Asheville, NC - Day 1

Day 1 of our Asheville trip was a travel day. It takes several hours to drive there from where we live, and we planned our arrival to be sometime in the late afternoon.

 Driving there allowed us to stop at one of our favorite bbq joints in Ellijay, GA - Poole's BBQ. They are famous for their "pig hill." Back in 2014, we paid $5 to get Bri's name put on the hill. We hadn't been back since. I had a friend tell me a few months ago that she spotted Bri's name on the hill, so I knew it was there. We looked for it and it was really easy to find. Bri managed to get some prime real estate. ;) 

Her pig is toward the bottom - it's yellow and red...

The restaurant...

My scrumptious pork sandwich...

Lots of pigs...

We had reservations at the Grand Bohemian in Biltmore Village, Asheville. 

 

It was so beautiful...

The lobby was beautiful! I could have sat there all day! Look - purple lights...

There was a lovely art gallery...

Warm and inviting...

Art (that was for sale) lined the walls of the whole hotel...

Cool bar...

Our room wasn't quite ready when we arrived, so I decided to keep busy until it was...

Bri loved the free hot chocolate each day...

We finally got to our room and it did not disappoint...

 Curtains to separate the bedroom from the living area (where Bri was sleeping)...

Bri got comfortable quickly...

Pull out couch...

There are lots of restaurants and shops in Asheville that you can walk to from the hotel (Biltmore Village), so we walked to the Corner Kitchen at dinner time...

We didn't have a reservation, so we sat at the bar...

The soup was yummy...

Doug's dinner was delish (Asian crab cake)...

As pretty as my dish looked (see below), it ended up being very, very bland. It was supposedly a Spanish-type pork dish - which I thought would be super flavorful. Bland food is not the best case scenario for someone who has experienced anxiety issues coming from a taste and smell deficiency in the not so distant past. Luckily, Doug and I had planned to do the "plate swap" thing anyway (because both dishes sounded great), so I did get some flavor during my meal... 

Briana loved the chocolate creme brulee...

After eating, we walked back to the hotel and turned in for the night. The next day, we had a full day planned - visiting The Biltmore Estate.