Weekend in Asheville

Hey guys! Hope you had a great weekend and that your week has gotten off to a great start.

Last week was kind of rough because I was sick. I started feeling bad on Sunday and things just went downhill after that. I felt really bad Monday-Wednesday (fever, sinus issues, aches) and then was dealing with a cough and congestion through the weekend. Despite that, I was happy to be feeling a little better by Friday because I had plans for a weekend trip to Asheville, NC!

B and I have somewhat opposite schedules and he is in the midst of back-to-back weeklong work trips. So when he suggested going out of town for the weekend to get a little R&R and spend some time together, I thought that sounded like the perfect idea. I have lived in the Charlotte area for 5 years now and Asheville has been at the top of my list of places to visit.

We headed out of town after work on Friday and were all checked into our hotel in time for a late dinner. We stayed at Aloft, which is right in the heart of downtown Asheville. There’s an Aloft in Charlotte and the layout is pretty similar. The hotel is pet-friendly and it’s within walking distance of lots of breweries and restaurants.

We spent a lot of Saturday walking around the downtown area, checking out local shops, trying a few local breweries and eating great food.

We tried several great restaurants throughout our trip, but our favorite was Curate, a Spanish place with a tapas-style menu. If you are visiting the area, you HAVE to try this restaurant! It has over a thousand 5 star reviews on Trip Advisor and I can definitely understand why. The food is completely amazing. Just be sure to make a reservation wayyyyy in advance because apparently they book up quickly!

We had a tough time deciding on the meal because the menu is seriously amazing, but ended up settling on 8 tapas (with the waiter’s recommendations!). Eight sounded like a lot to me but I think it ended up being the perfect amount for wanting to sample a lot of things without feeling completely stuffed:

I am going to give you the English version of our meal but you can check out their menu if you want to see the authentic Spanish name :

Curated blend of olives with lemon, rosemary and thyme // spanish cheese tray // mussels, scallops and clams served chilled with a roasted tomato and garlic vinaigrette // piquillo peppers stuffed with spanish goat cheese // lamb skewers marinated in moorish spices // grilled pure iberico pork skirt steak with fresh rosemary and thyme // grilled asparagus with romesco sauce // mushrooms with sherry

We decided that if we ever went back, we would probably not get the olives or the seafood dish. We both love olives and tend to gravitate towards them on a menu, but then we walk away wishing we had ordered something else. The seafood dish was good but we didn’t feel like it was worth $15. WE LOVED the pork skirt steak SO much. It was seriously the most amazing thing either one of us had ever eaten. The restaurant was telling us that they don’t always have the meat because it gets imported from Spain and sometimes it isn’t available. I’m so glad we got to try it and we’d definitely recommend the restaurant to anyone visiting Asheville.

On Sunday, we had brunch at Biscuit Head, visited the Biltmore Estate and shopped around Biltmore Village before heading back to Charlotte. I took so many pictures at the Biltmore that I decided to save it for a separate post!

My overall impression of the Asheville is that it’s a little bit crunchy and really embraces the local culture. If you live in Charlotte then it’s a great place for a simple weekend trip because it’s not too far away. They have a TON of breweries within walking distance of downtown, so it’s a great place for beer drinkers that love a good craft beer. I think since I’m not a huge beer drinker that I couldn’t really appreciate that as much. We didn’t check out any of the outdoorsy stuff since I wasn’t feeling well, but we decided that we would definitely like to come back and go hiking and mountain biking sometime.

Sometimes a weekend away is the perfect thing to help you rest and recharge for another work week! I am also feeling a lot better this week (finally) so I can get back into my normal routine.

Have you ever been to Asheville? If so, I’d love to hear what you thought of it!

Where is your favorite weekend getaway?

What did you do this weekend?