Last year a group of us went to hike the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim, and this year we took a trip to North Carolina! Many of us flew into Asheville, some drove, and Rondi flew to Nashville and drove with Molly from there.
Asheville is one of the smallest airports I've seen! You still walk out on the tarmac.
We met our friends at Burial Brewing, where the woman working there said, "Your hair is so nice, and it matches your personality so well." Great way to kick off a city. What's not to like?! We ate outside there - I had a great burger.
Asheville is known for breweries, hiking, and a cool vibe. We walked from Burial to Dirty Jack's and then the Funkatorium. Everywhere had outdoor seating and lots of people - but not too many to be too crowded.
We drove to out Airbnb which had everything you could hope for and some you didn't even know you wanted...hot tub, sauna, shuffleboard, hockey, arcade games, theatre, fluffy robes...and not one but two slides! We hung out here and only one slide-related injury occurred, due to a friend going headfirst. Why would the wall be at the end? Poor design. : )
On Saturday, we left the house at 7:00 a.m. in three cars and dropped one of them at the end of the trail. This is easier than it sounds. One, the trailhead was so difficult to find. Second, we had to drive my friend's really nice car on what was essentially rocks, with trucks coming toward us on what appeared to be one lane track. Three, the roads there were all switchbacks through the mountains and some people got really carsick - and I get it! It was so twisty.
But everyone soldiered through and we made it to the trailhead to start - Buffalo Creek. We then went on an 11 mile hike with some really beautiful views of Lake Lure - including Gray Rock and Tunnel Trail, and made it to Eagle Rock. (It was called the Weed Patch Mountain Trail, which sounds like they gave it a bad name to keep other people away. See Muskrat Lake by my home.) The leaves were colorful, but thinned, so we could see views the whole way. A nice 6ish-hour hike on a gorgeous, blue-sky day!
We got the cars and went back into Asheville for dinner straight from there. We chose Asheville Brewing Company for dinner (where our NC friends Will and Adam met up with us!) and stopped at Wedge before heading back to our Weaverville Airbnb with all the amenities.
I went for a walk in the morning by our house and thanks to the Merlin app got to identify so many different birds including two kids of owls! I used to hear birds and think 'I wish I knew what that was.' This app is so amazing. I read a funny thing where the writer said that she didn't used to care about birds and BANG, one day she did, but this has been a lifelong love of mine instilled by my mom.
We stopped for breakfast at Biscuit Head, and it was so packed, and there was nowhere to park, and you had to back out of what was supposed to be a one-way but was a two-way, and I would have given up, but I'm glad we didn't, because it was delicious! So southern.
Our friends went to the art district and some went to more hiking to waterfalls (and accidentally detoured into South Carolina!) but we decided to spend our day in the airport waiting for a delayed flight. Okay, we wouldn't have chosen that, but that's the way it goes sometimes...but still totally worth the trouble! The hiking, the people, the fun...thanks Asheville, and thanks trip-organizing friends.
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