Southern Road Trip | Adventures Around Asheville

Earlier this month, I got the chance to turn a little trip down to a conference in Georgia into a week long adventure thanks to some strategic planning and my friend Meredith who is always up for traveling! On our way down to Georgia, we stopped and stayed with one of my friends from high school in Hendersonville, NC. Asheville was just a short 30 minute drive away so we decided to do some fun exploring of this colorful city in the south! Asheville was FULL of character and interesting people. Just walking into a few of the clothing boutiques reminded me just how vibrant this city is! The first place we went downtown was a double decker London bus turned coffee shop! After I was done reminiscing about my beautiful time in London last winter, I ordered the creme bru latte (which was DELICIOUS) and enjoyed it on the second story of this big red bus. It was a memorable experience!

We hadn’t had breakfast yet so we decided to find somewhere to eat for lunch. It was a Saturday, so unfortunately the most popular breakfast spot was out of the question, but we did stumble upon Curate, which turned out to be even more unforgettable than the London bus coffee! My first experience with tapas was in Spain on an educational school trip when I was 13. I remember the small plates not quite satisfying my hunger but being so flavorful that it made up for the size. At Curate, the portions were actually perfect. I ordered stuff red bell peppers with goat cheese and pesto (OMG- even better than it sounds if you can imagine!) and lamb skewers. I don’t even eat lamb and they were remarkable. I kept thinking, I’m going to have to bring Justin back here JUST to eat at this place!! It was phenomenal.

Then we explored a church (because it wouldn’t be a trip with me without wandering into at LEAST one historic holy structure) and then we debated for approximately 4 hours whether The Biltmore was worth the $60 admission fee or not. Someday. But not that day. Haha! We at least stopped at the front gate and took some photos in the flower beds, which was memorable by itself. The next day we woke up and went to hike Chimney Rock, which was SO FUN for me because for the first time in a long time I am in relative good physical shape and climbing the hundreds of stairs up the chimney was actually exhilerating and not miserable! The view from the top was so pretty, and I almost forgot I was in North Carolina and not out west!

Our little adventure around Asheville before heading to the Pursuit Conference is something I’m so glad we did! I’m so thankful that my sweet friend Anni let us stay with her for a few nights and that I got the chance to spend some time with her before her little one arrives next month!! Stay tuned for a recap of Nashville coming to the blog next!!