asheville done right

Well, well, well. Hello there! Long time no...type? I mean, I guess I could say long time no see because I literally have never seen (seen in person) most of you, but whatevs. 

I am back from the East Coast (best coast?) land and lemme tell ya something...

You know when people come back from vacation so you ask them how their vacation was, and they go, Ohh darling, it was marvelous, but I feel like I need a vacation to recover from my vacation.  Giggle giggle and all that. Yeah, those people are just joking, but me. Me right now. I am SERIOUS about this. I need a vacation to recover from our vacation.

Need. I'm the only one who has ever been serious about that statement. Remember that. 

Friend reunions plus family reunions plus one of my oldest and best friends getting married all equal no sleep and lots of wine. And chocolate. And talking. I'm pretty sure I sounded like a puberty aged male while trying to teach class yesterday morning. But squealing and giggling and screaming is just so necessary when reunited with old friends. 

So while I'm sipping on my soda water (did you know that's pretty much all I drink? Fun Fact Sidebar: Edition I) (other than wine, of course) and watching Lupe unsuccessfully try to stay awake, I'm going to successfully stay awake and start throwing it back to...our weekend in Asheville. 

hashtag no filter. hashtag i know, right?

Our friends from Charleston had planned on taking a fun mountain getaway and jokingly said Freddie and I should join them. Well folks, the funny thing about flying every eight weeks for Pilates training is that your airline points add up fairly quickly. We put those points to good use and hopped on a plane to North Carolina. Ya know, down south to the land of the pines so we could see our babies friends that night. - Emily and Old Crowe Medicine/Darius Rucker. 

The cabin we stayed at was way, way, way high on a mountain. Think roller coaster going up before a big drop...that was us driving up to the cabin. The big drop would have been us falling off the tiny, straight-up-into-the-air roads and tumbling down the mountain. The view was well worth the near-death experience, as seen in the picture above ^^.

Since we had all planned on drinking in Asheville we decided that we should stay out all day and not return to our cabin until late that night when plenty of water had been consumed. Cue a Saturday full of Asheville fun and wine and stuff. The boys and girls separated for many reasons, but mostly because we females don't enjoy stopping by four breweries in one day, but we do enjoy stumbling upon random wine tastings and chocolate shops. 

So enjoy my Oh, You Only Have 14 Hours in Asheville And Only Want To Go To One Brewery? No Prob. Guide to Asheville. 

Start at Wicked Week Brewery. Just do it. Even if you don't like beer (me), you probably like food (me) and this place is pretty delicious. 

If you are choosing the brewery lane on the game board then stop reading here. If you are choosing the non-brewery lane on the game board then keep on pluggin' on. 

Start roaming the streets of Asheville and go into any and all stores. The more you go in, the more likely you are to stumble upon a random, free wine tasting. 

Both Codorniu Cava wines we tasted were on different menus throughout the weekend. Which meant I ordered them and felt like a total bad you know what knowing the name and origin of said wine. 

You should probably stop in both Mast General Store and The Chocolate Fetish. Because toys + chocolate = photo ops, and what kind of traveling bloggers would we be if we didn't stop in all the hot photo ops places? 

Also stop at anywhere Hotline Bling is written. Because...you used to call me on my cell phone and stuff. 

After five or six or twenty more shop stops you might realize that you have three hours to kill before dinner reservations. Might I become your new bar bestie by recommending you stop in at Sovereign Remedies. The ambiance is real and legit, and the drinks are real and delicious. And also legit. Win-win. 

We had dinner reservations at The Junction and let me just take this moment to say yum.

Yum.

Yum!

Giant cornbread, pumpkin pie pork rind (what in the world?), gnocchi, and the most friendly staff ever. I take back my win-win from up there---The Junction was the total win-win of the weekend. I have no pictures of the food because we all stuffed our drinking-all-day faces, but I do have a picture of Leah, Bobby, and Adam looking so happy. 

See? The Junction makes you happy and laugh-y. <<new word. Write it down. 

There you have it. Fourteen hours of Asheville fun.

Oh, did I mention you should also order an entire bottle of champagne for dinner because it's the Codorniu Cava you tasted earlier?

No? Well I'm mentioning it now. Do that. 

Up next: the best city on Earth!

hint: rhymes with Marlespun.