exploring asheville

Since we were only 45 minutes away, we knew we wanted to spend a day in Asheville, NC while we were vacationing at Lake Lure. Tuesday presented the perfect opportunity. We woke up to overcast skies and we were all a little worn out from all the fun in the sun the day before.

I decided that would be a good day to head 45 minutes north and explore Asheville for the day! We headed our onto the hairpin turn roads...it is such a beautiful drive! It is a little tough to appreciate it when you are hanging on for dear life as you go around all the twisty-windy roads!

We did arrive in Asheville safe and sound, and we began roaming around.

There were musicians everywhere. We even saw what looked to be a 7 year old little girl playing her violin. Asheville is known to a very "crunchy", artsy community. The kids picked up on that fact pretty fast.

Dylan's observation was, "Alot of people aren't wearing shoes here, and I don't know how I feel about that". Karsen said, "There are alot of different hairstyles here!" She was referring to all the dread-locks we saw. LOL

It was fun to roam around and because I did my research, I already knew where we would be eating lunch.

Tupelo Honey Cafe! According to the reviews it is the best place to eat lunch in the area. When we left 4 our of 4 of our family members agreed.

They start with homemade southern style biscuits with honey and blueberry preserves. I am not exagerrating when I say I ALMOST CRIED when I took the first bite. They were SO delicious. I thought Chris really was going to cry! He has been doing this low-carb diet, and I am so glad he decided to break the rules for one meal. He didn't regret it. Dylan gave the place a 10/10. He is our toughest critic too. SO DE-LISH!

After lunch we walked down the street to a old church that Chris wanted to see. It was historic and beautiful with stained glass everywhere you looked.

We even took the time to stop and smell the roses... Asheville did not disappoint!

"Don't hurry, don't worry. You're only here for a short visit. So be sure and stop to smell the flowers."
--Walter Hagan

lake lure-fun in the sun

We spent the first day at Lake Lure, recuperating from the drive. On Sunday morning, we all woke up ready to explore the area! We didn't have to go far. Just 88 steep steps away, was the entire lake!

We fished......

Dylan jumped.....

Karsen jumped too!

Chris enjoyed some quiet time on the kayak.

He explored the whole lake early in the mornings while we slept in. (That's what I call a win-win).

and we all swam!

It was pretty close to a perfect day. This last picture cracks me up. It looks like I told the kids to smile big as they possibly can. I didn't! I just said, "Smile if you're having fun!"...and we all were. Their smiles pretty much sum up how we all felt about spending a week in such a beautiful place!

lake lure

Last week we went on our last trip of Summer 2012. We have always loved the mountains of NC, so we went back to one of our favorite spots.

Lake Lure, NC!

Here was the view from the deck of our house. We found the house on VRBO, and it was awesome! You never know if the pictures will reflect the rental they advertise, but this house just oooozed with charmed, and it was a perfect fit for our family for the week!

Lake Lure is tucked about 45 minutes south of Asheville. From Asheville it is only ~20 miles but the roads are two lane, and there are some pretty precarious hair pin turns. It is a pretty drive! Lake Lure just so happens to be where they filmed Dirty Dancing way back when. They have an annual Dirty Dancing festival and everything; it's basically their claim to fame.

Aside from that it is a sleep little town that forces you to slow down, relax and unwind; which is exactly what our family was needing!

The first day we did a whole bunch of nothing! After the long drive and having left at 4:00am in the morning (Chris' idea, not mine!) , we were SO tired when we got there! We took a long family nap, and looked forward to whatever the week brought our way.