Asheville, NC: Mansions, Mountains, Mullets and Muscle Cars

I have been falling very prey to the travel bug lately. I believe it is a combination of spring fever and the fact that my parents explored Atlanta, Savannah, and Charleston after leaving me in Nashville, but I have really been feeling a need to explore.

One more contributing factor - it is 11:59 on April 11 as I am writing this (sleep was eluding me tonight). That means that...NOW - I have been in Nashville for 6 months. 25% done my work contract. Scary thought...but even more incentive to fill my time with adventure!

So, I looked at the map and chose my destination for the weekend as Asheville, North Carolina. I've heard from a few people that it is very beautiful, and determined that a 4.5 hour scenic drive made for a good weekend trip. So my fearless road trip partner Mandy and I went to bed early on Friday night and were up at the crack of dawn on Saturday (okay, we pulled out at 8am) to hit I-40 East. At least until Starbucks in Cookeville. The drive was pretty uneventful, and actually quite scenic as you go through the Smoky Mountains (which we Alberta girls still say aren't mountains). Until we almost ran out of gas, but a nice old local man on the side of the highway was kind enough to point 2 girls with Alberta plates and a mostly empty tank to Waynesville. Lots of "villes" in this part of the world.

Waynesville, NC. A gas station and a closed antique store. That's it.

So we rolled into Asheville around 2 or 3 pm, parked downtown and started to wander. Best way to describe is very, VERY hippie. Not hip-ster, hip-PY. Every store seemed to sell organic this and local that, and I suspect you could find a few organic "substances" in town too.

These bumper stickers summed up Asheville for me.

After a sunny patio beer and some pretty entertaining people-watching, we checked into our hotel (which really wasn't bad for Priceline), and headed out for dinner at a great restaurant recommended by a coworker. If you ever find yourself in Asheville, try out Rezaz. We asked the waiter where we could have a drink after, and he did try to send us to a bar named Scandal, which is an "alternative lifestyle bar". Maybe he thought we were gay? Not a lot of friends just hit up Asheville for the weekend? Anyway, we did not go to Scandal, but did walk around and go into a few bars. Asheville nightlife does not quite compare to Nashville.

The next morning we headed to the Biltmore house, which is the largest residential home in America, and former home to the famous Vanderbilt family. Built in 1895, it has 250 rooms, 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces. And there was only ever a family of 3 living there. It also sits on a 125,000 acre estate designed by the same guy who designed Central Park. Mandy and I decided to move in, they wouldn't even hardly notice we were there.

It was definitely fun to explore, the inside of the house is all set up and restored, very much reminded me of Downton Abbey with all the outfit changes and dinner parties and servants quarters etc etc. It was also a beautiful day and so we wandered through the gardens a little, had lunch in the courtyard,  and then headed down to the winery (added after 1895) for some wine tasting and grape stomping!

Sadly, while I would have loved to sit in the sunshine and drink wine all afternoon, we had a long drive ahead of us (even longer than we thought....foreshadowing!) so we grabbed a Starbucks and hit the highway. A different highway this time, because I thought it might be fun to take a secondary highway, see a little more North Carolina, and cross the mountain range through Gatlinburg. I must be my father's daughter.

About 2 hours into the drive, things are great, small towns are cute, and we get to the Gatlinburg highway. And see this:

But we don't turn around! "Never backwards!" says Mandy. We are in this. So we continued down I-19, heading considerably more south than we may have wanted, drive past some really very scenic viewpoints, and a MASSIVE Harrah's Cherokee resort, and a bunch of white water rafters, and a man selling boiled peanuts by the side of the highway (we supported him. They are disgusting.), and finally reached our next mountain pass. 70 miles to Knoxville. Like an hour, right? Except that suddenly I am going less than 30 miles an hour around hairpin turns on a VERY narrow mountainside road. By about the 150th turn Mandy and I are literally discussing country music and ACM awards and anything to take our minds off how carsick we are getting, and how much this sucks. If I could have pulled over and stayed, I would have, but fear for our lives kept me gripping the wheel. Never mind the fact that it was 25C and the sun was setting and the sunroof open and it was actually a beautiful evening for a drive. We both mentioned that every time I almost stopped.

Anyway, after what seemed like hours, we finally reached a lookout with a bunch of guys in muscle cars and motorbikes, and pulled over to catch our breath and admire the view. One nice gentleman ran across the highway to offer to take our picture. I asked him where we were, and how much further we had to go.

"Deal's Gap! You just rode the Dragon!"

The whaaaaaaa???? So yah. Turns out this is a world-famous road. 318 turns in 11 miles (although I promise it felt much further than that). Guys with convertibles and bikes treat it as their road to mecca, and my little blue Jeep Compass with Alberta plates conquered it. I now dub thee, "The Dragon Slayer".

The Deals Gap photo. The sunglasses hide the green.

Anyway, these gentleman in their roof-less Jeep TJ were kind enough to escort us down the mountain and onto the freeway to Knoxville, where I am happy to report the last 3 hours of our journey were blissfully straight, smooth, and uneventful.

Would we do it again? Turn our 4.5 hr drive into 7 hours? Heck yes we would. Mandy agrees. As a matter of fact, the next road trip begins this Saturday - we are headed to Memphis! The trip is only supposed to be 3 hours, but I guarantee it will be full of adventure.