Asheville, North Carolina

10/10! I would totally recommend visiting! My husband and I spent four days here (Jan 14-17, 2022). The views were incredible, and the downtown area was full of cute shops, fantastic restaurants, and many art galleries. It really had a little bit of everything. Even the atmosphere itself was fantastic! My husband went so far as to say that if we could retire here when we got older he would so do that!

Friday

We came in on Friday and had some time to spare before we could check into our hotel, so we decided to head to the downtown area for somewhere to eat and to do some exploring. I had seen on Pinterest that there was a coffee shop made into a double decker red bus and I had to go there! It was called Double D’s Coffee & Desserts. Because of Covid the inside seating was closed, but they did have a cute outdoor patio area that we got to sit at with our drinks. I’m not a coffee person (espresso does not pair well with my anxiety) so I opted for a steamer option. I got the Crème Brue Latte Steamer and it was so good! I recommend it if you like sweet drinks.

Next door to Double D’s was a very cute boho store that we checked out called H & L Modern Goods. They had super cute jewelry, boutique style clothing, and home decor that was very boho. I loved it; totally up my alley! I got a few things there for my office/glam room that I’m working on.

After leaving there, we grabbed lunch at Tupelo Honey. We had heard so many good things about this place and I would say it was worth the hype. If you like good southern style food this is the place for you. I ordered the meatloaf with baked Mac and cheese and potato cracklings, while Andrew ordered the mac & cheese waffles with Asheville hot fried chicken. He raved on and on about how good his was!

For dessert we made our way to French Broad Chocolate Lounge. They had coffee, cakes, cookies, chocolate bars, and so many good sweet options. I got a piece of chocolate cake and Andrew got the chocolate creme brûlée. Everything looked so good and we really enjoyed what we ordered. After stuffing our bellies we decided to go walk around and check out some more downtown places.

We did so much in this one day- I could go on and on, but as far as the rest of what we did I’ll keep it short and sweet. We visited the Grove Arcade (an area of little shops), hit up a few local boutiques, checked out a few art galleries, and then checked out three breweries/cocktail bars. I recommend hitting up Antidote for cocktails and/or mocktails, and Funkatorium for a place to drink and dine, that is pet friendly and has outdoor seating options as well.

Saturday

On this day we got up early and went to Beech Mountain Ski Resort to ski. It took a little under 2 hours for us to get there from our hotel near downtown Asheville. If you go we recommend pre purchasing your tickets and then picking them up the night before your visit. This will save you a lot of time waiting in lines day of. You should also try to arrive early to pay for your rentals. All rentals were first come first serve. The resort had places to eat/get drinks, which we did afterwards. We chose a very busy weekend to go, so it was a bit crowded but overall a fun experience. We recommend going here to ski or visiting Sugar Mountain Ski Resort.

Sunday

On Sunday I experienced my first snow storm! Asheville got a good foot of snow over the weekend, if not more! Because of all the snow from Saturday, this resulted in a lot of places being closed. Luckily we still got to visit Biltmore Estate and my oh my was it GORGEOUS! It was like experiencing a real winter wonderland. The visit was a little pricey but overall I think it was worth it. The tour of the inside was a lot of fun and the views were incredible. Our tickets also came with a complimentary wine tasting which we took advantage of. You will get to taste 5 different wines if you do the tasting. Pictures hardly do our visit justice and I can't imagine how beautiful it could be in the spring and summer when the gardens are in bloom.

Monday

This was the day we had to head home unfortunately. Before leaving we walked around downtown and grabbed some hot chocolate from Rowan Coffee (one of the only places open due to the snow storm). After that we tried to drive through parts of the Blue Ridge Parkway but it was road blocked due to snow and ice on the roads. Sooo, whenever we come back to Asheville that will be on our to-do list because from what I can tell it’s incredibly gorgeous.

Some things we did not get to do that I’m hoping to do on our next visit: have drinks on the rooftop of the Montford, take a hike along the Blue Ridge Parkway (trail options: Blue Ridge Parkway Trail, Bearwallow Mountain Trail, Moore Cove Falls Trail), grab a bite to eat at Early Girl, and check out more of Asheville’s murals.