On our third day in Asheville, I woke up around 8:30 and most of the girls were up by then. (Most of us are early risers if you can’t tell from these recaps!) I got some coffee, chit-chatted with everyone, and then started getting ready for the day. It was going to be another busy one!

Around 10:00, we all left the cabin to venture into downtown Asheville for brunch. Our goal was to check out Tupelo Honey Cafe, a restaurant I’ve heard so much about. The restaurant was much smaller than I imagined and for a group of seven at 10:30 on a Monday, the wait was 45 minutes!

We weren’t willing to wait that long, but thankfully, we were able to be seated immediately if we split up our group. So, we split into a group of four and three and… were seated right next to one another. Ha! So it worked out perfectly.

I ordered a mimosa and shared a meal with a friend, which was a great decision because it was the perfect amount of food for the two of us but would have been way too much food for one person. We split the fried chicken and biscuits and got a side of baked mac and cheese. We were also given a plate of biscuits with honey and blackberry jam for the table, and those biscuits were phenomenal.

If you haven’t guessed already, Tupelo Honey Cafe gets two thumbs up from me. It’s definitely worth checking out when you’re in Asheville! They know how to do breakfast.

Once we were done with breakfast, it was time for the big adventure of the day: exploring the Biltmore!

I wasn’t sure what to expect when arriving at the Biltmore. I knew it was going to be massive and opulent and exceed all of my expectations, but it went even further than that. I don’t even think I could grasp the magnificence of the Biltmore. Especially on my first visit (and since we opted out of the audio tour; if I ever go back to the Biltmore, I’d definitely invest in the audio tour because I think it would give me a greater appreciation and understanding of this estate).

We started in the Biltmore home itself and it took us forever to get through it. At least an hour and a half, I would guess, maybe longer. (In contrast, you could tour my entire apartment in 30 seconds flat. Ha.) The beauty was that it was all decorated for Christmas and had over 60 real Christmas trees in the house. There were rooms to visit, a massive library, servant’s quarters, kitchens, a bowling alley, a pool… and probably a million other rooms that are slipping my mind. It was incredible. (And blew my mind how busy it was there on a random Monday morning! I imagine it’s insanity during the weekends.)

After working our way through the Biltmore, we took a tour of the gardens, which were sprawling and beautiful, full of rosebushes and brightly colored flowers and a conservatory with lush green plants. It was hard to even comprehend having this much space to build gardens of this capacity.

Once we finished with the gardens, we made our way back to the car to visit the winery. You guys, it took us at least 10 minutes to drive to the winery. My friend who was driving kept saying, “Just think! We’re still on the Biltmore property!” It was hard to fathom.

Many of us were pretty overwhelmed by this point, our energy reserves tanking, but we rallied as best we could to enjoy the free wine tasting that came with our ticket. And, fun fact: this is the first wine tasting I’ve ever done! I’m not much of a wine person (I’m moderately allergic to wine. I’m okay if I have it in small doses, but even a glass of wine makes me break out, unfortunately.), so I tend to stay away from it. I also don’t really enjoy the taste of wine, especially red wine, so I don’t particularly think I’m missing out. Eh.

The wine tasting was super fun, though! Much more enjoyable than I expected. While I did try one red wine, I could only handle one tiny sip and then gave it to a friend to finish off, haha. Mostly, I stuck with whites and a rosè, which were fairly tasty. I’m still not on board with wine, so I’ll need some more convincing. 😉

After the wine tour, we were tired. It had been a long day and a lot of walking around and taking things in, so we enjoyed a quiet ride back to the cabin in Waynesville.

Our plans for our last night were simple: tacos, games, and s’mores by the fire.

There truly isn’t a better dessert in the world than s’mores, I don’t think, especially when the marshmallows are roasted by the fire. Mmm.

After we enjoyed our s’mores, we went inside to watch some of the girls play pool and then played a game of Phase10 where I lost my ever-loving mind because Phase10 makes a side of me come out that I’m not proud of. I have banned myself from playing that game ever again.

At that point, we were very tired from our busy day, so we called it a night. I don’t even think I finished the chapter I was reading before I fell asleep.

The next day was our last morning in Asheville. Our flight left in the afternoon, so we had another slow morning in the cabin. It was raining hard in the morning, which was actually perfect. We all just wanted to relax and take it easy, and the rain made the perfect backdrop.

We took showers, packed up, and cleaned up the cabin before taking our last trip into Asheville for breakfast. We decided to check out Biscuit Head, which I was especially excited about because a few people had told me to eat there.

I was not disappointed! I ordered a simple bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit with a s’mores latte and both were incredible. The biscuit was the best I’ve ever had and the latte was out of this world. This place gets two thumbs up from me, most definitely!

Once we finished breakfast, we strolled around downtown Asheville for a while, poking into the different shops, before heading to the airport, concluding our wonderful trip to Asheville. I definitely hope I can make my way back to this city again. It’s a beautiful place and there’s really so much to do, whether you love active vacations or more low-key ones.

We didn’t have anything going on the morning of our second day in Asheville, which allowed all of us to sleep in. I ended up waking up around 7 AM (which felt like 8 AM with the time change), so I went out to the living room with my book and waited for other people to venture downstairs.

Slowly, people began waking up and one of the girls brewed coffee for all of us. I ate a bowl of cereal and chit-chatted lightly with the girls who were up, before taking a shower and doing my hair and makeup in one of the bathrooms (thankfully, we had three bathrooms for seven girls, so there was not a competition for bathroom space!)

We were splitting up our group again for the afternoon, as some of the girls wanted to do a food tour. I’m not a foodie and super picky, so I didn’t necessarily want to spend $60+ on a food tour. Thankfully, two of my friends felt the same way, so we opted to do a comedy tour of Asheville. We left the cabin an hour before the other girls so we could grab lunch beforehand.

We went to White Duck Taco Shop for lunch, based on a friend’s recommendation and we were not disappointed. We ordered mimosas and chips and queso for all of us to enjoy, and then each got two tacos. I chose steak and cheese and Thai peanut chicken. The steak and cheese taco was phenomenal, but I didn’t enjoy the Thai peanut chicken taco. It was way too spicy for me, so I ended up wiping off the majority of the sauce and dunking the chicken breast in the Mexican crema.

After lunch, it was time for the comedy tour! I’ll be honest: I was hesitant to take this tour because I had heard that audience participation was required, and I hate stuff like that. (Social anxiety, heyyo!) But a friend who had taken the tour before promised me it wasn’t a big deal and I would be okay, so I trusted her.

The comedy tour took us all around Asheville in a bright purple school bus, the flamboyant guide pointing out specific landmarks and their history. We took a pit stop at a brewery and then continued on our way. I think what I loved most about the tour was driving through some of the neighborhoods of Asheville because the houses were so picturesque, with wraparound porches and yards full of trees. It was the perfect suburban landscape!

The tour was about an hour and a half long, and it was a fun experience, but not one I’ll be recommending to everyone (not like I do for Savannah Dan’s tour in Savannah!) It was kitschy and over-the-top, so you really have to be in the mood for a crazy time.

Once the tour was over, we hopped off the bus and headed straight to French Broad Chocolates for a mid-afternoon snack.

Lisa is the one who told me about French Broad Chocolates, and if you know me, you know that I am down with anything involving chocolate and baked goods, so I really hoped to check it out when I was in Asheville. Thankfully, the shop was a short walk from where the tour ended. and we had some time to kill while our friends continued their food tour, so it worked out perfectly.

The line to FBC snaked out the door, but that gave us plenty of time to peruse the menu. There were so many great options – do I get a cookie, a brownie, a piece of cake? Do I opt for hot chocolate or a coffee? I was still undecided when I got up to the counter, but ultimately settled on a peanut butter brownie and salted caramel hot chocolate.

YOU GUYS.

That was the best brownie and hot chocolate OF MY LIFE.

I cannot even get over how delicious both were. I am still dreaming about that hot chocolate. This place is a must visit for anyone traveling to Asheville. I am a believer now.

Once we finished with our yummy snack, we headed over to Malaprop’s, Asheville’s independent bookstore. The funny thing about my book club is that none of us are very big into bookstores. We’re all heavy library users, and most of us don’t even have extensive book collections. But I still wanted to visit Malaprop’s for the experience of going.

Malaprop’s is a tiny bookstore tucked away in a busy street in downtown Asheville, and it is part bookstore, part cafe. Obviously, the bookstore is teeming with books for purchase as well as knick-knacks, bookish clothing, organizational tools, and more. They even have Blind Date with a Book, something I’ve always wanted to try! Three of us decided to take on the challenge and picked out books. (And believe me, picking out the book was so difficult! At one point, I had four books in my hand.)

Once the books were purchased, we opened them… and disappointment for two of us: we received books we had already read! In fact, the book I picked had been a book club selection a few years ago, ha. Thankfully, at Malaprop’s, if you receive a book you’ve already read in Blind Date with a Book, you can exchange it (you can either try another blind date or pick out your own book, and you just pay the difference if it’s more than what the blind date book cost). Neither of us felt up to trying another blind date, so we picked out our own books. I ended up grabbing a paperback copy of Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue, which I have heard rave reviews about.

Our day wasn’t over, though! We still had a ghost tour that evening, so we headed to a pizzeria for dinner. (The girls on the food tour had caught up with us at Malaprop’s!) None of us were super hungry, so we didn’t eat much. I only managed one slice of pizza and one garlic knot. We weren’t too impressed with the food at this pizzeria, so I’ll let it remain unnamed. 😉

After dinner, we walked over to a “creepy alley next to Asheville Masonic Temple,” which is where the ghost tour was said to begin. I love going on ghost tours when exploring a new city because I think it’s a fascinating (if creepy!) way to learn about the history of a city. This one was no different. Our tour guide was probably the best ghost tour guide I’ve had (usually, ghost tour guides are quite eccentric!) and spoke from a place of authority, but without seeming too over-the-top. Even though I like taking ghost tours, I’m not sure I’m fully on board with the idea of ghosts, so it was nice to have a tour guide who was just like, “Eh, believe me or not, I don’t really care.” Refreshing!

The ghost tour took us all around Asheville and thankfully, every other stop had an area where we could sit down and rest our legs. It can be quite a lot to walk around for two hours (and the girls who had done the food tour had already done that!), so that was thoughtful of him to give us options for sitting!

Overall, the tour was fantastic, though the ghost stories were a little blah, in my opinion. But it was interesting to get a view of what Asheville looked like in its beginning days through the guide’s words.

Once the tour through Asheville was complete, we went into the Asheville Mystery Museum, which isn’t open to the public. This museum is not for the faint of heart, as it features news clippings and real artifacts from some of the creepier things that have happened in Asheville. And, of course, there’s a spooky soundtrack playing as you make your way through the museum.

We didn’t stay in the museum for very long because it was late at this point and we had a 40-minute drive ahead of us. We got home around 11 or so, and whew. What a busy day! I fell asleep within minutes of my head hitting the pillow. I was tired, both physically and emotionally.

Have you ever been on a ghost tour?

We started planning our trip to Asheville earlier this year, as our destination for our second annual Book Club Girls Trip. Last year, we went to a retirement community in central Florida called The Villages, but this year, we wanted to step it up a notch. Asheville was an easy choice – one of the girls in the book club has a family home in Waynesville, which is about 40 minutes west of Asheville, and flights there are dirt cheap.

We arrived in Asheville early on Saturday morning, right around 8:30 AM. Once we had secured the rental cars we would be using for the trip (since there were seven of us, we needed two rental cars), our first stop of the day was to grab breakfast. We went to Another Broken Egg Cafe, which isn’t an Asheville staple or anything. We have them in Florida, but honestly, we wanted anywhere that would serve us a good breakfast and we wouldn’t have to wait.

I ordered French toast and proceeded to eat almost my entire meal, which almost never happens. I’m not much of a breakfast person (I know, I know), but I was starving and the French toast was delicious. It boded well for how I would eat for the rest of my Asheville vacation (and as someone with very particular food tastes, that’s sayin’ something.)

After breakfast, we made the trek to Waynesville to check out the cabin.

By pure stroke of luck, we came to Asheville at the perfect time: the weather was gorgeous (highs in the low 70s/upper 60s and sunny) and the leaves were beautiful shades of reds, oranges, pinks, and yellows. I have never seen what fall actually looks like because Florida doesn’t have seasons and I don’t typically travel during the fall. It was incredible and I couldn’t help snapping picture after picture of the scenery. Our view from the cabin was magnificent, and I couldn’t believe I would be able to spend the next four days staring at it.

Once we had settled into the cabin, we decided we needed an hour of “quiet time,” which is basically how you know you’re traveling with a bunch of introverts. Ha. We were all tired from our early morning flights and a quick nap was very much needed. While we all had our quiet time, one of the girls headed to the local grocery store to pick up our supplies (she is an angel, no doubt about that). I read for a little bit and then took a short, 45-minute nap.

We had planned two different adventures for the afternoon: a hike for the active among us and a trip to a coffee shop and waterfall for the not-so-active. I chose the latter because hiking and I do not get along. (A quick side note: I’ve been on three hikes in my life and broken my ankle on two of them. The last hike I was on, I was so terrified of getting hurt that I couldn’t enjoy it at all.)

So, A., M., and I ventured into downtown Waynesville to go to the Panacea Coffee Company, where we ordered sandwiches (I didn’t much enjoy mine, sadly), and then got some coffee and read our books. I ordered the frozen “ultimate mocha,” which was a combination of a regular mocha and a white chocolate mocha and it was amazing. I drank the whole thing and enjoyed every sip. It more than made up for the blah sandwich!

After an hour or so at the coffee shop, we headed to check out a waterfall! It was a long drive, almost an hour, but we passed the time by playing the ABC game using billboards and signs. Once we got in the mountains, the drive got a little creepy! The road curved dramatically and there was a ton of fog. It also started raining off and on.

Eventually, though, we made it to Looking Glass Falls and it was beautiful! Well worth the hour-long trip, even though we didn’t stay for very long. Some people were taking pictures down on the rocks, but that scared me, so I stayed on solid ground.

After spending some time at the waterfall, we headed back to the cabin. It was probably around 6 at this time and we had dinner reservations at 8:15, so I spent some time reading outside on one of the rocking chairs and when it got too cold, I ventured inside and sat on the couch, chit-chatting with everyone.

For dinner, we went to The Sweet Onion in downtown Waynesville. The food was delicious (I ordered a burger and it was fantastic!), but none of us were very upbeat at this point. We were all very tired and ready for bed, so conversation was at a minimum. Thankfully, we weren’t snippy at each other… we all knew every one of us had reached her limit, so we kept pretty quiet.

Once we got back to the cabin, it was time for jammies, brushing our teeth, and going to bed! It was a great beginning to our Asheville vacation, and I couldn’t wait to explore more of the city tomorrow.

Hiking – yay or nay?