We just got back from a long weekend in Asheville, NC, which is in the western part of NC, up in the mountains! I thought I'd post a few pictures; even though it was not WDW, it was fun and really refreshing.
When I told people we rented a cabin in the woods, they thought "rustic". Note that I don't do "rustic" very well. Here's what we rented:
Fully equipped, with indoor plumbing, WiFi, TVs, A/C & heat, kitchen, and cozy beds. And a hot tub on the side deck:
We had a really nice view from the front porch of the cabin:
It was only 15 minutes from downtown Asheville, and just a few minutes to the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is a great scenic drive along the Great Smoky Mountains of NC.
The weather turned out to be a little chillier than we were expecting, but we did alot of hiking (more like trail-walking - hiking is still on my prohibited list due to the knee surgery). Here's a picture of me, Gus and Dora at a small bridge along one such trail:
On Monday we wanted to spend some time driving south along the Blue Ridge Parkway and go hiking at a trail called Graveyard Fields. It was a great idea in theory. Noone mentioned driving through the clouds to get there!
Joe's knuckles were white by the time we got to our final destination:
It was totally worth it in the end though. With the sun out, it was actually really pleasant above the clouds. And the scenery was really nice.
We hiked a loop that was about 2 1/2 miles, and caught some nice waterfalls:
We made an effort to eat most of our meals at local non-chain places, and are glad we did. We had some awesome food! And I even tried grits for the first time! It was a Shrimp & Grits dish with a roasted red pepper sauce. I gave it 5 stars and 2 thumbs up!
We also explored downtown Asheville quite a bit, and it was loads of fun.
We decided to save one of the biggest attractions - the Biltmore Estate - for another trip, maybe at Christmas time or in the Spring.
