on wednesday of our vacation week, we decided to head to asheville. mom and jim had never been there, plus we have family and friends nearby so we took advantage of the opportunity. we got to asheville around mid-morning, met up with my uncle and cousin, and walked around in some antique stores for a few minutes. my uncle (mom's brother) just happened to be in town for business but he was only in town for a few hours. so we met up with my cousin's boyfriend and my friend, kaiser, at
the laughing seed for some good eats. everyone went their separate ways after lunch and mom, jim, and i walked around the funky city and looked in some more stores.
in late afternoon we headed out to swannanoa to visit
pisgah brewing company. after circling the area for a little while, we stopped for directions and found the place. we were disappointed to not be able to get a brewery tour, but we did sample several tasty bevs. while we were there, the sky opened up and it downed torrential rain. pisgah brewing is in a big warehouse and it has these big metal doors that roll down like in a garage. they shut the doors when it started to rain, but it was raining so hard that the water was just pouring in through the top of the doors and running down onto the floor. right by the doors was a stage with sound equipment, electric outlets, and fans. so the workers had to get big squeegees and try desperately to push the water back out towards the doors. i was surprised at how good-humored everyone was. i think if i had been working there, i might've been pretty annoyed at that. and it didn't deter any of the customers. we just kept on drinking, happy to be out of the rain. some of the customers even picked up a squeegee to help. after exhausting the brewing selection, we went back into asheville and had delic pizza at
asheville pizza and brewing company. i had a fantastic pizza there once before and i was not disappointed again this time.
my cousin, hannah. she always wears that hat.
everybody at laughing seed
me and kaiser
enjoying some brewskies
watching them clean up the flood
thursday was devoted to going back toward asheville, this time to see
biltmore estates. my cousin used to work for them and she so generously gave us three free tickets to get into the grounds. that was very fortunate for us because those things cost $65 each just to get on the grounds and see the house! most other things are an extra expense! that being said, it was quite a neat experience. the grounds and the house were totally enchanting and we all had a really fantastic day out there.
first we fought through the crowds to take a tour of the house. it was worth it to pay a few bucks to get the headphones (thanks for that tip, kais!). pictures aren't allowed inside the house so i got no shots of that. but it really was amazing inside. after our tour we ate our lunch (more pb&j) and noticed that clouds were forming in the distance. so we decided to head to the winery to avoid getting wet. that was the best decision we could've made because while we were safe and dry inside, another crazy rainstorm broke out. and once that happened everyone else at biltmore realized it'd be a good idea to do the winery tour too. so when we were leaving, the line (which hadn't been there when we went in) was wrapped around and around. good on, ya, team! we loved tasting the wines, but i think our pourer thought me and mom were already drunk because we were just being silly. so, as a result, she skimped us on the amount we got with each taste. we were just having fun, dag!
once we finished our winery tour, the rain had pretty much stopped. so we headed out to the conservatory and gardens. of course, the rain had scared most other people off so from this point on we pretty much had the place to ourselves, which was a much-appreciated change to the hordes and hordes of people earlier. the gardens were spectacular! we walked through the rose garden, the italian garden, the bowling green, and up the promenade to the statue of diana. by that point we sort of felt like the place was ours because everyone had cleared out. before we headed out mom and i took a quick look at their vegetable gardens. wow, that certainly put my garden to shame! we topped the evening off by going back into asheville for dinner. this time we visited
jack of the wood (which turns out to be directly below laughing seed) and i had an awesome tempeh reuben! while enjoyed our tasty vittles there was a bluegrass music jam going on, which added an extra special treat to the end of a great day.
approaching the mansion
cool gargoyles on the building
under the arbor walking to the winery (check out those gorgeous grapes hanging down!)
that's a lot of wine!
the conservatory
the italian garden
the two dianas
friday was our last full day at the campground. we had a little trouble deciding what we wanted to do for the day, but we knew we wanted to see more waterfalls. so we decided to head out to highlands, nc. what we thought was going to be a short drive ended up taking us about an hour's drive through twisty-curvy mountain roads. it was a beautiful drive, but we weren't really thrilled at the length of the drive. i was so glad i was the one doing the driving, otherwise, i would've vomited for sure! we also were bummed because the one waterfall that we were going to see was closed! how you can close a waterfall, i'm not really sure. apparently they were doing renovations to the parking lot and were supposed to be finished by may but were obviously behind schedule. highlands, by the way, and some of the adjacent towns, are surprisingly ritzy. it was very strange to be driving through these really rough mountain roads and then come to a town that has high, high class clothing stores and ritzy golf resorts. from the license plates, it's the place to go if you're rich and from florida. we did end up seeing a few drive-by waterfalls, but we could only view them from the road. so we decided to do the glenn falls trail, which the guide said was fairly rigorous. it's a steep trail where you can follow the waterfall and see it at several vantage points as it goes down. that was a nice hike and wasn't as hard as any of us thought it was going to be. plus we got to do some people-spotting and made 2 best friends for life.
friday night my hubby drove up (with tommy, the dog) to join us for the evening. he didn't get there till after dark but he got there in time for our last s'more and roasted cheese-it session!
glenn falls
the team
we made it!
fire!
on saturday, we packed up camp and headed further north in the mountains to boone, nc. we were meeting up again with my uncle and cousin, this time for a hike with them and the dogs. uncle sammy wanted to take us to a place with a waterfall that he remembered from a previous trip. the problem was, my uncle's memory isn't what it used to be, apparently. i distinctly heard him say that the trail was so easy it was "like walking on the sidewalk." i don't know what the sidewalks are like in boone, nc, but i'm fairly certain they don't involve climbing up the side of a mountain, walking in a creek, and other craziness. we actually had a great time, but it was not a hike for the faint of heart! we stopped at the top of the waterfall and enjoyed a delicious lunch of avocado sandwiches and wine that uncle sammy brought. i love that he brings no water, but just a bottle of wine on a hike like that. it was after the three glasses of wine that i fell in the creek and i couldn't help but wonder if i would've stood up better without the wine. after our hike, we went into boone and enjoyed a yummy mexican dinner before heading home.
hannah and her dogs cleaning off in the top of the falls after the dogs rolled in mud
enjoying lunch
tommy almost couldn't take it
we saw a snake close to where we were eating! (it wasn't a rattler, but it sure looked like one!)
me and baldman at the bottom of the falls.
be sure to check out our
flickr set of photos. (check them out even if you already checked because i added some new picts that mom took.)
