Jennifer and Andy took Syd to stay with her other relatives on Sunday. Bob and I regrouped and planned our stay in Asheville. Monday we took a trip to Biltmore. We enjoyed touring the mansion....
...as well as the gardens.
Bob nor I saw anything on the menu at the restaurants at Biltmore that interested us so we headed to Sierra Nevada Brewery.
We found quite a few items on their menu that made us happy. Not to mention the beers! Most of the items on the menu are meant to be shared so Bob and I each ordered something to share. After we ate, we took an impromptu tour of the brewery. The tropical IPA was being bottled as we walked through the brewhaus.
Then we returned to Sol to plan our next adventure.
Tuesday found us driving to Pisgah National Forest near Brevard, North Carolina to hike to some waterfalls. Our first stop was Sliding Rock. It looked like fun to slide down the natural rock slide, but the water was a brisk 53 degrees! That is a bit too cold for me!
Our next stop was Looking Glass Falls. This waterfall is located on the side of highway 276, no walk to reach it at all.
Bob and I were in need of a good hike so we stopped by the ranger station and found just the right one--Twin Falls!The trailhead is located beyond the stables down a gravel forest service road. The trail had many ups and downs--something we aren't used to in Florida.
Of course we had to cross several log bridges to get to our goal.
Some of the bridges had more logs than others! At least they all had handrails!
We continued on the trail, enjoying every step of the way.
Finally, we arrived at Twin Falls! What you can't see in this picture is the other falls about 50 yards to the right of this one! We took our time at the falls, enjoying both, before heading back to the car. This isn't a well traveled trail as we only saw three other couples hiking the two miles to the falls.
After our hike we stopped at Ecusta Brewing Company just outside of Brevard. They didn't serve food, but Hog City Barbecue was located just out their back door! Both the brews and the barbecue hit the spot after our mountain hike.
Wednesday, Jennifer and Syd joined us to explore North Carolina Arboretum
Sydney enjoyed seeing all the flowers and butterflies. One section was a quilt garden.
We took a walk through some of the trails. There were several places where branches were stacked like tepees. Bob and Syd even found two geocaches or treasures as Syd calls them.
From the Arboretum we got on the Blue Ridge Parkway and drove south to Mount Pisgah. We stopped to enjoy the views along the way.
After eating at Mt. Pisgah Inn, we took the time for a photo op overlooking the valley.
So far we have enjoyed our time in Asheville, North Carolina and the surrounding area. I wonder what tomorrow will bring?
No comments:
Post a Comment