Sometimes you just have to take a little road trip with a girlfriend– in my case, a close college friend I hadn’t seen in almost a year– and escape your every day routine.
My friend Hannah & I decided to spend a packed 24 hours in Asheville, NC. Asheville is a beautiful, up & coming, hip little city along the Blue Ridge Mountains, with quirks around every corner.
Disclaimer: this was probably the least planned trip I have ever taken (*cringe*). But definitely fun nonetheless.
We drove to Asheville & went straight downtown. There were a few places on our to-do list we wanted to mark off first. After lunch outside under the sun at a bistro on the corner, the first stop on our list was the Battery Park Book Exchange & Champagne Bar. Yes I just said books & champagne in the same sentence. And it did not disappoint. We both had a glass of bubbly & lazily made our way through the maze of books. All impeccably organized, the shop had walls and walls filled to the ceiling with books.
We spent a good while there before heading to our AirBnB. Tucked away in west Asheville, our little basement had a great view of the mountains. We only quickly dropped off our things, took a peek around the airbnb, and jetted off with the top down to Biltmore before realizing we had come a little too late to make the ticket worthwhile. So instead of Biltmore we just headed back downtown, wandered through the streets to look into the shops that were still open, grabbing a lavender latte at Trade & Lore, and then cozied down at Tupelo Honey for dinner. Hannah had heard of a chocolatier that had some great desserts, so we made our way to the French Broad Chocolate Lounge for a decadent cup of hot cocoa and some Creme brƻlƩe to curb our sweet tooth.
The next morning, after a great southern breakfast, we walked to grab donuts from Vortex & decided that dessert after breakfast is now a thing. We bid adieu to Asheville and drove to Grandfather mountain. The stop where we wanted to park was actually closed off due to visibility, but nonetheless we hiked the extra 4.5 miles up to the lookout for an incredible view. The Blue Ridge Mountains were particularly beautiful, despite the fog.
Overall it was an incredible 24 hours in Asheville with Hannah. Although we had some kinks in our plans, we made the most of it & it was an unforgettable getaway.
sincerely, christina louise 