Asheville, North Carolina

Last weekend Justin and I took a trip to Asheville, North Carolina--courtesy of our parents.  It was their graduation gift to Justin.  Lucky me, it was a present for both of us!  Anyway, as it was a gift we treated ourselves to a great bed and breakfast (Applewood Manor, in case any of you would ever like to go visit Asheville) and lots of good food.

We arrived on Friday (with the help of our brand new GPS that Justin is totally obsessed with) just in time for lunch at the Tupolo Honey Cafe, the one restaurant EVERYONE said we should try.  Lucky for me we parked outside a store called Chocolate Fetish, of which there were also great reviews.  Now no reason to have to put it in the GPS.

After a wonderful lunch we headed up to the Blue Ridge Parkway for a couple of hours of hiking.  Where we hiked was mostly in a wooded area and it was very beautiful.  We finished exhausted and also crawling with ticks.  I even saw a snake.  We had just enough time to get back to the B&B, settle in, and clean up before dinner at the Fig Bistro in Biltmore Village.  The food was again excellent.  I feel sorry for the little geese, but fois gras is really really good.  I think this restaurant was probably the best of our trip and I would highly recommend it.

The next day we chatted with other hikers/bikers over breakfast and then headed out for a longer hike along the Blue Ridge Parkway.  I always like to head up first so that I get the hardest part over first.  Not the case for this hike.  The trail wound through waterfalls, bogs, beautiful birch trees and scenic overlooks of the rolling hills/mountains.

Upon arriving back in Asheville we pigged out on some chocolate (skipping a big lunch because we wanted to be sure to be HUNGRY for dinner) from Chocolate Fetish.  We then just explored the downtown a bit.  There are lots of really unique stores and had I not been pregnant I would have been very temped to buy rather than just look!

Dinner on Saturday night was at a restaurant called the Marketplace, which is highly regarded as one of the best restaurants in Asheville.  It lived up to its name.  Since the Marketplace is located in the heart of the downtown, we were able to take walk around and to a little people watching after dinner.

Sunday we departed the B&B, headed for the Biltmore Estate, the largest private home in the nation.  Unfortunately it was cold and rainy.  We brought clothes for the mid-70's sun--a rainy day in the 50's.  But we made the best of it!   The house is really amazing (and perhaps it should be for the $48 entrance fee) as are the grounds.  Everyone has also told us that the best time to go is at Christmas time, so we'll have to someday make that trip.  The grounds were also gorgous and I only wish that it would have been a little nicer so we could have spent more time outside.  The Biltmore estate even has its own winery.  We snuck in a "chocolate and wine" seminar along with a wine tasting.  I gave most of my wine to Justin, but did indulge in a few sips.

From the Biltmore we started out on our 2-1/2 hour trip home.  Wish we could be back there now.....