Faced with the rare long weekend with nothing on the schedule for any of us, Tim and I decided to capitalize on it and booked a weekend in Asheville, NC. As the years increasingly fly by, we’ve realized it’s now or never to go places and do things together as a party of five.
I think we struck the right balance of things to do and time to relax. Friday afternoon’s drive was painful, as there were a *lot* of people on the road. But we eventually made our way to the rental house and found it very much to our liking.
The next morning we woke up leisurely, and made our way to a charming breakfast spot in the Biltmore Village. From there we headed to the Biltmore Estate, where I am happy to say that all five of us really enjoyed the audio tour of the massive home. (In particular, the kids’ audio tour did a great job of keeping Laura’s attention.) The grounds were also spectacular, if HOT, and the Chihuly glass exhibition was impressive.
Toured out and hungry (maybe even hangry), we headed to downtown Asheville - not a unique idea. But we found a parking space, and then Bar Taco, and doin life was looking up once again. Refreshed, we walked around and hit Malaprop’s Book Store (Clare’s request) and French Broad Chocolate (dessert for all). Two thumbs up.
We grilled hamburgers back at the house and settled in for a great Irish season opener over Michigan. Yes!
Another leisurely morning ultimately led to a family hike at the North Carolina Arboretum, with lovely grounds and views and several different trails - perfect for our “soft, suburban family” as described by Tim.
A quiet afternoon at home preceded a gorgeous visit and dinner at the Grove Park Inn. Everyone was sufficiently wowed by the views and the building- and dinner was pretty great, too.
A lovely end to our weekend escape!
