The one thing about traveling to different places is you get to meet people from various corners of the Globe. When I traveled to Greece I met people from Florida to Chicago to New Jersey to North Carolina. With a few vacation days left until the end of the year I hopped a flight to Asheville (because why not)?! and met up with the North Carolina natives I met on a recent trip!
Asheville is such a colorful fun city which probably has something to do with why it’s called Ashvegas! There is so much to do here from outdoor activities to restaurants to all the beer you could ever drink (this place is brewery nation).
Here’s the run down of what I did…
Flights
I flew from Houston to Asheville and had a layover in Atlanta. You can fly into Charlotte and it’s about a two hour drive or so to Asheville. Asheville is literally the tiniest little airport ( I kind of loved it considering the size of Houston’s airport).
Bites
They have some of the best food here in Asheville!
Here are my top places…
12 Bones BBQ in the River Arts District – favorite hands down and I’m coming from Texas ( sorry not sorry Texas).
Carmels Kitchen and Bar- I stopped here for dinner after some shopping.
Table- This restaurant is downtown great dinner spot.
Curate – This Restaurant is also downtown and great for dinner the chef is a James Beard winner.
Sip Sip
Asheville is home to what feels like a million breweries! Here are the ones that I visited
Sierra Nevada- This place is amazing, total hipster vibes everywhere. I also ate here and the food was fantastic. Everything is made fresh with the veggies and other ingredients grown out in the back garden, you can also walk through it (see total hipster vibe). While you’re out there you can also play an assortment of games that are available or you can wander around inside and check out the insane copper stills and production room used to make and distribute their brews.
Battery Park Book Exchange and Champagne Bar- This is a must do, it is right up the road from Carmels Kitchen and has such a cool atmosphere! The inside is a huge book store where you can pick a book of your choice. They have pretty much anything you could possibly be looking for. You can sit at an array of different reading corners and enjoy a coffee drink of your choice with a snack or a glass of bubbles. Your choice, but I chose the bubbly just incase you were wondering!
also try these brews..
New Belgium
Wedge
Wicked Weed
Sour House
Highwire
Shopping!!!
Just my favorite pass time here are the best boutiques
I loved shopping around in Asheville, I found some great one of a kind pieces and of course I got some Asheville souvenirs.
Most of these will be on Lexington Ave. Pop in and out of as many as possible there are tons of them and you might happen upon something super unique!
LP Boutique
Minx
Duncan and York
TOPS
Sites and Sees
Biltmore House – This is an all day event. I would purchase tickets ahead of time and go ahead and add the audio tour while you’re at it because you won’t know what you’re looking at otherwise. Tickets for this are not the cheapest you are looking at a minimum of roughly $65. If you want a little bit more of an exclusive package there are lots of options on the website. You can even stay there if you wish. This is definitely a must see! Oh and while you’re there make sure to visit the gardens!
Pub Cycle – Ok I don’t think I’ve had this much fun with total strangers in a while! This lasts roughly 1-2 hours and you pedal around the city with a “little” assistance! This is a fun experience that I would recommend to just about anyone of drinking age. You even hop off and hit a couple of really cool bars almost like a small pub crawl.
Navitat- This was incredible. You get to choose between a few different options or you can choose the combination. I did the combination and would not have changed a thing. You get to zip line and do some moderate hiking. You get rewarded with some pretty incredible views and the tour guides are awesome. They are very knowledgeable and quite funny and make the experience highly entertaining.
The only problem here was getting back to where I was staying.. see Asheville is gorgeous and surrounded by mountains and it’s lovely until your technology doesn’t get any service and you virtually have to guess your way out of the wilderness and back to civilization. My sense of direction is better than I though. Just when I was mid panic and pulled over at the first sign of human activity a gas station ( I think that’s what it was) I started to get some cell bars and felt instantly relived! ( It’s all part of the experience right?!).
Blue Ridge Parkway- This is also something to do. This Highway stretches across multiple states and is miles and miles and milesssss long. I started close to where I was staying and then stopped off at the lookout points. This highway makes you feel like you’re in one of those car commercials where there going like 70mph on long winding roads in the middle of a gorgeous scenic route… It was pretty spectacular to see the hazy blue outlines of the mountains. There are some small hikes you can do at the look out points. I started out on one of the smaller ones but decided to turn back as it was a little later in the day and I was alone (nobody says this but hiking by yourself in an unknown location is a little scary guys). Oh and I also saw a Black Bear…. so reason enough to change course right?!
River Arts District- There are some really cool eclectic shops and local artist sell some of their work here. I bought an abstract painting that I fell in love with. the vibe here is cool because you’re buying directly from the artist and they can tell you about the piece you’re purchasing. The art ranges in style and price but you can find something for just about anyone.
Asheville is a place I probably wouldn’t have thought twice about visiting, but I’m so glad I did! This place has so much to offer and it was the perfect long weekend getaway!
I’ve included the links to some of the activities I did, feel free to check them out!
XOXO