It was happenstance that I picked Asheville to road trip to, but I’m glad I did. In addition to the Aloft Downtown Asheville foster dog story I posted, I thought I would share some highlights from my trip. I took thousands of photos, but here are just a few of the abridged stories (haha get it?) Bridge photos…abridged stories? Anyone? Anyone? Rigby has some funny captions too and there is a bonus photo at the end.
Go Take a Hike!
When planning my trip to Asheville, I found that the place was filled with places to hike. After working at a summer camp in northern Georgia from ’08-’12 (whaddup Camp Coleman), I really miss the mountains and hiking in the woods. I found a listing of trails online and picked the shortest and easiest one. I’m no hiking pro. C’mon now!
I found Lookout Trail, which is about 20 miles from Asheville and boasted a beautiful view with a moderate incline and a short distance. I bet you’re saying to yourself…”Adam, where’s the mountain view photo?” Sadly, the answer to that is, I never made it to the top. I took the wrong damn trail by mistake, which was much longer, steeper and challenging. It was so steep that I had to hold on to branches and rocks all while making sure Rigby was okay too. Not an easy feat for a novice hiking team.
The trail I took started to head downhill before I saw any sort of lookout and the way down was very steep and I even slipped a few times. Don’t worry! I’m okay! I do appreciate your concern though.
This was by far the most challenging hike I’ve been on and a first for Rigby too. The trail brought me 2 miles away from my car and I had to carry him the whole way back because he was exhausted. Luckily I was able to just take the road and not hike the mountain again.
Once I found my car, you’ll never believe it…I found the actual Lookout Trail, which started right behind where I parked. I never saw it initially. The silver lining to all of this? I found this bridge and it made for some awesome photos.
“You took us on the wrong trail and now I have to pose for MORE photos?!?
“Squirrel?”
“Umm, excuse me, we’re in the middle of a photo shoot here.”
“ZzZzZzZz”
Breakfast with a Garden
Yelp has a great search filter that will only show spots that allow dogs and have waiter service. I did a quick search and found the Sunny Point Cafe in West Asheville. The food was so delicious that I ate their twice for breakfast. I had a homemade biscuit with eggs, fried chicken and sliced tomatoes. The service was awesome too! Rigby got his own bowl of water and treats! If you go, get there early, there was a line out the door, but you can order drinks from the host while you wait.
This photo was taken on the side of their garden, where they grow their own veggies.
“You get a biscuit, eggs and fried chicken and all I get are milk bones? Not cool!”
Beer + Dogs = My Happy Place
There are tons of breweries in Asheville, which was one of the main reasons I made the pilgrimage. This photo was taken at Twin Leaf Brewery in the South Slope area. Rigby and I met some cool people and even played a few rounds of Cards Against Humanity. Everyone was so nice and friendly. When can I go back?
“I heard they recently added more HOPS to it”
Bonus Photo
So Rigby and I didn’t make it to the top of the mountain, but I did get a glimpse through some of the trees, so the hike wasn’t a total loss. If you would like to see even more photos from our trip to Asheville, check out my Instagram.
