Sunday: we went to Chimney Rock State Park. The "chimney" is a rock formation that you can either hike to (lots of stairs) or take an elevator up to. We had planned to go to Chimney Rock later in the week, but the day before we left, I happened to check their website and learned that all access to the Chimney was going to be closed beginning Monday, Dec. 5th, for the entire winter, for renovations. We also learned that if we paid for admission into the park after 3 pm, we could get in the following day for free. So on Sunday we drove right to the State Park, arrived at 3:30 and climbed the stairs to the chimney. It was a beautiful view, and although it was overcast and drizzly, it ended up being the clearest day we were in North Carolina. So I'm glad we did it. I should mention that the drive from Asheville to Chimney Rock (Chimney Rock is 25 miles further) is pretty crazy: constant hairpin turns to zigzag up into the mountains. It was a beautiful drive, but I definitely wouldn't want to do it in snow! After Chimney Rock, we drove back to Asheville and checked into our hotel. Asheville is a fun town with lots of shops, restaurants, microbreweries, etc. We spent a little time on Sunday just walking around, and ended up eating dinner at LAB, which is Lexington Avenue Brewery. Jonathan also got a pint glass there to add to his collection.
Monday: After a lazy morning, including a delicious breakfast at Tupelo Honey Cafe (omelet and goat cheese grits for Jonathan, sweet potato pancake with pralines and peach butter for me), we drove back to Chimney Rock. We did one hike that ended at the base of a lovely waterfall. It wasn't particularly long, maybe 1.5 miles, and it was drizzling most of the time. After we finished our hike, the rain started getting harder and more consistent. We walked through a couple of shops just outside the park before driving back to Asheville. Since we'd had a big breakfast, we skipped lunch. In the afternoon we walked more around Asheville, and ate dinner at Fiore, an Italian place.
Tuesday: Most of Tuesday was spent at the Biltmore Estate. It was AMAZING. The tickets were really expensive, and honestly, I was skeptical that walking through a mansion would be worth the cost. I was wrong. Just driving in was amazing. The grounds were BEAUTIFUL, and this is December. Nothing is blooming, yet there was beauty everywhere! We parked the van, and walked through the gardens and over to the green house, which is huge. Room after room of beautiful plants. After the green house we walked up to the residence (I can't call it a house). We opted to do a self-guided tour rather than an audio tour (we're cheapskates), so I'm sure there are lots of details we didn't learn, but it was still very impressive. The house has 250 rooms. We were able to tour parts of 4 floors, I believe. Some of the rooms had 6 or 7 Christmas trees, with plenty of room to spare. The banquet hall has a full pipe organ. The basement has a bowling alley and a swimming pool. One thing that surprised me was that it was only used by the VanderBilts for about 30 years before they decided to open it to the public. It is still owned and operated by the VanderBilt family. After touring the residence, we drove to the winery, a couple of miles further into the estate. We had lunch at a lovely restaurant named after the VanderBilts' dog. Then we toured the winery and tasted several wines (all white, because their reds are all dry, and we don't care for dry wine!). Then we decided we were ready to be done, and drove back to our hotel. Dinner on Tuesday was my favorite. We went to a tapas restaurant called Curate (ku-rah-tay). We shared a pitcher of sangria and ate several tapas. My favorites were roasted red peppers stuffed with goat cheese, and fried eggplant drizzled with honey and rosemary. After a long, relaxed dinner, we walked around the block to French Broad Chocolate Cafe. We each had a truffle and shared some pumpkin chocolate mousse. Jonathan also had a glass of a local beer. It was raining steadily at that point, and we were able to find a table at the window. So we just sat and enjoyed our chocolate and beer, watching the rain (and people out in it).
Wednesday: When we woke up and realized it was pouring, and was forecasted to continue all day, we started considering coming home a day early. They were predicting that the rain would change over to snow overnight, and we had done the sightseeing we'd wanted to, and honestly, we were starting to miss the kids! So we decided to check out early. We checked out around 10:30, but left our car in the parking garage and walked into town again. We'd hoped to find some little gifts to bring home for the kids. Unfortunately, the store I wanted to go to didn't open until 11. So we just walked around town, helping some older tourists who couldn't read their map (I wonder if they ever did get to the place they were looking for...) and exploring some streets we hadn't seen yet. After the store opened, we bought a couple of things for the kids, then walked back to the hotel to get the van, drove to the "mecca of beer stores" (according to a website my brother frequents), and then drove to 12 Bones Smokehouse for lunch. 12 Bones had been recommended by a cousin who has visited Asheville several times. It was such a good way to end our trip: excellent southern food at a place frequented by more locals than tourists. We each had a half rack of ribs: Jonathan's had a dry rub, mine had a blueberry chipotle sauce. And the sides were amazing. We had smoky potato salad, mashed sweet potatoes, and jalapeno cheese grits. SO good! After the smokehouse we got on the road. We drove through lots of rain and a little snow (which was beautiful, coating the trees!) and arrived home around 8:30 Wednesday night.
We are so thankful to Joel and Shontel for making this trip possible. The kids had a great time without us. In fact, when we woke Ethan up Thursday morning, he burst into tears (and they weren't tears of happiness!). Anelise is still asking when we'll see Nathan Boy, Daniel, and Peter again. And we're thinking maybe we'll go back for our 20th anniversary!
