Well, it isn't really paradise. It's rained heavily during the past two days, but each time the downpour came at the best possible time while we were inside. You really can't ask for more than that, and being extremely hot natured and having lived my entire life in pats of Georgia, I have trouble believing I can ask for more (or less?) than highs in the 80s in July. It's close enough to paradise to me.
On Tuesday, the rain came down torrentially while we explored the Grove Hotel. I'll have to post photos of that place when I get home. It's an entirely stone construction (at least in the middle original part of the building) and the stones that cap each window are medium sized boulders. It's ridiculous. We spent enough time in there that we were surprised when we came out to get back on the Trolley that some of the streets were a little flooded. Not long after the trolley picked us up, the rain petered out and we were able to walk the River Arts District without drowning.
Today, the rain came down hard on us while we were in the car headed to Hendersonville. It was the type of rain that forces you to slow down so your wipers on high can keep up. We'd outrun the storm by the time we got to the town and parked but it caught up to us while we were in the restaurant eating. Oddly, it'd stopped again while we ate. There was no issue with rain after that.
Other than the rain, we hiked around Chimney Rock from about 11 a.m. to almost 2 p.m., which at $13 a person and the crowds isn't really worth it, but it does have some awesome views and would be a cool place if it were a normal state park and not a state park still functioning on private park rules and procedures, and if you could get rid of most of the people. I did get to rent a really nice baby backpack to carry E around on the hike and he enjoyed it as always. He was a little fussy yesterday, but there wasn't a peep of complaint out of him during our entire three hours in the park. He was enthralled by the waterfall there, which wasn't very large in amount of water coming through, but was incredibly tall.
After the hike and lunch in Hendersonville, we strolled through the downtown area and found a kids museum that was really just a big play area. E's been pretty good the past few days considering the time he's spent in a car, stroller, or otherwise constrained, so we spent the $8 (free for him, $4 for each parent) and let him run wild for an hour and a half before packing him up to head back to the campground. It'd been a busy day for him and considering the excitement of the hike and kiddy play museum, he'd missed his second nap of the day. He fell asleep in the car on the way back at about 6 p.m. and didn't really wake up until about 5 this morning.
Luckily, I was in the camper with my parents. (K's parents took over the yurt so E and K are staying with them. I took the other bed in the camper instead of sleeping on a blanket on hardwood floors.) I slept until about 7 a.m. I feel nice and refreshed.
Tomorrow (or today if you're reading this on Thursday, which is likely*) we're heading out. We're going to stop back in downtown Asheville to let K show her mom some shops in the area and I'm going to try to work in a lunch at Asheville Pizza Co. for one last beer sampling before we start heading north for Cleveland.
* I was too tired last night to get this posted, so I went to sleep instead. Screw you and your excessive dependence on this blog.
3 comments:
Really old stone buildings are cool. I'll have to check that place out if I'm ever staying in the area.
My second cousin used to manage the restaurant there. It is super tasty.
And also, you're the one who gets his panties bunched into a wad when someone goes more than one day without commenting.
I think it's called the Grove Park Inn. Could be wrong. We didn't make it up there on our trips to Asheville, but I've heard it's worth seeing.
Post a Comment