48 Hours in Asheville, NC

 

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Alright ya’ll… so last weekend my boyfriend and I met my sister and her boyfriend in Asheville, NC.  We all love to travel as much as possible and try new things!  It was about 6 hours for them from Florida and 4.5 hours for us from Tennessee.  Right when my boyfriend (Tyler) and I were going to leave for the weekend I got really sick and almost couldn’t go.  Thankfully, Tyler was a champ and drove the whole way there late into the night (having been up almost 20 hours).  I laid in the back seat trying not to throw up all over the truck ha-ha (or cough up a lung).  Once we got there we found that my sister had rented out the cutest Air BnB.  It was this quaint town house only minutes from downtown Asheville.  It had to have been 50+ years old because the stairs creaked really loud. It was soooo nice though and we loved it.  It was also great being in a whole house instead of a hotel room.  Also, the Air BnB was very affordable.  This is the specific one we stayed in.

My sister is what you call a super-planner.  She had our whole weekend planned out down to the minute and emailed us our itinerary weeks before hand.  She is the best!

Saturday

Saturday morning we strolled downtown and went to a really hipster brunch place called Over Easy Cafe.  It was amazing!!! (It better be because we waited an hour and a half for a table.)  I got the most delicious “Very Berry Smoothie”.  I think it was life changing because it was the first thing I had eaten in almost 24 hours.  Tyler got Lavender French Toast.  I wasn’t kidding about this place being hippie dippy (yes I just coined that phrase.)  I mean honestly have you ever heard of Lavender French Toast before now?!?  I hadn’t.  I mean, I like Lavender . . . . in my bath soap and candles.  I’m not so sure I can say the same about my french toast.  Apparently it was pretty good!  The whole town was in “free spirits” if you know what I mean ha-ha.  Here is a picture of that amazing smoothie, my sisters detox tea, and Tyler’s Lavender French Toast.  Good stuff!!!

Left: Detox Juice– Beets, Apple, Lemon, Lime, Ginger, Orange Juice.  $7                               Right: Very Berry Smoothie– Rasberries, Blueberries, Stawberries and Cranberry Juice with local Vanilla Yogurt $7

Lavender French Toast– West End Bakery’s challah bread topped with house-made granola, vanilla lavender yogurt and powdered sugar.  Served with fresh fruit and a side of Green Mountain maple syrup. $10.75

After our delicious breakfast we drove over to the Blue Ridge Parkway.  We started hiking up a hill on Blue Ridge Parkway when my flu started acting up (think uncontrollable coughing) so we decided heavy physical activity probably wasn’t a good idea.  Our stop wasn’t long but we still got to soak up the beauty of it. If you are like me you probably have no idea what it is.  Let me tell you!!  The Blue Ridge Parkway is 469 miles connecting the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina to the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.  Along these 469 miles there are a TON of trails and activities for outdoor fanatics.  I took this picture along the parkway (after a coughing spell).

Blue Ridge Parkway

Next we went to the North Carolina Arboretum.  An Arboretum is a botanical garden devoted to trees.  The North Carolina Arboretum is a 434-acre public garden in the Pisgah National Forest (see a trend here?), located at the entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway in south Asheville.  This place had hiking trails, gardens, a green house, museum, gift shop, and even a bonsai tree exhibit.  It was stunning!  This stuffed wolf was chilling in the museum.

North Carolina Arboretum– Wild Survival Exhibit (Free Admission with $12 Parking Fee)

Tyler and my sister hiking the trails at the North Carolina Arboretum.

My sister and I taking a break on the trail at the North Carolina Arboretum.  I was trying to keep up with the group and endure my flu like symptoms all weekend!

After the Arboretum, we went to the River Arts District.  In the District we were trying to go to this cute little taco shop my sister had heard good things about. On the way we got stuck behind a train that wouldn’t move.  We saw a man walking down the train tracks so we asked him to come by the window.  We asked him why the train was just sitting there at a stand still and if there was any way we could get across the tracks to go to the taco shop.  He said a woman with a child in her front seat had stopped with the front of her car almost over the tracks and wasn’t paying attention when the train started coming towards her.  The conductor thought it was too close for comfort and declared an emergency stop.  The guys said it would take the train another couple of hours to get going again.  He said the lady was okay and nothing happened to her car.  Thankfully, he was kind and gave us directions to get around the train and go to the taco shop.  The place was called the White Duck Taco Shop.  Funny, right?!?  It was very different and delicious! I was still easing into eating, but I got this delicious meal below.

Parking Lot of the White Duck Taco Shop

Thai Peanut Chicken Taco and Cowboy Beans with some Unsweet Tea

Then we went back to the cute Air BnB and got ready for our Asheville Brewery Tour my sister had set up.  It was an awesome tour where you hop in a passenger van with a bunch of random people and go to 4 breweries from 4:30-8 PM.  You have a bus driver who is your tour guide and designated driver!!! We did the Saturday Sunset Van Tour.  It was a little pricey at $60 a head but they let you try at least 2-3 beers at each stop.  Asheville has a microbrewery every 2 feet so  honestly we barely scratched the surface by going to four of them but I feel like they were all very different.  We stopped at:

• Urban Orchard Cider Company– They had a really interesting Jalapeño Vanilla Cider that Tyler loved.
• Catawba Brewing Co.
• Altamont Brewing Company
• Hi-Wire Brewing– This one tasted the most like Bud-Light.  It was also the only one we went to that distributes to grocery stores etc.  The other ones you can only buy at the brewery itself.

The tour was awesome.  I would recommend it to anyone visiting.  It was the perfect mix of information and fun.  The tour guides were very knowledgable about beer.  We met some interesting people too.  We met a couple that had just moved to Nashville from Texas.  That was our Saturday night!

Hi-Wire Brewing

Sooooo I have to eat like every 4 hours.  Just ask my Dad!  He makes fun of me because when I am hungry I like to eat immediately.  He likes to smack his hands together and quote “Immediately” ha-ha when he is making fun of me.  So obviously when we walked by a doughnut shop on the brewery tour my sister and I had to stop and get some.  We let Tyler and my sisters bf go ahead while we stayed behind and tried the AWESOME goodness at Vortex Doughnuts.  It was buy one get one free (meant to be, duh?!?) and we got chocolate milk too.  They didn’t disappoint.  Then we made it back to the brewery tour and no one even noticed we were gone.  Great game time decision!

Vanilla Cake and Dark Chocolate Drizzle Sugar at Vortex Doughnuts

Sunday

The next morning we went to the breakfast place that our Uber driver suggested the night before: Sunny Pointe Cafe.  It was sooo good.  We went at 9 AM so we barely had to wait for a table.  When we left at 10 AM the wait was probably 1.5 hours!!! This was Tyler’s meal.  He said the grits were killer!!  My sisters boyfriend got chicken and waffles.  Yummmm.

MGB– A mighty good breakfast includes two free range eggs, with a choice of local nitrate free sausage from Snow Creek, tofu bacon or veggie sausage, herb tossed spuds or stone ground chipotle cheese grits, and an angel biscuit of focaccia. $9.00

The last event for our trip to Asheville was going to the infamous Biltmore Estate.  This place was absolutely ridiculous. The Biltmore is a luxurious family home built in 1889 for George and Edith Vanderbilt and it took over 6 years to complete!  250 rooms and 43 bathrooms!!! It was built for a family of 3 people?!?  They had one of the first indoor swimming pools and bowling alleys.  Here are some pictures I took.  In addition to the house the property has gardens, a winery, park, hotel, farm, and countless activities/excursions.  Next to the winery they have a little hut where you can pay a lot of money to go off roading in brand new Land Rovers.  Isn’t that nuts!!?!

Front Lawn of the Biltmore Estate

Jumping for Joy that we are together again!

Front Lawn of the Biltmore Estate

Indoor Swimming Pool

View from the Back Balcony of the House

On the Balcony in the back of the house.  Yes that is a whole box of tissues in my purse.  I had the flu the whole weekend so I had to stay prepared for anything. Ha-ha!

/ Scarf: Lululemon / Cardigan: Nordstrom / Bag: Nordstrom /

/ Jeans: Nordstrom / Shoes: Nike /

This bag was perfect for the trip!! It fit the right amount of stuff and matched all my outfits. Click on it to shop!

Funny story about the Biltmore: we were taking pictures in the front lawn like you see above and this man came up to Tyler and said will you take a picture of us (talking about his girlfriend).  Tyler said sure!! He said take a lot in what sounded like a shaky voice.  Tyler started taking pictures of them and the next thing we know the guy gets down on one knee and starts proposing to the girl with him.  It was so unexpected and cute!!!  Tyler got to capture some of the most exciting moments of their lives!  That was the end of our trip! On the way home we stopped in Knoxville to take Tyler’s brother out to dinner.  Overall we had a wonderful time.  We got the most out of our 48 hours in Asheville.  I would love to go back and do some more coffee shop and boutique exploring! Who’s planning their trip to Asheville now?!

Thank you for reading and stay tuned for my favorite skin care regiment coming soon!

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