Along the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina is a funky town with a bit of everything. Asheville NC, is a Mecca for weirdness…luckily we found our way there to visit my niece, who has just started college, and my parents, with whom we shared a cute AirBnB. Asheville‘s charm ranges from a sanctioned graffitied River Arts district (complete with painting rules and permits required), a South City brewery neighborhood (touting 100+ breweries in the greater vicinity), many cozy vegan cafes, or fancy upscale rooftop restaurants. There is even a 10-person bicycle thing that peddlers cruise around town on while drinking beers…just watch out for houseless folks sleeping on the sidewalk, or following you around with handfuls of whatever they pulled out of their pants. And don’t miss the party bus that travels around town with a live band & kegs of beer!
Thankfully for us, you can get out of there in about 20 min and be in some beautiful nature😜. We dragged my family to all the outdoor hotspots on the weekend. Chimney Rock State Park boasts a spring-fed 400+ ft waterfall - one of the tallest of its kind. Over 800 steps to burn your thighs off, takes you up to a commanding view of the “Dirty Dancing” Lake Lure. An elevator for the smart, and a tall tower of rock jutting out from canyon wall, are still only a few of the offerings this park had to offer.
Tired legs called the shots the next day: a river paddle. The French Broad River, as the shuttle driver exclaims, is the oldest river in the world… We pondered that, as we kayaked around rocks and past log jams under bridges thru Asheville. A sunny day on a fast moving river was the ultimate complement to the pains
gathered on the previous days hiking.
