Travel Bite: Asheville, North Carolina

Hi Busies!

So happy to say that after over 4 years of living in North Carolina, we finally made it to Asheville!  

For those of y’all who don’t know, Asheville is many things:

• a hiking hot spot, because it’s on the Blue Ridge Parkway and overlaps the Appalachian Trail
• one of the biggest beer cities in the South (or even America!), with over 50 craft breweries in the area and an insane beer consumption per capita
• a vibrant city with a strong, independent food, art, and music scene

Even though we only had about a day and a half there, we were determined to make the most of it!

Yes – a day and a half.  Now, I’m usually a very organized vacation planner.  When we went to Europe last year, I had an itinerary with all our flight and hostel reservations, a list of recommended places organized by city and activity, and a daily guide of potential activities organized by geographic area within each city.  Was that a bit overboard?  Absolutely.  But my type-A self enjoyed the planning and anticipation almost as much as the trip itself!

So, when I was checking the calendar and realized we only had 1 free weekend left in October before the Thanksgiving and holiday craziness was upon us, I went into panic mode.  After checking Air BnB and seeing that only 7% of properties were left, we jumped in and booked, and then spent the 2 weeks so distracted with work and other plans that we got NO planning done.  

I was a little anxious, because this was the least prepared I had ever been for a trip, but it was a good chance for me to work on being more spontaneous and focused on living in the moment.  As we travel more, we’ve practiced and learned how to plan juuuuust the right amount so we don’t waste too much of our trip in the “figuring out what to do next” stage.  Hiking during the day definitely left us really tired, but we fell into a quick nap-and-rally rhythm to make sure we got downtown in time to experience all that downtown Asheville had to offer!

Some highlights:

• Craggy Pinnacle hike (we accidentally hiked the Craggy Gardens Trail first and didn’t realize it until we were at the top of that trail.  Google Maps isn’t the most reliable up in the mountains where you have no service!) Drew humored me and we ended up going on a 4 mile hike instead of the 2 miler we were planning for, but it was worth it – pics below!
• Looking Glass Rock hike – a 6 mile round-trip hike with the most amazing and terrifying peak.  Seriously y’all – look this place up.  The top is a smooth, curving sloped rock.  We made it to the top, and at first I was breathless at how beautiful the views were.  Then I looked down and realized that one wrong move and I’d be sliding off the top of a mountain.  I spent the rest of our time up there terrified, while also trying to somehow enjoy the moment and the payoff of our 3 mile trek to the top.  
• Brewery & Food Tour – we made it to 7 breweries:  Wicked Weed, Bhramari Brewing, Burial Beer Co., Green Man Brewery, New Belgium, Catawaba Brewing Co., and Asheville Brewing Co.  And we nommed on some delicious bar food, tacos, and even grabbed a quick red curry – I was craving Indian food!  Other food highlights – a light and perfectly crispy Baja fish taco, a delicious potato chip and beer cheese nacho plate, and a food truck grilled cheese/apple/honey/walnut confection that was a perfect post-hike recovery snack.  

Wicked Weed brews and chips with beer cheese – YUM!

Even though it was fast, our little mountain retreat was a great weekend to disconnect from work, technology, and other adult responsibilities, enjoy some quality time together, and explore a new city.  

What was your favorite part of your most recent vacation?  Let me know in the comments below!