Saturday we decided to drive up to Asheville for the day to explore a little of its downtown. Honestly, I wish we had gone to Asheville more before we had kids and while we still lived in Greenville, SC full time. We have been there several times but usually for a purpose, like a concert. I feel like I am just now discovering all the wonderful things it has to offer and it’s much easier exploring when you don’t have children with you. That being said, there are lots of wonderful, family oriented activities there. Unfortunately our kids are still too small to do some of the ones that I would like to do, like zip lining! There are several places up there that offer it and I would love to check them out sometime!
Downtown Asheville has so much to offer; local coffee shops everywhere and tons of fun cafes. Asheville has something for everyone. If you cannot find something you like to eat or do downtown then something is wrong with you! We started off our day eating at Biscuit Head. Like their name implies biscuits are the theme of the menu. How awesome is a place that offers gravy flights and a biscuit bar with all kinds of syrups and jams. Be prepared to wait. When we got there the line was out the door and down the sidewalk. Thankfully it went fairly quickly and we ordered and were seated within about 20 minutes. I ordered the classic biscuit, which was egg and cheese (the biscuits are HUGE by the way) and I got a side of pulled pork. I went to the bar and got some sriracha honey (!!!) to drizzle over my biscuit and I’m so glad I did because it was fantastic and took it to the next level.
After our brunch we went to a downtown park where they were having an arts and craft fair, which are always fun to browse through and listen to local musical talent. Also at the park they have something called Splasheville, which is an interactive water fountain located in the Roger McGuire Green in Pack Square Park. It’s a fun place for the kids to cool off and play. Sadly, it was down for maintenance. Luckily, people were out making balloon animals and bead bracelets so the girls still had fun while Jim and I sat on a blanket in the shade of a tree!
Just a block over from the park is the French Broad Chocolate Lounge, a chocolate lover’s dream come true. They have tours of their chocolate factory that last about 1.5 hours as well, which we’d love to go back and do sometime in the very near future. We ordered quite a few things…. 2 pieces of their Quintessential Chocolate Cake (devil’s food cake featuring Carolina Ground flour, whipped ganache, dark chocolate glaze and curls), 1 cacao nib brownie, 3 chocolate chip cookies and 1 dark chocolate salted caramel. We look forward to going back and sampling more chocolatey treats!
We decided to take the long way home through the mountains. It was a nice way to end the day. It is always fun discovering new things to do close to home!
Let’s Chat:
Have you ever been to Asheville? What are your favorite things to do there?