Today, I’m sharing our recent trip to Asheville, North Carolina with y’all! Asheville is a short 2.5 hours away from us here in North Georgia, and we love Asheville especially at Christmas time. We were able to go before Christmas this year, and it really made the holidays more special! So I’ll share the 48 hours we were in Asheville and what we did.
We got into town on Wednesday afternoon and went to downtown Asheville. Mark wanted to grab lunch and a local beer (Asheville has a lot of breweries and pubs) so we went to Foggy Mountain Brewing Company.
After lunch, we walked around downtown. One of my favorite things about Asheville is the architecture and the food. (Asheville is a big “foodie city.”) We came 2 years ago to celebrate our 25th anniversary and rode the Trolley a few times and learned alot about the city from that alone. I highly recommend seeing Asheville that way if it’s your first visit! I don’t know why I didn’t write a blogpost on that trip, but it was so much fun.
I love all the ornate gargoyles and architecture in downtown Asheville and at the Biltmore and the history behind it all!
A few of the pretty sights in downtown Asheville….
Mast General Store is a fun place to find gifts and just browse.
We had Chai Lattes at The Coffee Bus. How cute is this double decker bus that even has upstairs seating? Fun fact: It has been featured on many different movies and tv shows including Gilmore Girls.
I love a full moon so it was really beautiful seeing the December Cold Moon rise at dusk and into the Blue Hour while we were walking around. It was indeed cold while we were there, but it was nice because it felt very Christmasy with the temps in the 30’s and 40’s!
More pretty window displays…
We had drinks & dinner at the original Tupelo Honey and everything was delicious. I’m still thinking about that hot Cider with Cinnamoncello with spiced sugar on the rim-a perfect holiday cocktail. Mark had the shrimp and grits (excellent) and another local beer on tap and I had a beet salad with goat cheese. I made the warm pimento cheese dip with chorizo and sour cream (pictured below) for my boys on Christmas Eve and they devoured it! So good.
We walked around looking at books in Malaprop’s after dinner-a cozy place with a cafe and coffee shop in it.
Thursday morning we headed to The Biltmore where we had reservations for an all day tour. We had gone to the Midnight Christmas Tour a few years ago and had dinner at The Stables restaurant before the house tour. It was a very special place to spend our 25th anniversary dinner!
One of the most incredible things to me was learning that the floral department at the Biltmore is made up of 7 individuals that maintain all fresh greenery, wreaths, garland, etc throughout the Christmas season. The fresh greenery is changed out weekly!
If you’ve never visited, the brief history of the Biltmore is that George Vanderbilt had this 250 French Renaissance chateau built in the late 1800’s after purchasing 125,000 acres on a trip to Asheville with his Mother. It took over 6 years to complete and 1,000 workers including both local and international artists. George and his wife, Edith, had one child and they entertained frequently in the Estate, including many foreign dignitaries. George was an avid hunter and lived off the land which was thoughtfully placed with the Blue Ridge Mountains as the backdrop to the property. He did not want the house to be seen from the road, thus the long curving entry road that you have to travel by tour bus to get there!
Note the intricate and unique architectural details, including the gargoyles. There is a Roof Top Tour I want to take in the Spring sometime to learn more of the history.
The Winter Room with its glass roof as seen from the interior and exterior.
The Banquet Hall has the only living Christmas tree in the Biltmore; all other trees are artificial for maintenance purposes, but there are alot of real floral arrangements, fresh garlands, wreaths, and poinsettias throughout.
The Salon with its elaborate French style fabric ceiling was interestingly never completed in George Vanderbilt’s lifetime.
Exquisite view of the Blue Ridge Mountains from the back Loggia.
This painting called The Chariot of Aurora by Italian artist, Giovanni Pellegrini, is on the Library ceiling.
Loved this floral color palette!
George Vanderbilt’s bedroom…
The ornate wood paneled walls, ceilings, doors, wallpaper, etc are more examples of the extensive design and artistry that went into each room and space.
The gingerbread replica of the Biltmore in the downstairs kitchen was so neat and the whole area smelled like cinnamon! Love all the copper pots hanging, too.
The Gardening Rooms– I was able to meet and talk to 3 of the floral team members as they were creating fresh arrangements. They told me the info about the maintenance and freshening the greenery and florals I mentioned previously.
The back staircase with more mounted game on the walls. That is one of my favorite aspects in the Estate. The refined ornate beauty juxtaposed with the rustic.
The Billiard Room is my favorite space in the house because all of those elements are present!
We visited the new Downton Abbey exhibit which was very well done! We enjoyed seeing some of the spaces from the series and the projections of the characters made it feel like you were stepping back in time.
After a full day at the Biltmore, we were starving (we had a big breakfast but didn’t eat the whole day while there. Why, I’m not sure!?) We headed back to downtown Asheville and went to Barley’s Taproom & Pizzeria. Great seasonal beer and pizza! I had some unique cider type beer with cranberry juice, rosemary, etc that was so good. Barley’s is a fun, relaxed environment with live music and pool tables upstairs.
Finally, we walked around downtown taking in the Christmas lights & feels some more, then had dessert and coffee at French Broad Chocolate Lounge.
I got the salted caramel cake and Mark had a scoop of chocolate ice cream and a scoop of turmeric ice cream and that was so interesting. Very fun ambiance inside the Chocolate Lounge!
Leaving downtown that Cold Full Moon again over the Jackson Building.
And that was our 48 hours in Asheville, North Carolina! A very fun, romantic getaway. We packed alot in to those 2 days and it was just the perfect trip to get us in the Christmas spirit. If you haven’t ever visited Asheville, add it to your list of places to visit. The Western Carolinas have so much beauty and fun things to do, great food to try, and lots of outdoor adventures nearby in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Have any more Asheville suggestions for our readers? Leave us a comment!
Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, can you believe in less than a week it will be 2020?! Have a safe & fun NYE….
Leave a Reply