Everything Asheville

The amazing city of Asheville has so much to offer, form things like amazing weather in the fall, to exquisite restaurants and breweries (but you already knew that).

What you might not already know of, are all of the local favorites. Most of our time spent here last month, was spent exploring the many recommendations from various friends. And of course there were too many recommendations for us to try them all, but don’t worry, I’ll mention the names of those too.

Our first stop in Asheville was the 5 Walnut Wine bar. I have to say the bf did good  with this find. A very cozy and intimate wine bar with local musicians (mostly bluegrass), if you’re into that kind of thing. Such a good time! Oh and they offer really yummy small plates to have along with your drinks.

Because we were in Asheville celebrating our three year anniversary, I wanted to be sure we made it back to one of our favorites that we got to experience together last year – Sunny Point

I love this place for so many reasons. a. no wifi – which adds to their old timey vibe. b. Really friendly service c. and even better food d. and lastly the most delicious bacon you’ve ever tasted in your life

If you want to check this place out for an early breakfast, make sure you get there before 9 a.m., otherwise you’ll be stuck with an hour wait.

The food we got:

Austin is pretty traditional, so he got the basics – grits, eggs, a biscuit and sausage.

As for me. Well, if you have hung out with us enough you know that I love food, and nine times out of ten I eat more than Austin does. And when it comes to places like these I want all the foods, so I got Huevos Rancheros, a side of avocado and a side of their crack bacon.

After a long day at the Biltmore Estate, (to read my helpful tips for visiting the Biltmore,  click here) our next stop was Salsa’s, a Mexican and Caribbean restaurant  PS. these pictures don’t do this place justice.

I got the steak Molcajetes, which was amazing (second picture below). Click here to see their full menu

After dinner we spent a really nice night at Wedge Brewing. Our plan was to go to Wicked Weed, which has a great selection of beer, but was just too crowded for us. Still a great brewery to check out during the off season or slow hours.

It was our first time going to the Wedge and resulted in a funny story. Because we hadn’t been before we were unsure of where it was or what it even looked like. Well, after driving back and forth for 10 minutes, looking for the place, we finally some some people we could get directions from. They were the first people we saw on this street. Other than them we saw no people or any sign of running businesses whatsoever. We were getting a litter nervous, but to our surprise they let us know that we were already there, we just had to walk down some steps.

We walked down, and we were amazed to see a really interesting and fun brewery (that you wouldn’t even know existed from the street). It is a really unique place that offers corn hole, peanuts, a patio filled with string lights, and pretty good beer. I personally didn’t love the beer, but still a great alternative if you are trying to avoid crowds and long lines.  A good way to end the night!

The following morning was busy. We had to leave our Airbnb at 10 a.m. and make sure we were ready for: breakfast, a hike, lunch, a surprise for me, which I obviously didn’t know how long would take (stay tuned to find out what it was).

When we finally got to Biscuit Head for breakfast we were a little nervous. The line was almost out the door when we got there and by the time we sat down and were eating the line WAS out the door. But rest assured that the line goes really really fast. They whip that food out so fast, and I’m not sure how. I swear it tastes like it was made with so much love. Hard to choose a favorite between this place and Sunny Point, and that is saying a lot because I don’t even love biscuits!

Of course, Austin got something traditional, or so he tried. He thought he was getting a normal chicken egg sandwich, but to his surprise the white thing on top was a poached egg that he accidentally burst on top of his sandwich which made it hard to eat (but fun for me to watch).

I got the Asheville Benedict. If you like hollandaise sauce, you will love this biscuit. THIS WAS MADE FOR YOU. It’s amazing and some more amazing on top of that. My biscuit is pictured below, but I’m warning you now – you will probably start drooling.

And after breakfast we were off and ready for our hike. We decided to checkout Pisgah National Forest. It was an easy drive. Close enough for us to get a hike done before we left Asheville! Here is a helpful link that I got from my boss, which ensured us we were making a good decision and explains the area in good detail.

We stopped at the welcome center to grab a map and got some advice from a nice park ranger. We wanted to see some falls, so he recommended we stop by Looking Glass Falls and Grave yard Fields.

I was so glad he recommended both. Both were exquisite, but I am glad we were interested in both, because of the drive between them (even though we were running on empty by the time we got to the top). It was seriously breathtaking and I was just sitting back in awe of how something so beautiful could exist. We also saw more leaves turning at Graveyard Feilds, which was awesome. Only downside was that there wasn’t much of a trail for hiking, so I’m not sure if we’d go back for a decent hike.

 

After our hike it was time to get our last meal in at Nine Mile. I was seriously so pumped for this one! They serve Caribbean Inspired Cuisine, which I had never had before even though I love trying new things. Not to mention, this place was recommended across the board, so it was a must.

One of the things I appreciated most about this place is its uniqueness. You can tell it is something special, and not something you could easily replicate. It also wasn’t very busy, which was as also good since we were on an itinerary. To eat, I got the Nine Mile and Austin got the Cool Runnings. Both sooooo good, but if you want something light the Nine Mile calling your name. It has so much flavor, but it was a light and healthy meal. All I could ever ask for. Click here for their full menu.

 

At the end of our trip on Sunday before heading home, I got a surprise from my sweetie. I will admit I was definitely wanting a romantic weekend getaway, since we were celebrating our three year anniversary and all, but he totally outdid himself with surprising me with a Private outdoor hot tub for us at Shoji Retreat. Another place that I had heard so much about, but me and Austin never talked about making a trip here, so I was quite in shock when we got there. He even had me close my eyes when we got close, so I was practically speechless. Once I got myself together, we enjoyed an amazing experience in our hot tub. This place is in the middle of the trees, and it literally felt like we were in a tree house with a hot tub to ourselves. The weather that day was so perfect that I didn’t feel an ounce of coldness when we got out. I couldn’t have asked for a better ending to our trip.

I was so happy with our visit – we both were. Everything went so smoothly and we got to do almost everything on our list. The two things that we didn’t get to do on this trip was try Vortex doughnuts and Thai Orchid, but that just means that we will have to make another visit soon (hopefully Christmas)!

Some other attractions to consider:
Orange Peel – live music
Vortex Donughts
White Duck Taco Shop
French Broad Chocolate Lounge – so goood
Farm House Burger
Suwana’s Thai Orchid Restaurant
Wicked Weed
Grove Park Inn – I keep hearing about their amazing Spa
Tressa’s Downtown Jazz and Blues

Ps. Please don’t hesitate if you have other suggestions you think I should add to this list and please let me know if you try any of these out 🙂