Asheville, NC - Oct 2011

We had been trying to get together with Kim and Tom for most of the summer, but schedules did not work out.  We finally landed on a weekend hiking in Asheville in October.

Accommodation:
Cedar Crest Inn - Apparently Asheville hotels sell out in October, so it was a struggle to find anything.  Kim was able to find this place - a bit between an Inn and a hotel.  We got the "suite" - which was two rooms on the top floor of an adjacent house, sharing a bathroom between.  In the same building there were a couple of other rooms on the ground floor and a shared bath there - as well as a large communal sitting room.  The main house was reasonably nice - old wood paneling and very traditional furniture.  Breakfast was included - there was a dining room for all the guests.  The only downfall is that the beds were "European" which is a fancy way to say "small and uncomfortable".

Activities:

We left the house at about 4pm for the 4 hour drive to Asheville - but were stunningly unprepared.  In fact we turned around within two minutes once we realized we did not even have our camelbacks with us.  Keith wanted to take the Audi on the off chance that we could be topless for the weekend - alas the weather did not support that objective.  The drive was a bit crummy as it spit down on us most of the way.  However, we arrived at 8:15pm as anticipated, getting there only minutes after Kim and Tom.  We quickly put our stuff in the rooms and headed out to dinner, which was then followed by a few beers at a pub.  We were quite proud that we arrived back at the inn at 1:30am, though that was mostly because we did not start until 9pm!

Art Loeb Trail: Not quite the fall
foliage we were expecting

After breakfast on Saturday, we headed out for our hike.  It took a bit of a drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway to get to the start of the Art Loeb Trail, where it was sub-30 degrees and snowing!  We were not exactly prepared for severe weather (Keith was in shorts), so after about 10 minutes of shivering we headed back to the car and decided to instead try Graveyard Fields.  This was a far better decision - there was no snow, it was less windy, and by the end of it we actually saw weather in the mid-50s.  We ended up doing a total of 4.5 hours of walking, so it was a really nice day. 

Art Loeb Trail: A bit too cold for us!

Graveyard Fields Trail: Much nicer!

After a quick shower, we had our complimentary glasses of wine in the lounge before heading out for dinner.  The goal was to head over to the Grove Park Inn for after dinner drinks, but all four of us were too tired to execute against that plan.

After breakfast on Sunday, we decided to try a couple of shorter hikes that were vaguely on the way home: Table Rock Mountain and Hawksbill Mountain.  These were far harder to find than they sounded on the web site - the trail heads are only 2 miles apart, not 5 as we interpreted.  Both hikes were "out and back" and rather short - but had beautiful views.  After a final meal in Hickory with Kim and Tom, we made it home by 8pm. 

Table Rock Mountain

Restaurants:

Dinner at Salsas

Salsas - We had originally planned to go to Limones, our "usual" place in Asheville, but Kim had heard from a friend that Salsas was excellent so we opted to try that. The restaurant is very casual - but the food excellent.  Kim, Shawna, and Keith all started off with mojitos - traditional, mango, and ginger - Shawna thought the ginger one was excellent.  The fried plantains, guacamole, and spliff rolls were great appetizers.  We shared several entrees including the Ultimate Molcajetes (a stew with a variety of meat and seafood in a lava pot) and Cuban Mojo Steak.  Kim had the Sweet Potato Paquetez (fancy word for a burrito).  It was way too much food but very tasty!

Cedar Crest Inn - We had breakfast here both days (included in the accommodation).  The coffee/tea was self-service, with what was described as a "3 course breakfast".  However, the first course was a tiny bowl of fruit, the second was a muffin, and the last was quite simple - so while filling, it was not quite three-course luxury. 

Corner Kitchen - This restaurant was also suggested by Kim's friend and was excellent.  Located in Biltmore Village, it is tucked at the end of a street in a building more than 80 years old.  We kicked off dinner with a bottle of Fiddlehead Cellars Sauvignon Blanc.  We shared a bread basket and Almond Crusted Brie (well, Keith ate more than his "share").  Keith and Shawna started with the corn and crab chowder and the calamari and shared a grilled fish dish served over chorizo mashed potatoes for our entree.  The food was very tasty!

Carrabbas - Typical chain restaurant fare, this was Kim and Tom's first Carrabbas experience (Keith and Tom would have preferred Outback but that would not have really met Kim's vegetarian needs).  We were ravenous since we had skipped lunch, but quickly filled up on the Bruchetta and umpteen bread baskets.  Keith and Shawna shared "The Johnny", which is a Sirloin Marsala and Chicken Bryan with mashed potatoes, preceded by a house salad each.