :)
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