I went for a weekend to Asheville and I will highly recommend this location for a weekend trip. Plenty to eat see and relax and even a lot of hiking that I didn’t do but that if it is your jam you would enjoy greatly. Here is a summary of my activities for the 3 days.
Day 1
5:00pm – welcome drink at the Battery park book exchange. I am obsessed with this place a bookstore and a champagne bar? this could not be more up my alley!
before heading to dinner, some afternoon night shopping, some of the highlights were Sol Collective and Madam Clutterbuckets
8:00 pm dinner at Rhubarb. Sadly not as wonderful as I expected.
Day 2
To start of the day a nice ride through the Blue ridge parkway to get to …
9:00 am: Soji spa was an amazing discovery of this trip. A spa nested in the middle of the forest, the highlight are the salted hot tubs and it is just amazing. I booked it for an hour and after I realized why people book it for multiple hours. A meditative and restorative heaven
11:30am I came back right in time to have Brunch at chai pani as soon as it opened. Since they don’t make reservations, highly recommend this hour to get a quick table as the line gets pretty big. I had very high expectations as it was James Beard Best Restaurant of 2022. Although it is not the best restaurant in the US in my book, it was definitely the best meal I had in Asheville and some of the best Indian I’ve had in the US. amazing!
Afterwards, I did some walking around Downtown. Went to the Grove Arcade which is beautiful and some of the best stores I saw were Adoratherapy where I had a wonderful Aura reading and loved the chakra candles, Enter the Earth for some crystals and my favorite Asheville Bee Charmer, where I bought a lot of honey and was obsessed with the honey taster. I also went to check the Basilica of St Lawrence
2:00pm Walk through the River arts district. I was very excited to go here, but in honesty in was my least favorite part of Asheville, the art was good but not great and walking around is super complicated. There are two highways in between and a massive construction in the middle so its not the relaxing walk I thought it was going to be.
4:00pm therefore I went back early to the Downtown shopping area to do some more walking. Another cool store I found was Earth Magick
4:30pm I took a Candle making class at at hummingbird candle co. and it was so much fun. Mayor points for them giving me a discount in my extras by singing karaoke. Also I really appreciated the bachelorette party that adopted me.
7:30pm I went for a pre dinner drink to Sovereign Remedies. Loved the vibe as well as the creative drinks.
9:00pm had dinner at Nengs jr. Alsolutely charming tiny filipino restaurant that I highly recommend. After I went it came out in the best restaurants in america from the NYtimes
Day 3
8:00am Went to have breakfast at Biscuit Head before heading to the Biltmore. This was such an amazing discovery! The gluten free biscuit was spectacular, and my body, that had not had a decent biscuit in over 10 years was in heaven. Also the smores coffee was to die for, I’m going to be putting marshmallows in my coffee soon.
9:30am the start of a full day at the Biltmore. I went early because I wanted to walk the gardens first and then had my reservation at 1030 for the house. However since it was pouring rain, I went there early, absorbed the fabulous gift shops and managed to get into the house earlier. I did the walk in the afternoon, and as a bonus, your tickets give you a second day of the gardens so went the next day early before leaving. The Biltmore for sure is a half day venture, and most realistically a whole day venture if you want to see all the things.
First up in the schedule, The House. first, the entryway was gorgeous
Some of the inside rooms…
They have a library of dreams, Beauty and the Beast style
Some gorgeous tapestry and art
As well as the cool indoor pool and kitchens
Some highlights of the gardens
I was of course going to love the gift shops if in September they have a Christmas store as wells as over 10 trees in their regular stores! I Think this makes me think that I want to come back in Christmas, this house in Christmas must be a beauty
I also ventured to the town and its stores. I had lunch at the Stables Cafe, it was mediocre but got the job done. The art exhibition was good, and I really enjoyed the history of the family. I of course went to the winery, and sadly the store is better than the wine. But the wine tasting is free so Definity go for it, just lower your expectations as to the quality of the wine!
7:00pm Dinner at Curate. This was the most publicized restaurant in Asheville so going there was the forgone conclusion. It is a fabulous Spanish restaurant but the food was normal good not inventive good.
Before I left the final day four great spots: A repeat of Biscuit Head, some wonderful walking in the Biltmore gardens and treks , lunch at Corner Kitchen where I had the most amazing Rueben sandwich and a stop at the Olde World Christmas Shoppe which was soo amazing. final two stops:
I stayed half the time in downtown and half my time in Biltmore village, and I would recommend that you stay in Downtown. Pretty much any place in downtown is good, but uber is a nightmare and since I don’t like driving at night, its the most convenient place. Also because for Biltmore you still need a car to go in so you have to drive anyway.
Tati's Tidbits 