Asheville Breweries Part 2

Before leaving Asheville we made a couple more stops to try some more brews. First we went back to Wicked Weed brewery to get a flight. The downstairs tasting room was not open yet so we only got to choose from the selection we could get at the bar upstairs. I got to try a wide variety of their beers.

Brazil Caipirinha Ale

I took back a growler of one of the session beers.

Lastly we stopped off at Lexington Avenue Brewery (LAB). Again we found out that Jude Law had also visited this place a day or so earlier. Such a shame we kept missing him. It was a nice establishment with good mood lighting. In the evenings you can see musical acts here.

We walked around a bit to get one last look at this great city that we got to enjoy for a few days. It has been a great trip. We have added Asheville, NC to our must return list.
See you soon Asheville…

Asheville Breweries Part 1

Cider from Noble Cider

After we arrived in Asheville our friends took us straight downtown to start experiencing the wonderfulness of Asheville. We started by getting a brew from the tasting room of Wicked Weed. The world cup was on so we got to watch a match while trying some great beers.

Soon the kids were hungry so we decided to get some pizza from Asheville Brewing Company. It is a great place to take the kiddos. The outdoor area comes equipped with lots of activities to keep the little ones occupied while you are trying to eat and sip your beer. The boys I visited with had fun playing there.
Look at this guy. Isn’t he adorable!

Then we went back a couple days later to check out the breweries in Asheville’s South Slope district. There we started with a visit to Green Man Brewery.

Our visit once again coincided with the world cup. We got to watch soccer while we sipped beers.

I really liked Green Man’s selections but my favorite was the ESB. It was easy to drink and full of flavor. We brought home a 6 pack of 2 ESB, 2 IPAs and 2 Porters. I really wish we would have brought home some more ESB.

It was a fun place to hangout in a warehouse type building.

After Green Man we walked over to one of the newer breweries in town Twin Leaf Brewery.

We tried a number of their regular offerings and seasonal beers. A standout was the Luminosity.

The tasting room has adopted the rustic look that is very popular now with tasting rooms and farm to table restaurants. It was very welcoming as was the friendly beer-tender. The only complaint is it got quite warm inside. They tried to offset it a bit with fans. Should be very comfortable to visit in cooler months. We were told there plans to open it up a bit to let more of a cross breeze in. Even as is I would visit again. I liked it there.

Because we were old it was time to go. Luckily we had one more day in the city to try a couple more breweries.

Biltmore

During last summer’s trip to Asheville we took a day to explore the Biltmore estate. It was a great way to spend the day and the weather couldn’t have been better (most of the day anyway). I thoroughly enjoyed touring the house; my favorite was touring the server’s quarters and the kitchen area. Sorry no pictures inside were allowed (although I was just about the only one following the rules). The estate area is vast and has magnificent views of the mountain range nearby. While you are there be sure to tour the gardens and greenhouse at your leisure. It was a real treat as well.

After touring the grounds we drove over for our Biltmore winery tour and a free wine tasting. Most of the wines made there are drinking wines. There weren’t too many that I wanted to purchase but the ones I did were in the $30-50 range!! We did pick up a couple mid-range bottles to take home and I since I wasn’t driving Itreated myself to the Biltmore premium wine tasting :).

Later on we met up with our friends and had dinner at their local mexican joint Nachos and Beer (yes that is the name). The tacos and side salad I ordered was delicious and a great size for the money. They also have local craft beer on draft. I can see why this is one of their favorite places to take the family.

My friends husband was nice enough to watch the kids for the evening so my friend could come with us to try some local breweries. More about that later……

Asheville Hiking

We were determined to get a hike in while we were in Asheville last June. Our friend suggested that we would like the hike to see the waterfalls at Dupont State Forest.
We lost phone service on the way so were very confused with directions. It made me think that there should always be a paper map as a backup plan. We finally found it and parked the car in a designated free lot.
It started raining just as we arrived. It was nothing hard but a sprinkle. We decided to pack our ponchos and do the hike anyway. It proved to be a good choice. Sure we got soaked but rain kept many hikers away. The falls that were normally packed were not very crowded at all.

We started our hike with a stop at a disgusting porta potty. We had a chance to go to either hooker falls or triple falls. 3 is better than 1 right? We started toward the triple falls.

Trails were nice and mostly quiet.

We came across our first set of falls. They looked kind of small and we weren’t sure how to get closer to them.

We reached the big falls. Above them lies a bridge to get across the water.

We finally found a path to get closer to the one set of falls. It was wet and slippery. It was a bit of an obstacle course to get to them. When we got there we discovered we had them all to ourselves. We decided against getting in the water. Perhaps it seemed like too much trouble at the time.

When we arrived at the next set of falls we noticed people climbing the rocks. When it is a dry day climbing the rocks is probably a much safer activity. The day we were there it was raining and the rocks were very wet. My husband decided to brave climbing them anyway.
Notice me below with my superhero cape ready to save him (hint its actually a poncho).

While he climbs I take in the view off in the distance.

He finally gets to the top.

But then has trouble getting back down. Don’t worry, he eventually made it down.

After the day of hiking we returned to my friends house to clean up for the night. Thanks to her awesome husband she was able to come to dinner with us and have a grown up night out. We decided on dinner at Bouchon in downtown Asheville. While waiting for our table we shared a bottle of wine.

We enjoyed a lovely dinner with great conversation in the courtyard. I miss being around my friend. We were thrown together in a dorm in college and become close. We have kept in touch throughout the years through all our changes and moves. I definitely don’t call her as much as I should. It was nice to spend some quality time with her again. As a special surprise we found out that Jude Law was dining out at the same restaurant the same night. Too bad we missed or didn’t notice him!

Afterwards my friend took us to listen some local music at 5 Walnut Wine Bar. It was a small cozy bar that fit just right on a weeknight. My friend told me on the weekends people line up on the sidewalk to listen and get in. We got lucky and got stools at the bar. A lovely band was playing soft tunes. They did a cover that I knew all the words to but I could remember the band. After some deep thought I remembered it was the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
It was a great night.

Asheville River Arts District

During a recent road trip to visit an old friend she suggested we spend a day doing the Asheville River Arts District studio stroll one Sunday.

The river arts district is an old industrial area of Asheville near the French Broad River that was re purposed into studios for local artisans. Every second Saturday the artisans open up their studios for guests to come in and watch them work. We attended during a twice a year event that opens the studios all weekend.