An Asheville Getaway
We decided to go on an overnight trip to Asheville to get out of town during Mitch's fall break, and also because, frankly, I was getting a little bored of the same old, same old in Davidson. It's great that we have nice, convenient playgrounds and have made friends that also go to those playgrounds, but living in a small town can get a little...isolating. We had heard that Asheville was a fun place to visit, and so I got to researching places to stay, where to eat, what to do, etc. It turns out that Asheville has a great food scene, and lots of our friends here have been, so I got recommendations from them, and cross-checked the restaurants with Yelp. :P With places to visit and eat at handy, we set out for Asheville right around the boys' nap time, and they slept for the little over 2 hours of driving time.
Our first stop: Sierra Nevada Brewery. This brewery opened just a couple of years ago in Asheville, as the Chico, CA based Sierra Nevada decided to expand its operations. The grounds and the building are gorgeous! It's definitely easy to see why a brewery like this is such a tourist attraction. The outdoor area in the back had a little amphitheater, where a band was playing, a garden, bocce ball pits, corn ball, and other areas for kids and adults to enjoy. We did a self-tour (well, as much as one is possible with two toddlers, of which one was sick), and then enjoyed time in the garden area. Then, it was time to get settled at our hotel before dinner.
I settled on a hotel with a funny name, Posh Boutique Hotel, that was actually more like an Airbnb, in that we stayed in a two-bedroom, two-story townhouse. There was no check-in desk, and instead, the manager texted me the keycode to get into our townhouse at the "check-in" time. It was a great place to stay, and in the heart of Biltmore Village, so I can definitely see us staying there again.
Dinner was at an Indian street food place in downtown Asheville, Chai Pani. Our rice-loving boys had a great dinner, and we even had to order more rice because they kept chowing down on it (and a healthy amount ended up on the floor). The food reminded me of Curry Up Now, in the Bay Area, and is definitely the sort of meal I had been wanting (i.e. something that we wouldn't be able to find in the Lake Norman area). The only downside was that we had to eat outside because the restaurant was full inside.
It was a fun little getaway, and definitely one that we will repeat!
Our first stop: Sierra Nevada Brewery. This brewery opened just a couple of years ago in Asheville, as the Chico, CA based Sierra Nevada decided to expand its operations. The grounds and the building are gorgeous! It's definitely easy to see why a brewery like this is such a tourist attraction. The outdoor area in the back had a little amphitheater, where a band was playing, a garden, bocce ball pits, corn ball, and other areas for kids and adults to enjoy. We did a self-tour (well, as much as one is possible with two toddlers, of which one was sick), and then enjoyed time in the garden area. Then, it was time to get settled at our hotel before dinner.
I settled on a hotel with a funny name, Posh Boutique Hotel, that was actually more like an Airbnb, in that we stayed in a two-bedroom, two-story townhouse. There was no check-in desk, and instead, the manager texted me the keycode to get into our townhouse at the "check-in" time. It was a great place to stay, and in the heart of Biltmore Village, so I can definitely see us staying there again.
Dinner was at an Indian street food place in downtown Asheville, Chai Pani. Our rice-loving boys had a great dinner, and we even had to order more rice because they kept chowing down on it (and a healthy amount ended up on the floor). The food reminded me of Curry Up Now, in the Bay Area, and is definitely the sort of meal I had been wanting (i.e. something that we wouldn't be able to find in the Lake Norman area). The only downside was that we had to eat outside because the restaurant was full inside.
The next morning, we went out for breakfast at Biscuit Head, which is a breakfast/lunch institution. The biscuits were, indeed, incredible, but we ordered benedict dishes that took away from the simple perfection of a fluffy, warm biscuit. Next time, I will stick to a plain biscuit with jam or gravy. After breakfast and checking out of our hotel, we headed to the NC Arboretum. At this point, Micah was definitely getting sicker and was pretty low energy, so we stuck to stroller walking mostly, with some time for walking explorations for the boys. There was a great bonsai exhibit, and lots of other pretty flowers and plants. We also saw staff members getting the Arboretum ready for their holiday exhibits, and we're pretty excited about revisiting to see the Christmas lights and displays. After we were done, we did a quick trip to the Asheville Outlets, where I found some linens and an office chair at the West Elm outlet, and then we headed home, with the boys taking a car nap along the way.
It was a fun little getaway, and definitely one that we will repeat!
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