A Birthday Trip to Asheville!

This weekend was fabulous! We dropped off the puppy, gassed up the truck and headed out west to Asheville. I've never been to the western part of the state, so I was pretty excited! And yes, it's still a one tank trip!

I love big birthday celebrations...so I planned this weekend as Danny's birthday present. I had so much planned for our two days....the fun started the second we got to the city!

Asheville has a ton of breweries. Seriously, it's been voted Beer City USA for THREE years in a row. So, you know we had to hit up one of the places it's famous for - Asheville Brewing Company! We tried a little bit of everything...the favorite was Ninja Porter and the most interesting was Fire Escape...jalapeno flavored beer. Weird! But the one thing that really stuck out about Asheville...hippies. Lots and lots of hippies!

After a quick costume change, our next stop was the Asheville Zipline Canopy Adventures - yep, ziplining! Never in a million years did I think I would do something like this. Come on, I'm afraid of heights and speed! I had a few butterflies while I was pulling on the harness and helmet but as soon as we were 54 feet up a tree and traveling down a zipline...I couldn't help but enjoy myself! Our tour guides were awesome. We did 13 ziplines, a few bridges...and learned all about Asheville. I 100% recommend you do this at some point in your life!

We spent 3 hours in the trees. I didn't expect it to be that long!! I wanted a shower before our next adventure, but instead we checked into the hotel and I headed out with helmet head....to the LaZoom Haunted Comedy Tour! They guarantee you will see a ghost...and we did! We sat on the bus for an hour with our decently-funny tour guide...and there was lots of yelling. Unnecessary, made my head pound yelling. When I called my Mom to tell her about it I said it was the "obnoxious version of the KuKu Kunuku." If you have ever been to Aruba, you know what I'm talking about....and you know that's saying something about the quality of this tour! I'm not saying it was bad, the historical stuff was great...I just wish I knew I was going to be yelled at for an hour!

After the tour I wanted to walk around downtown. But man-oh-man Asheville's downtown is tiny and crowded. Instead we headed back to the hotel and passed out like the old people that we are. And might I add, in a King sized bed. I wanted to steal it. So comfy!

Sunday morning we had a huge and free breakfast at the hotel. And then we were off for our second day in the city! We went back downtown to see everything we missed the night before. I love Asheville because the buildings are old and unchanged. You can see still see original store fronts and details. I loved it! We saw gorgeous churches and basilicas, historical monuments, and people enjoying their morning coffee. Asheville is gorgeous. I've decided everyone should move to western North Carolina!

No trip to Asheville is complete without a visit to the Biltmore. The Biltmore left me (more so than ever) wishing I was a Vanderbilt. This gorgeous building was someones personal home. It's so big you could fit the White House in it four times. There's a bowling alley, 70,000 gallon swimming pool, a huge library, 250 rooms. Seriously, why can I not live here!? The only sad part of our visit...no pictures allowed inside. So sad! We spent 2 hours exploring the home, then moved further onto the estate to the winery. We did a wine tasting and left with two bottles of yummy wine! We were going to stay for lunch but all of the restaurants had incredibly long waits. We decided to get back on the road and make the journey home.

About twenty minutes into the trip, we decided we need food! We got off the highway and instead of a restaurant we saw a winery. The South Creek Winery is in middle of nowhere North Carolina, so tiny and so cute. They are dry Bordeaux style wines...not my favorite, but I liked this place! I love that the grapes were right on the property. Of course, we left with a bottle of their Chardonnay!

We got back on the road to find something to eat...and we ran into another winery! The Lake James Cellar Winery was a cute little place. We tried some sweet and dry wines, and ended up buying their watermelon wine. It was so yummy, the perfect picnic wine!

Finally, we got some food into us! We went to Judge's Riverside Restaurant. I love trying local places, it's rare that you are disappointed! We had the awesome fried pickles and I got probably the biggest thing they offer: half rack of ribs, beans, potato salad and hush puppies. I'll be stepping up the Zumba routines this week to work it all off!

We had such a fun time in Asheville! I wish we could have spent more time out there exploring and trying all the yummy food they offer! We will definitely be making the trip back out there someday!

And as a sidenote to the anonymous commenters who like when  I post about alcohol - a tasting is not an entire glass, it's a sip. So, with all the tastings we did...I maybe had a glass of wine. And it's totally ridiculous that I have to explain myself but you people really need to get lives.

Day 13: Aquarium, A Beatle and Medieval Times!

We went to the aquarium this morning! We weren't there too long, but it was seriously a lot of fun! The New England Aquarium always claims to be the best, but I think it's small, stuffy and stinky. Today we went to the Aquarium in Emerald Isle. I thought it was great! Kaleb kept saying how much fun he was having and could have watched the sharks all day! We got our picture taken and I can't wait to get a frame for it. Our first official family picture! The quality of it on here is crappy, it's a picture of a picture...taken with my cell phone!

Miley had her last vet appointment for 6 months. She got the Lyme prevention shot and had her stitches looked at. Still have a perfect puppy! But I do have a question. If they have Lyme prevention for dogs...why don't they have it for humans? If they do, I haven't heard of it!

BREAKING NEWS! We are seeing Paul McCartney this summer!! My Mom got tickets for me, Danny, my sister and her boyfriend. I'm PSYCHED! Honestly, going to be the best night ever!!

So it was about 1:30 when I said, "I bet he would like Medieval Times." The next thing I knew I was purchasing tickets and we were sitting in the car for the 2 hour ride. Kaleb had so much fun! He couldn't wait for the fighting to start. We all wore goofy crowns, Kaleb got a flag and by the end of the show he had a sword and shield! It was an awesome time!

Remember, guest blogging tomorrow!

Day 8: I Think We Have a New Beatles Fan!

Maybe it was the weekend away from home, maybe it's because we're both homesick (probably me more than him!), or maybe it's because we are just lazy....but today was boring. We watched cartoons, ate pancakes, and I might have snuck into the bathroom a few times to hide my tears. I think I even fell asleep while we were watching a movie!

My sister called with good news! Paul McCartney will be in Charlotte on July 28. Hell YES. She is going to make the trek down...and we'll have some quality sister bonding time. Maybe even her bf (and Paul look-alike) will come...and Danny can figure something out with work and be able to come too!

So, after getting the good-former Beatles news....I was in the mood for some Rock Band. Kaleb was on the drums and I sang. About 20 minutes into the game he declared "I AM THE EGGMAN!" I think that's enough Rock Band for one day!

Danny came home and made steaks on the grill. He's the grill-chef in the house, I refuse to even turn it on (baaaaad experience!) The boys and Miley are outside playing right now....and I'm thinking I might take a nice long bubble bath. But more than likely I'll end up with a 10 minute shower and Miley howling outside the door until I get out. Ah, the life of a spoiled puppy mommy!