Make a Break for Asheville, NC
I had heard that Asheville, North Carolina is a cute little city, and since it’s only 3.5 hours from Atlanta, my husband and I chose it for a weekend getaway. Hoping to catch glimpses of colorful fall foliage, we drove along the Blue Ridge Parkway, known as one of the most scenic routes in America. Unfortunately, we were a few weeks late. Still the scenery was nice.
The best way to explore downtown Asheville is on foot. We walked around for a few hours, peering into various stores and enjoying people-watching on the street. Downtown Asheville is home to a lot of artists and many of the stores have an artsy vibe. Some of our favorites include Woolworth Walk, The Spice & Tea Exchange and The Chocolate Fetish.
Woolworth Walk is a huge indoor art market with over 150 exhibiting artists. The booths are housed in the old F.W. Woolworth building, which also includes a 1950’s style retro soda fountain, complete with root beer floats and hot dogs. Next stop was The Spice and Tea Exchange. Filled with every spice and tea imaginable for purchase, the store featured a variety of samples, of which I tried lemon sugar and hot apple cider. Finally, we made our way over to The Chocolate Fetish. Thankfully, the staff was very knowledgeable and offered plenty of recommendations. We intended to pick up some chocolates as a gift, but the sweet smells made it impossible to not try the chocolate for ourselves.
Like many people, eating is one of our favorite vacation activities, and Asheville’s selection of restaurants did not disappoint, especially since many focus on organic, locally grown foods. We tried Laughing Seed, a vegetarian café that is extremely popular with vegetarians and meat-eaters alike; Tupelo Honey, a southern-style café that serves complimentary homemade biscuits and jam; and Salsa’s, a small Mexican restaurant offering some of the freshest food that I’ve tasted outside of Mexico.
Of course, what’s a vacation without a sample of the nightlife? We went to two bars during our visit – Jack of the Wood and The Bier Garden. Jack of the Wood is a cozy, Irish bar; The Bier Garden is more of a sports bar. Both had lots of local beers on tap and friendly bartenders.
After a day and night of eating and drinking, we decided that some fresh air was in order and drove 70 miles to Grandfather Mountain. Grandfather Mountain’s main attraction is the Mile High Swinging Bridge. We opted for a 15-minute hike to the bridge, but you could drive up as well. The bridge was fun, although not for those with a fear of heights! The views from the top were spectacular. Grandfather Mountain has 11 different hiking trails, ranging from the easy Bridge Trail that we navigated to more strenuous trails.
Our last order of business in Asheville was to visit the famous Grove Park Inn. We thought about eating dinner there, but decided to go for a drink to say we did. We sat in the Great Hall bar, a big room in the lobby with two large fireplaces and live music.
Asheville offers so much to do that we couldn’t fit it all in one short weekend. I asked my husband repeatedly if we could move there! While that probably won’t happen, we’ll definitely be back. It was a perfect weekend getaway.
