Spring Break 2018: Asheville

For Spring Break 2018, we enjoyed a 4 night trip to Asheville, NC with my parents.  We chose to stay at an Airbnb for this trip so we would be all together and have space to cook, etc.

The girls enjoyed the road trip to Asheville and liked exploring our Airbnb. S was excited to challenge Grandma to Monopoly.

Day 1 Highlight: The Biltmore Estate
For our first full day, we enjoyed the spectacular Biltmore Estate. Learning the history and seeing the estate plus the village and farms made for a great day.  Every detail was thought through for the guest experience to the Biltmore. I was definitely inspired by some of what I learned.

I found a 'scavenger' hunt of sorts online for the girls so they were looking for some clues. We also were lucky to visit when actual dress from the Titanic movie were on display.

Day 2 Highlights: Hiking in Pisgah Forest
There are tons of waterfalls around Asheville so we chose a few with easy hikes to visit in Pisgah National Forest.  The first hike of the day was about 1.6 miles roundtrip to a wonderful waterfall. The hike was lightly rolling and led to a moderately intense 50ft waterfall. We all enjoyed the hike and the friendly people along the trail.

Next up was a stop at Looking Glass Falls- you can basically see these falls from the roadside overlook but we took the stairs down for an even better view.

Highlight 2: Exploring Downtown
After our hikes, we headed to the city for lunch and activities. We chose Salsa's for lunch based on a recommendation from a friend and it was quite yummy - everyone enjoyed their food and was ready for the afternoon.

Next up was the chocolate tour at Chocolate Fetish. I found this online and thoroughly enjoyed the tour plus picked up some chocolates to enjoy at home.

After dinner at the house, J and I headed back downtown for a date visiting HighWire Brewery. It was a fun night out.

Day 3 Highlights:
First up was Carrier Park. J went to a fitness class at a gym owned by an old college track teammate while I took the girls to the park with my parents. They played hard for about an hour and then we went back to get J.

Lunch was at the Sierra Nevada Brewery 'campus' - this is an amazing facility - a full brewery, a farm to table restaurant, and some additional outdoor areas for events in the summer.


After lunch, we spent some time driving parts of the Blue Ridge Parkway. We found amazing overlooks and some short hiking opportunities. Next visit I would definitely spend more time on the Blue Ridge Parkway.






We went back to the house for our last dinner.

Day 4: this was pack up and drive home day- the girls were great on our drive back and we were home in time to get ready for the Easter Bunny to com the next morning.

Next Up....Disney Cruise in late May.