Days 28/29 – Beauty is all around us

Waking up at a vineyard was nice and it was somehow pleasant to hear the train in the distance last night as we drifted off to sleep. Now it is time to move onto to Asheville, North Carolina travelling north on I 75 where I have never seen so many bill boards in a row! There were dozens on each side and about ¼ of them were for pecans… Well, we are in Georgia after all! Once we got into South Carolina our GPS took us to the northwest on Rt. 25/26 and through the Blue Ridge Mountains. There was something comforting about traveling through mountains with delicate purple flowered trees and tons of daffodils in bloom as we made our way closer to Asheville.
As we rolled towards our designated RV Park, we realized that there was a reason they did not take my name for the reservation.. ”yes ma’am” is all I got for each question I asked. Do you have room for one night? ”yes ma’am”; Can I stay another night? ”yes ma’am”; Do you need my name? – ”no ma’am” … The RV park was on the river but questionably rundown at first glance. So a quick google search and we ended up at Bear Creek RV Park. It is a nice park a little ways up the mountain road and we mostly had the place to ourselves. We quickly set up and got ready to go into Downtown Asheville for dinner. Uber was super quick picking us up (less than 5 minutes) and we ended up at Barleys Restaurant for a slice of crispy pizza and some live music. They had a three piece band that was quite good and did a phenomenal blues set. We walked through town a bit but not much was open on a Sunday night, we were lucky to find some live music at Barleys. Back to the RV for a quick sleep and off to the Biltmore Estate Monday morning.

Monday was a bit drizzly and it had rained overnight so it was chilly waking up – in the low 50s outside and fortunately we put the heat on in the RV. As we summoned Uber to transport us to the Biltmore (we had timed tickets for 11am) we realized the distances are quite long once on the estate. Three miles to the parking lot to get a shuttle and 5 miles to the Winery and Antler Hill Village, so let’s have 2 of those Biltmore Express Shuttle passes too! It worked out fine but another $30 we weren’t expecting to spend so word of advice, bring your car to Biltmore Estate! We did end up getting picked up by the head of the transportation department and Steve took care of us throughout the day – got the inside scoop and he lined up our rides for us, it all worked out in the end. The estate was fantastic and we were so glad we came. We purchased the audio guide too, which gave us some of the inside story for each room we visited. It took the recommended 1.75 hours to do the self guided tour through the estate. Here is where we will bore you with the pictures:

After touring the house we had time to go to the Conservency and see the orchids and blooming flowers which made me look forward to spring – hopefully the recent warm weather hasn’t spoiled the blooms for spring.

It is highly recommended to come here in the spring when the gardens are in full bloom.  Our last stop on the Express Shuttle was the Antler Hill village where we had a great lunch at Cedric’s Tavern (recommended by Steve to get the Reuben – did not disappoint!) and then off to the winery for a complementary wine tasting. The dry reds were calling our names and we ended up joining the wine club and walking out with 6 bottles of wine, not realizing that we had to carry them around with us as we walked through Asheville this evening. Oh well, that is the sacrifice we were willing to make! This is off season so when we got to town via Uber, the art galleries were closing at 6 so we really didn’t get to see much except The Mast General Store (local outfitter type store) and Pura Vida, a local artisan store with quite an eclectic combination of local artists and some unique local items I had never seen before. This is the place that Jen could sell her wire-wrapped jewelry if she decides to move here. We showed the owner some of her pieces and she said definitely have her get in touch if she comes to town. Beer tasting was in order at Wicked Weed Brewing Co (one of about 30 breweries in town!) and I did find a Saison and Honey Ale that I liked. Those that know me know that I don’t like beer normally but we did a sample flight and I picked 2 beers that were not hoppy and they weren’t bad! Poor Paul had to drink the other 4 beers in the flight, somehow he managed!

We walked a bit more through town on Biltmore Ave and went to the Noodle House for a quick bite to eat. Next door was a double decker bus that served coffee and dessert. Apparently it is a landmark in Asheville. We did not get dessert but it was a funky cool place so here is the picture:

Home again, home again, jiggity jig
Off to West Virginia tomorrow, hopefully less than 6 hour ride. Our destination is Kirkwood Winery which is part of Harvest Hosts. Another winery, but someone has to do it so it might as well be us!

Total miles 2699 – 406 miles Sunday