Asheville, Day 1

Oh, where do I even begin?  What a whirlwind week it has been.  Last weekend I actually felt pretty crappy most of the weekend, so it was a challenge to even get myself packed, let alone make sure that the boys were all ready for five days without me.  I pushed through, worked like crazy on Monday to finish my work, then came home to make dinner, pack up some last items, and drive to my parents' house to ensure I'd get a good night's sleep before a 5am wakeup to head to the airport.  The preparations were exhausting but I felt like I had done what I could, with a checklist for me and a food plan for the boys--lists of what to pack for lunches and suggestions for dinner.  I laid out clothes for Carter for the week (Craig is a terrible matcher) and hoped that everything was covered for the week...or beyond.

See, the one thing complicating this trip was a hurricane hanging out in the Atlantic.  I noticed Florence popping up on The Weather Channel app earlier the previous week.  At the time most models showed it turning out into the ocean, but it was possible that it could threaten the east coast.  While you never want it to hit anywhere, I was internally freaking out that this hurricane could threaten this once-in-a-lifetime trip.  It was bad enough that the forecast already looked crappy, but add a hurricane into that?  Ugh.  Well, by the time we left, it was pretty clear that not only wasn't it going out to sea, but that it was taking aim at the Carolinas.  Well...crap.  Given that Asheville is well inland, I wasn't as worried about major issues there, but our connection was going through Charlotte, which was a bit closer to the coast.  My dad was giving us major resistance about going, but we insisted we'd be careful, and off we went!  At worst we could get stuck for a couple extra days, which wouldn't be ideal, but as long as we got home safely in the end, that was all that mattered.

Of course, it felt a little odd to be flying on September 11th, particularly around the same time that the planes crashed into the towers.  I couldn't help but think about the people who got up that morning, much like we did, and never made it to their destination.  And wrong though this may be, seeing three Muslim women and a few kids make a last minute, somewhat confused entrance onto the plane gave me pause.  It shouldn't have, but on that morning, it did.  The world has truly changed in the last 17 years.

Our flights down were completely uneventful.  Fast, even!  Buffalo to Charlotte was only an hour and a half in the air, which is equivalent to my drive from Rochester to Buffalo, which always blows my mind a bit.  As we flew into Charlotte, I spotted an amusement park, Carowinds, from the air.  Looks like it was closed for the day, but that is one heck of a roller coaster on the upper left!

We had a quick turnaround to get our connection, and we were off to Asheville!  This flight cracked me up.  It was literally only 22 minutes in the air, but I missed that fact as we took off.  So, imagine my amusement as the seatbelt sign turned off, and literally a minute later, it chimed back on with the automated message to prepare for landing!  Quickest flight ever!  What a pretty area to fly into, too.  The green mountains were lovely!

You need to look under the clouds, but they're there in various stages of shadows.

It was great to see my aunt and uncle, and we got the fun started immediately!  Right around the corner from the airport was the Sierra Nevada Brewery.  In case you weren't aware, Asheville is Beer City!  There's practically a brewery on every corner.

What a gorgeous place!  Out back there was a beautiful patio and performance space.

The stage is off in the distance, but look at that giant fire pit!

Looking back at the building

 They had beautiful gardens, too.

Purple peppers?

I adore the structure of flowers like this, but it's hard to find perfect ones.  This one is close!

This looked a little like brains ;-)

Couldn't resist another one!  Nearly flawless!

We were going on a tour but needed to kill some time and have lunch.  We settled into the covered area of the patio, and thank goodness because it poured while we ate!  Apparently random heavy daily downpours are pretty common!  Even with the rain it was such a pretty view from our table!

 

We very much enjoyed some pizza and pretzels along with some house-brewed beer.  Soon enough it was time for our tour.  We saw all of the steps to brew and bottle beer, including deconstructing hops and checking out various stages of production in these giant tanks.

The copper in this room was so stunning!

We also saw the entire bottling line, which my pictures don't do justice.  It was in two huge rooms--bottling, capping, labeling, and boxing.  It was mesmerizing to watch!  Here are a couple videos--maybe these will show it better!



We finished the tour with a tasting.  Given that I can't taste or smell, beer tasting is a bit challenging, but it's interesting to see what works for me that may not for others!  The tasting bar was beautiful with its barrel theme.  Notice the bar and the walls above the bar--all barrel parts.

 

Once we were done at the brewery, we headed to the Biltmore Estate for our first visit!  We actually went to Antler Hill, which is a separate area with shops, restaurants, and hotels.  As we walked there from the parking lot, it started to sprinkle a bit, but nothing we couldn't deal with!  It definitely wasn't going to spoil our fun!  On the walk I saw this flower that's bigger than my hand.  It looks like a Rose of Sharon, but based on the greenery behind it, I think it's a hibiscus.  So pretty, though!

Shortly thereafter, I caught my first glimpse of Chihuly!  Check out this pretty fountain!  I've always thought that those kinds of pieces look like cranes or blue herons standing in the water.

Here's a closer look at the fountain and the glass...so pretty!

Then we came to this one.  It was stunning.

This was just a little taste of what we'd get a couple days later, and I couldn't wait!  We continued our walk and came to this cool sculpture featuring Cedric, the Vanderbilts' dog.  There's a tavern there, Cedric's Tavern, named after him, and the souvenir I got for Carter (one of those mesmerizing things that drips two colors of water and sends the droplets down ramps) has a cartoony version of Cedric printed on it.

We finished off our first Biltmore visit with a stop in the store and the winery, where we had a glass of wine and continued to catch up on life.  We even had a waitress from Buffalo, so that made for a fun conversation.  It definitely felt very refined to have a glass of wine there, in the middle of the day (well, it was actually later than it seemed, but still), and to not have to worry about kids or making dinner or anything else!

We eventually made our way back to my aunt and uncle's adorable house--perfect for two retirees--and had a late dinner of lasagna before settling in for the night with some hurricane coverage, which we kept a close eye on the entire time we were there.  It was really a great first day, and already our trip felt so full of adventure.  And the best was yet to come!