Asheville Getaway

I’m pretty sure I’ve written about this before, but I LOVE ASHEVILLE. It’s one of my very favorite cities, and I have not-so-subtly told J I want to live there one day. J’s aunt and uncle live in Asheville and asked us to come and stay in their little cabin on their property. They live on the mountain above the Grove Park Inn with a spectacular view of downtown and Chimney Rock mountain in the distance. It was the perfect weekend getaway!

What was not-so-perfect was the weather. You’d think the first weekend of May would be beautiful and warm, but it felt more like early March with highs in the low 50s and drizzly, cold rain interspersed throughout the day. But that didn’t damper our plans.

Saturday
We arrived late Friday and spent Saturday perusing the town. We shopped downtown, ate at Carmel’s for lunch and ended up at the Battery Park Bookstore and Champagne Bar, aka my new favorite spot. Why don’t they have something like this in Raleigh or Durham? I’d be here every week. Even dogs are welcome! That evening we went to see J’s favorite band, Relient K play at the Orange Peel. We ate a delicious meal at Storm Rhum Bar & Bistro, in walking distance to the club. The concert was great, although we were among the very select few that didn’t have an X on their hand (aka: we were the oldest in the place:).

^J took these with his iPhone on Monday, when there weren’t a lot of customers. :)

Sunday
Sunday we spent at the Biltmore Estates. The day was pretty gross and rainy (this picture sums up our thoughts on the weather)… but rain or shine, the Biltmore was as beautiful as ever. Since we love Downton Abbey, we signed up to do the Butler Tour, curious to see the behind-the-scenes of servant life. We took our time touring the house, and later drove by the beautiful gardens to Antler Hill Village where we took a tour of the winery and wine tasting. That evening we stopped by one of my old college roommates’ apartment, then had Mexican dinner with J’s aunt and uncle (Cinco de Mayo!), and afterwards went to see Iron Man 3 (because it was rainy and gross and J couldn’t wait any longer to see it. Boys!:).

Monday
Monday was beautiful, so we spent the morning meandering downtown before venturing home. We stopped by our champagne bar again to get an old copy of Little Women, ate lunch at Farm Burger, and split a decadent liquid truffle and chocolate cake at the French Broad Chocolate Lounge before heading home.

Ahhh Asheville. How I love thee. Can’t wait to visit again soon. :)