Asheville Trip with My Employees

Jake & I were invited to go see Asheville with some workmates from My Employees. Jake had never been to western North Carolina and I hadn't been to Asheville since college when we did an Interior Design trip to see The Biltmore Estate. We had such a nice to together.

We headed out Friday evening after dinner and drove to Charlotte. Saturday morning we hit IKEA (forgot to snag a photo) and shopped for some items that we needed for the beach house. We then grabbed lunch at King Fish Poke in Charlotte - Yum. From there we headed toward Asheville.

We drove up and down all the windy roads to Chimney Rock. It was quite the hike by car and by foot. Jake decided to count all the stairs to get up to the lookout - 440 stairs up. We decided to not do this trip with our kids. They would all be carsick by the time we arrived and then the hike probably wouldn't go so well.  All 440 stair steps.  Maybe in a few years...

At the top of Chimney Rock

440 of these stairs to get up to the lookout at Chimney Rock

After checking in to our hotel, we ventured downtown Saturday evening for dinner at Salsa's. It was amazing food! 

Sunday was the My Employees group outing day. We did the 9 mile White Water Rafting with French Broad Adventures. The view and scenery on the river was absolutely gorgeous. We saw a bald eagle while rafting, Jake decided to do the 25 foot cliff jump into the water - it took his breath away. We also got rained on for a good 10-15 minutes, two people in our raft fell out on the last class 3 rapid (not us thankfully). It was a fun adventure!

Later that evening the whole My Employees group met at White Duck Taco for dinner. It's so fun trying out local restaurants in a new town. Our white water rafting river guides recommended this place.

We shared an ice cream sandwich from Sunshine Sammies

Monday Jake & I explored on our own. We were trying to find Graveyard Falls but had inaccurate directions, then no cell service, then found a handwritten and badly faded sign with directions to Graveyard Falls which didn't quite pan out BUT we hit the Blue Ridge Parkway and happened upon Devil's Courthouse and Sunburst Falls. They were both breathtaking views and it was a fun adventure!

Monday evening we met some My Employees friends, for dinner, at Asheville Pizza & Brewery. After dinner we migrated over to The Hop Ice Cream Cafe for some dessert.

Tuesday morning we explored a little more of downtown Asheville and tried High Five Coffee. Then we started the drive home to Wilmington. We will be visiting Asheville again, we hope!