Asheville
September 4 - 7, 2009
- Brad and Nick had a 6 AM flight from Memphis through Atlanta, where we met up with Carrie and Adam, and then on to Asheville. We arrived in Asheville around 10:30 and picked up the rental car (Chevy HHR).
- We drove to the cabin we had rented for Labor Day weekend in Weaverville, just north of Asheville. Once we arrived, Carrie was left there to finish up some work and Brad, Nick and Adam went to the Ingles to get food and other stuff for the weekend.
- The cabin (click for link or to book) was really nice - it was on the highway, but the rear of the house was facing a large open field and the French Broad River.
It was equipped with solar LED lighting outside. Lots of windows in the cabin. The very nice owners (who lived in the house right next to cabin) provided floating tubes, frisbee, volleyball/badminton net and other fun stuff to do. - We explored the property a bit - an island, accessible via foot bridge was behind the house on the river. The owners also had a small cabin located on the island.
- In the afternoon and into the evening, we hung out on the river, reading and taking in some wine/beers. We didn't eat dinner, just snacked.
- Hot tuuuhhh time! Adam retired around 10, but Nick Brad and Carrie stayed up and had a few more drinks...went to bed around 2 AM.
- The next day, Brad and Nick got up around 11; Carrie and Adam had already been up. Adam had gone to Ingles for donuts.
- Brad cooked omelets for breakfast and then everyone hung out on the river for a while before deciding to go for a hike. We found a trailhead (actually a bike trail) about 5 miles south of the cabin on Hwy 251. There were actually two different trails, but the map didn't note distances. We just chose one and ended up hiking through the woods for about 45 minutes (according to Adam's GPS, about 1.84 miles). Turned around and headed back...none of us had brought water along, for some reason. Total hike was about 4 miles, at 1.5 hours.
- Nick's friend Tony, who lives in Sylva, NC came to the cabin to hang out. Nick and Tony took a float trip down the river a mile or so while Brad and Carrie built a dam in the river. Everyone ended up hanging out on the river for a while, then cooking chicken for dinner.
- The next day Tony and Nick met up with Jill, Tony's wife, for breakfast in Asheville. After returning, Tony left and the group went for another hike, this one much more scenic. We walked along a river for a while, and ended up hiking for about 3-4 miles total. Weather was really nice - sunny and not too hot.
After returning to the house, Brad, Nick and Adam played some badminton and then we had dinner and some beers before heading to bed.
- On Labor Day, before going to the airport, we had enough time to head up the Blue Ridge Parkway for a while and got some nice pictures of the scenery.
After that it was off to the airport and back to Memphis.
