In July, while on a short family vacation in Crozet, VA, our family had to make the decision regarding the upcoming school year…would we choose for our kids to attend virtually or a hybrid model.  It was an agonizing decision and while there were pros and cons to each, we weren’t comfortable sending our kids in person…and in person actually only meant two days a week in person.  One of the biggest pros for attending school virtually was that we could do it from anywhere.  Anywhere meant we could pick up and live somewhere else for an extended period of time.  Something we would have never been able to do in a normal non-COVID environment while still keeping the kids in school and while still working. 

I began exploring…we needed to go somewhere that was driving distance and somewhat still warm in the late October/early November timeframe.  Asheville, NC became our place!  I found a large home with five bedrooms and four bathrooms and while we don’t normally need a lot of space on a real vacation, this wasn’t a true vacation as we were living here working and going to school so having enough space for us all to be during the day on our computers without disturbing one another was essential.  

Sunday, October 25 the five of us strapped our seatbelts and with all our computer equipment, hiking gear, jackets for all occasions, a small but good variety of clothes, and a few other starter household items, we set out as a family in our Honda Odyssey for an experience that I feel so blessed to have made happen.

The girls were not as excited about the trip as Justin and me as they didn’t want to be away from their friends and miss Halloween in our neighborhood.  We hoped they would come around and view this experience as a gift.

We arrived Sunday evening and took Monday off to settle into the house, stock our fridge and pantry, and get acquainted with the downtown area.  As we were settling in, we noticed that the master bedroom chandelier seemed to collect lady bugs…one after the other and even a handful of them at once one evening.  Over the next few weeks, we found lady bugs all over the Master Suite…on the chair in the library, on the bedroom crown molding, in my dresser drawer, on the bathroom mirror, and occasionally back on the chandelier.  It was the oddest thing.  Justin was beginning to think there was something odd with the house as light bulbs kept going out one right after the other as well.  Anyway, Tuesday came…Justin and I worked and the girls went to school.  The weather was sunny and felt like 75 degrees…could not have been more perfect.  We went for an evening stroll through the neighborhood as a family.  We even brought the girls scooters and bike helmets with us so that they would be able to go outside on their own with something to do during the breaks.  Wednesday was super rainy, but finally the rain stopped about 4:30 so I encouraged the girls to come outside with me for a walk.  I walked outside to see a black bear in the neighbor’s yard eating from the bird feeder.  It was still at first so it took me a solid 20 seconds to realize it was actually a bear and not a statue or a Halloween decoration. Emerson may have had to actually say “bear” before I realized it was real! THAT was our first bear encounter. We ended up seeing the bear in person three more times and we know the bear came back even more frequently than that.  While it is suggested that people not leave birdfeeders up when bears are around, the neighbors clearly didn’t mind the bear coming around and truthfully appeared to keep encouraging it as they continually put the bird feeder back up within easy reach every time the bear knocked it down.  We even witnessed the neighbor talking to the bear as if it were a dog so we know they were aware of why the bird feeder was on the ground almost every other morning.  Needless to say, the girls did not ride their scooters the entire trip and I couldn’t blame them.  We also didn’t get that many family walks in nor could I get them to hang outside during the day on their own.  As much as I wanted them to get fresh air, I couldn’t argue with them…there was clearly a black bear in our neighborhood.  Justin and I invested in bear mase, although it was on backorder so we didn’t have it until the third week of our trip.  

Ironically the night we first saw the bear, Justin and I awoke to a loud sound at 1:00 a.m.  After investigation, three picture frames in the hallway had fallen off the wall.  The bat that Justin found under the master bed the night before came in handy as he walked around the house ensuring it was just a faulty nail that led to the falling frames and nothing else.  The girls had been sleeping on different levels of the house the first few nights and after this night, we decided to do some room swapping and have Emerson and Harper join Avery in one of the upstairs bedrooms.  It is kind of funny that this house had enough bedrooms for the girls to get their own, yet Emerson and Harper shared a bed the entire stay, even when they were downstairs and there were two bedrooms downstairs.   The next night was a huge windstorm across the East Coast and to be safe since this house is surrounded by massive trees, we all slept in the basement.  Friday night we all slept well and we hoped that this would be the end of all the oddities. 

Hiking.  Hiking was probably the number one reason that drew us to the area.  We realized pretty early on that the Asheville location is pretty far stretching and many of the hikes that were near Asheville were actually in other towns and easily took an hour to get to especially if taking the Blue Ridge Parkway.  A Parkway that is so beautiful but keeps my stomach in knots driving it…thus we took the Blue Ridge Parkway but not always especially if there was an alternate route.   Justin and I took off work a total of four days while we were there in coordination with some days so we were able to get a few long weekends in.   There were so many hikes in the area all ranging in type, duration, complexity, and proximity to Asheville.  The ones we ended up choosing were as follows:

1. Mountain to Sea Trail: Folk Art Center to Haw Creek Overlook – We got a late start hiking this day as the first trail we were headed towards (Craven Gap) was only roadside parking and there wasn’t any unless we wanted to park alongside a cliff and then walk on the Blue Ridge Parkway, neither of which sounded appealing to us.  We stumbled upon this trail as it was very close to home and we felt that time was ticking.  It was up and down the whole way and despite being scared every log was a bear, it was a great hike.  It was a 2.5-hour, 5-mile hike.  It was overall private and had a cool view at the end.  Not as amazing as some other views but certainly good for our first hike. 
2. Triple Falls and Hooker Falls, Dupont State Park – This was our second hike and after getting such a late start on our hike the day prior, we vowed to get an earlier start on this hike.  We started our hike about 10:15 and hiked the two trails in a little over 2 hours.  It was almost 4 miles and we saw several beautiful waterfalls.  This was definitely a heavily packed trail. 
3. Mount Pisgah Trail – This hike took over an hour to get there as we avoided the Blue Ridge Parkway as it was not much above freezing that day when we started out and there was a high wind advisory.  The last 5 miles of the drive was a windier and twistier road than the Blue Ridge Parkway and definitely frightening.  While this is supposedly a heavily traveled trail, it wasn’t this day, especially when we first started out.  Again, I thought every log was a bear!  This hike was really cool and the best part was that our final destination was a tower with an elevation gain of 1,131 feet.  For the last 30 or so minutes, I think we kept telling the girls 10 more minutes!  They were troopers.  This was our longest hike at 5 miles and 3.5 hours.
4. Catawba Falls Trail – This trail was just under 2.5 miles and was relatively easy.  We walked side by side a river with a nice waterfall at the end and we were able to climb some rocks to get fairly close to it at the end.  After two moderate hiking days, we felt the girls needed something a little easier and a somewhat shorter hike.  This hike was also less than 30 minutes from the house, which was a plus.  
5. Lookout Trail at Montreat – We did this hike on a Wednesday.  It was Veteran’s Day and Justin and I were off but the girls had a half day of school.  We were looking for a hike that was relatively close and on the shorter side.  This hike was only about 30 minutes away in Montreat, a small rural town.  This was a really fun hike. Very few people and despite it being wet and somewhat muddy, the girls showed a lot of teamwork especially when it came to the rock-climbing portion.  The hike itself was only about 1.5 miles so we added on a little on the way down with a neighboring trail.  We even played country music on the descent down…a fun hike!
6. Graveyard Fields Trail – This was definitely a top-rated hike, but not one of our favorites, with the exception of Emerson.  The trail was poorly marked and extremely muddy and when I say muddy, I mean sinking in mud, finding routes to avoid completely losing your shoe in the mud.  Avery and Harper were more winey than normal.  Just not our favorite hike.  There was a waterfall at the end. Since it was relatively short, and Black Balsalm Knob was close by, we attempted to add on with that hike, but parking was only roadside and full and where we parked ended up being part of the Sam Knob Trail, so we ended up walking the Sam Knob Trail for about 30 minutes. 
7. Wildcat Rock via Wildcat Rock Trail – This was probably my favorite trail and Justin’s favorite. This is a new trail that opened in 2017 in Gerton, NC due to hard work of Conserving Carolina.  It was a 4-mile, 2.75-hour hike.  It was by far the most challenging hike to date and super beautiful.  The elevation was 1,800 feet and took us by a 100-foot waterfall, a rock-climbing area, towering cliffs, and a panoramic view from Wildcat Rock.  An awesome trail and a beautiful day, which was made that much better considering they were calling for rain. 
8. Craggy Pinnacle – Craggy Pinnacle was more of an amazing view than a hike.  The only way to get there was the Blue Ridge Parkway and my stomach was in knots the whole drive there.  The temps also dropped significantly on our drive and it was a mere 40 degrees by the time we got to the top.  While we did wear our hiking shoes, we wore our regular clothes and did not take our hiking gear, except for Justin (we stuck a few things in Justin’s pack).  We made it to the top in less than 15 minutes.  The view was truly amazing. It was very sunny, almost blinding, but certainly a clear day. We were glad we did this “hike”, but we definitely know that we enjoy the hike, the hard work of getting to the top, and not just the view. 
9. Buffalo Creek Park Loop – We picked this trail due to its proximity to Lake Lure. It was a quiet trail and one that worked well for bikers.  Due to the lack of rocks, lack of streams, lack of waterfalls, and lack of sites (the few spots to view Lake Lure were through the trees and in the way distance), Emerson and Harper thought the hike was so boring and horrible.  Avery actually enjoyed it because it was much easier for her to navigate.  The trail was just under 4 miles and took us 1.5 hours.  This was the last hike we did…November 20^th was the date and the temperature was over 70 degrees and sunny.  A gorgeous day…even I took off my outer layers and was just wearing a tank!

Beer.  Apparently, Asheville is known for craft beer.  We didn’t know that when we booked the Airbnb but heard that from some people when we told them about our trip.  Our first brewery “burr-ey” as the girls call it was on the Friday after we arrived.  We randomly chose Highland as the reviews said it had a large outdoor space.  As we sat there in the bright cold sun, I started doing more research to figure out what breweries we may visit over the next four days as part of our long weekend.  I quickly realized that there were over 25 breweries in the area and asked Justin what his goal was to visit out of the 25.  Without hesitation, he said all 25!  My personal goal was 10 and figured anything over would be great.  The ones we ended up choosing were as follows:

1. Highland Brewery – Great outdoor space with separate tables.  There was a large indoor space, but kids were only allowed outside, which suited us just fine.  The IPA’s were pretty good.  We visited twice!
2. Twin Leafe Brewery – We went here the first weekend on a very cold day with crazy wind gusts.  We were one of the only ones outside…had a good family time.  The girls were acting so crazy I was hoping the one other table outside didn’t think I slipped them some beer.
3. Catawba Brewery – This was a cool space and had a decent outdoor area.  We visited on a Monday so it was pretty empty.  My favorite beer was here…Hopness IPA.  I also tasted a White Zombie Pale Ale that was pretty good.  The girls were being loud and the table next to us ended up going inside.  We visited here twice…the second time a quick stop on a Friday evening after work.  They were having a sale on the Hopness IPA so we took advantage and brought some home.
4. Burial Beer – This was Justin’s favorite.  It was definitely a cool outdoor space, but I had to go to the bathroom and was focused on ordering BBQ for dinner so I was that person who was on her phone the whole time and not enjoying the moment.  I was glad when we decided to visit here a second time the Friday before we left to say our final goodbye.
5. Wedge Brewing – We visited here with my parents as it was right near where we parked the car in River Arts District.  The beer was okay…I think the fact that we were having a beer and it was just after noon was the best part.
6. One World Brewing – They are located in the basement of a building.  While we drank our beers outside on the patio, the patio was puny and we had to order our drinks inside.  I don’t even think we lasted 20 minutes here before we jetted.  Not a brewery I would recommend during COVID.
7. Dssolver – Cool inside, but patio was small and lacking and someone had been smoking.  We ordered one drink here and then left.  Beer was okay. Not a brewery I would recommend during COVID. 
8. Wicked Weed – We visited here twice…Justin and I had drinks (me a flight) here after dinner the night we went out alone.  They had a good selection of hoppy beers and service was good.
9. Asheville Brewing Company – We ordered pizza from here three times and each time ordered some beer…two times to go and once eating outside.  Good hoppy beer. 
10. The Whale – While not a brewery, this was a hot spot of a place that had a ton of beers on tap. Justin and I stopped by here the evening after we went out to dinner by ourselves.  I don’t even remember what I had…other than it was something hoppy and we were without kids!
11. Whistle Hop Brewery – This was a random stop on our last day.  We had passed by this brewery on the side of a highway the week prior after one of our hikes and when we knew we were taking the same way home again on a hike the following week, we decided to stop off for 20 minutes…mostly so we could check the box for our 10^th brewery.  The beers were very unique…I tried a flight.  It was a neat outdoor space and Avery and Harper enjoyed kicking a soccer ball around while Justin and I had a drink and Emerson watched us all.

We made it to 10 breweries and several of them more than once.  I am glad to say that we made our realistic goal!

Halloween.  The girls were so sad to miss it this year in our neighborhood and while there wasn’t the regular door to door trick-or-treating, they knew from their friends that there was still a parade and festivities.  We brought a few costumes with us and the girls dressed up for virtual dance class and school as well as Saturday evening.  Saturday evening, Emerson was Ms. Doubtfire, Avery Liesel from the Sound of Music, and Harper a cowgirl.  We created an indoor scavenger hunt for candy.  Avery and Harper enjoyed it; Emerson thought it was lame.  Two out of three isn’t bad, right?

Smores and fires.  We took advantage of the outdoor fireplace and porch.  Justin built a fire on many evenings and we roasted marshmallows and made smores on at least three occasions. I participated and indulged each and every time. 

Food.  Believe it or not, I actually got sick of food while we there.  We definitely ate out (outside) and did takeout more than at home, but I think the reason I got sick of it was because not much of it was stellar.  We ate some good food, some that was disappointing, but not a whole lot that was truly superb.  Justin kept reminding me that I am comparing the food to the D.C. area, where the food is exceptionally good overall.  We did some cooking and grilling too, but not as much as at home…because truthfully, I wanted a little break. 

We grilled chicken (twice), burgers (twice), steak (three times), had a few pasta nights, a chili night, a charcuterie board (twice), a salmon night, a seared chicken and salad night, and leftovers a few nights. 

The restaurants we tried were as follows:

1. Asheville Brewing Company – We ordered pizza from here the night we arrived and ended up eating it a total of four times while we were here.  Great beer and really good pizza.  We got the pesto based a few times and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Good salad and dressing too. If you know us, the fact that we ate something more than once, means we must have really liked it!
2. Zia – Zia was the first Mexican food we had.  We ate it on our first Monday off.  With COVID-19, this restaurant became an order at the counter type restaurant with outdoor seating.  The seats were plenty far apart and the protocol made me feel comfortable.  The food was good, not great, but it was amazing to actually be served, have a cold beer, and eat an insane amount of chips and guac before our meal arrived.  A fun enjoyable experience.
3. Twisted Laurel Downtown – We ate there Saturday after a big hike around 3:30 in the afternoon.  It was rated #15 on TripAdvisor and the reviews themselves were good, but other than the ability to eat outside, the food was largely disappointing.  My salad, the burgers, the fries, the mozzarella and corroza appetizer all left something to be desired. It’s not often that I don’t finish my meal…this was not one of the times.  
4. White Duck Taco – We had heard great things about this place and the tacos were indeed good, but they weren’t Mexican tacos per say.  It was pretty much certain meals in a taco (i.e. BLT, lamb gyro, etc.).  Good and would eat again but not if I am in the mood for Mexican food.
5. Luella’s Barbeque – Pulled pork was pretty good and the hush puppies were super yummy.  I told myself we would order hush puppies at least once more while in Asheville, but then I forgot!
6. Old Europe Pastries – We tried some cake slices and a cupcake from here and all were delicious. I wish that we had indulged in some desserts from here a second time.
7. French Bread Chocolate Place – I stopped here and while the place looked super cute inside, I almost fell over when the 5 small chocolates and small chocolate chip cookie I ordered rang up to $19. Good but nothing special.  Nowhere closet to as good as Cocoa Vienna.
8. Whits – We went to Whits for an ice-cream treat for the girls.  They really enjoyed it.  I took a bite of theirs…glad I sampled theirs but wasn’t missing my own. 
9. Wasabi Japanese Restaurant & Sushi – Justin and I were in the mood for take-out for just the two of us one night and very little actually delivered to our address so we opted to pay a crazy fee for one of the few places that would deliver to us for almost the price of the food itself!  Let’s just say I am glad we didn’t get food poisoning.  It was edible but as I ate more, I truly hoped that neither of us would get sick the next day. 
10. Jargon – This was the number one rated restaurant on TripAdvisor.  We made reservations for Justin and me on the patio at 5:15 on a Sunday while my parents were here.  Appetizers were delicious.  I wanted to get the seafood dish despite it not being my favorite type of fish.  Dinner was good…somewhat similar to Clarity, but Clarity is definitely better…in terms of food and service. Service was okay but it took a really long time for Justin’s first drink to arrive, which is somewhat disappointing when the restaurant only has a few patrons in it.
11. Wicked Weed – We tried Wicked Weed after Justin and I stopped by for a drink one night on our own.  We ordered the potato chips nachos and since those were good as was the beer, we decided we would indeed make it back there with the girls.  I had a kale salad with salmon, Justin a burger, and the kids a burger and chicken.  Best of all, I was able to order a “hoppy” flight, the first flight I have had since COVID since most places aren’t serving flights.  The food came out super quick and was really good…not stellar but a really solid meal….kind of the equivalent of Open Road or Matchbox. 
12. Sonora – We did take-out from Sonora and while Justin had to literally step over a homeless man to get inside the door and they forgot some of our chips and salsas, the food itself was really really good…a little too much grease, but the carnitas and quesadillas and chips were all excellent.  We actually ordered Sonora twice, the last night we were here.  Very good, but very heavy too!
13. Woolworth’s – The girls each ordered a shake…Emerson the strawberry and Avery and Harper the cookies and cream.  Holy moly….talk about a thick shake. They were hands down superb shakes…the way shakes used to be made!

The second weekend we were here my parents came to visit.  That was huge as we hadn’t visited with my parents indoors since prior to COVID.  I was a little nervous at first but felt more at ease with each day that went on.  I was definitely disappointed not to be getting a hike in those days but we ended up doing a ton of walking both days.  Together we visited:

1. The River Arts District – We walked around and explored a bunch of the art galleries.  Everyone was wearing masks even on the streets. It was a welcome experience.  We stopped at Wedge Brewing for a beer a took a stroll along The French River.  We drove through downtown hoping for a quick lunch but the Biden celebration made everyone flock to the streets. It was fun to drive through but required a change of lunch plans a little further from downtown. 
2. Biltmore Estate – Tickets were crazy expensive so I debated if we really wanted to go.  I knew I would regret it if I didn’t even if it was overpriced.  My mom wanted to go to so we went the Sunday they were here.  It was honestly amazing…so hard to believe that some families had so much money and could build something that expansive and grandiose during the late 1800s.  It truly looked like a European castle.  We explored the grounds, the winery, the farm as well.
3. Beaver Creek Lake in West Asheville – This lake is a man-made lake in West Asheville, which was close to downtown.  We figured it was a way to see West Asheville and get some walking in.  The walk around the lake was 45/50 minutes…I think I thought it was only 20 so while it was a flat peaceful walk, everyone kept wondering when it was going to end!
4. Downtown area – We drove through downtown Asheville Saturday when Biden was declared President Elect and it gave me all the feels being a part of it even if for a few short minutes.  It was really cool to be a part of and glad the girls got to experience the feeling as well. 

The Election.  The Election was Tuesday November 3 and several of the states took days and days to finalize results due to early and mail in voting.  For almost five days straight, CNN stayed on in our main room.  We were thrilled when Biden was officially declared the winner Saturday.  It is just as amazing that the first female Vice President who is of color was also elected.  For my girls, President Barack Obama was President when they were born and now a female Vice President also of color all before they were 10 years old.  Equality for all is still something that is not a given in this country but we are certainly a lot further along than we have ever been and while more change is still necessary, I am glad that my girls see color but view it all as equal. 

Some other sites we visited:

1. University of North Carolina Asheville – We drove through the campus twice.  It was a small campus and appeared to not be in session, which many schools aren’t due to COVID.
2. Arboretum – We visited here the first weekend we were here.  They had a Lego exhibit and it was amazing to see the sculptures made from Legos.  The girls enjoyed reading how many Legos it took to make each sculpture.   It was super windy the afternoon we went but nice and we were there at the golden hour so we had an opportunity for some great pictures. 
3. Downtown area – We visited downtown area several times.  Overall, the downtown area was small but each time we visited we found a different street that we hadn’t frequented previously.  Downtown Asheville is liberal for sure!  There were also a lot of homeless people, mostly white and mostly young.  Definitely a lot of them were clearly on drugs too.  The Grove area had a lot of shops and we bought a couple simple souvenirs, but not too much.  I actually regret not buying a necklace and earrings by a local artist. 
4. Woolworth Walk – We stumbled upon here one Friday evening shortly before they were going to close.  We explored the art galleries and got to see one of the original Woolworth Counters and Justin and I enjoyed sharing our experiences of Woolworth as young kids as well as some history on Woolworth’s counters during the civil rights movement. The second time we visited, we let the girls order milkshakes and they were so thick and amazing delicious. 
5. WNC Farmers Market – This is an indoors/outdoors farmers market and I was really looking forward to going, but I was rather underwhelmed with the market.  We did buy some vegetables but visiting once was enough for me. 
6. Western North Carolina Nature Center – This was kind of a mini zoo.  We visited on our last week.  The girls were troopers with all our hikes and we felt like we needed to do something more for them.  We went on a Monday so there were very few people.  Good COVID measures in place.  The girls really enjoyed seeing the animals.  The red panda and bobcat (aka puma, cougar) were the two favorites, although truly the girls enjoyed all the animals. 
7. Lake Lure – This was a beautiful lake where Dirty Dancing was filmed.  The mountain roads around the lake were curvy and nerve-wracking.  We drove around mostly the whole lake and went through the town and the marina.
8. Chimney Rock – Just past Lake Lure was the town of Chimney Rock.  We debated getting out of the car as there was quite a mix of folks walking around, many of who did not give a darn about COVID.  In the end we parked and walked around the small town for a little bit and found a cool spot of rocks by the river.  Harper was ecstatic since it made up for the lack of rocks on our hike.
9. Grocery Stores – Merirmon Avenue had a ton of grocery stores to choose from and there were even more nearby.  There were several Whole Foods, a Fresh Market, a Trader Joes, and a Harris Teeter. We opted to go mostly to Whole Foods and Trader Joes with some curbside pick-ups from Target.  I was impressed with all the good quality grocery stores.  The most local store was Ingles, which was kind of like a Food Lion.  While it was across the street and okay, the clientele did not wear masks or wear then properly so the three minutes I ran into the store to purchase Halloween candy was enough for me. 

I almost forgot to mention my man’s man bun.  Honestly, he fits right in….a few tats and he would really fit in down here!  Justin hasn’t cut his hair since February.  We keep pushing his goal of growing it….I think now he has agreed to go at least a full year!  Justin’s hair, our month trip to Asheville….all made possible by COVID.  I certainly want this pandemic to be over and life to resume back to normal, but in the meanwhile, we are taking advantage and living life to the fullest with long hair, ladybugs, and bears.