What a weekend!!! Keri, Kendall, Amanda and I packed up and had a fantastic weekend in Asheville, NC. We have been day-dreaming about this trip for over a year and we finally made it happen. Here we are at the airport, drinks in hand, ready for the weekend!
We stayed in an absolutely GORGEOUS house in the mountains. The house belongs to Keri's in-laws and they were kind enough to put us up in this beautiful moutaintop-lodge-of-a-house.
And while the house couldn't have been any better, let me just tell you that it was not such a good idea to try and navigate to this house in the pitch black darkness on Thursday night. It was PITCH DARK and we were driving on a MOUNTAIN! And it was RAINING!! And THERE was FOG! And scary red-neck drivers flashing their lights at us! Ahh! The drive there was terrible, mostly because we went a backwoods way with so many twists and turns that poor Amanda literally barfed up her Burger King from the back seat. It was NOT FUN! But in true Mom-Warrier spirit, we rallied and woke up the next day ready for the weekend and all the fun it would bring.
For starters, we toured the historic Biltmore Estate, home of the Vanderbilt family. We had lunch at the beautiful Stable Cafe, toured the Estate, and enjoyed tasting many different wines at the Winery.
Here are Kendall and Keri on the bus at the Biltmore.
Lunch at the Stable Cafe
Kendall, Amanda, and Keri posing on the front lawn of the Biltmore.
Wine tasting. The gal who checked our ID's thought we were on Spring Break and guessed we were 22 or 23. That was nice. haha
After our tour of the Biltmore, we had a nice dinner at the Grove Park Inn, which is a beautiful resort in the mountains with gigantic fireplaces and lovely mountain scenery. Here are me, Kendall, and Amanda enjoying the rockers in the lobby while we wait for our dinner reservation.
We dined on the Sunset Terrace and had an amazing sunset view and a fantastic dinner.
Keri and Amanda looking stunning:
Now it's Kendall and my turn. Kendall and I had a Caprese Salad, Steak Diane, and Cheesecake /Key Lime Pie for dessert. It was really really really YUMMY!
I wish I could say that we went out aftewards boozing it up and partying, but really we were eager to get back to the house and no one was going to risk that twisty, turny drive with anything but 100% of their wits about them. We did stay up late though eating junk food and chit chatting about everything til way past midnight (see, I said past midnight...we are hard core!)
Saturday was our adventure/indulgence day. We started out hiking Chimney Rock. Actually, before we hiked, Amanda and Keri, did some crazy rock wall climbing. And not the rock wall climbing that you do at gyms or on cruises. Like these chicks actually climbed up a ROCK wall. They kicked its butt too!
Then we huffed and puffed and hiked our way to the waterfall at Chimney Rock, snagged a few pics, and then hurried off to our next destination, Shoji Spa, which was literally a spa oasis in the mountains.
This was my very first visit to a spa (I know, what was I waiting for?!?). We started our experience by alternating between the hot tub and the cold plunge (we spent 99% of our time in the hot tub). The water was something like 100degrees and the air was probably 50 degrees so it felt awesome to go from hot to cold. Then we stopped in the sauna where we got an eye-full of some of the other guests...but I will spare you the details. Next was our 50 minutes massages. This was my very first massage and I wasn't so sure I was going to like it because well let's be honest, I'm a little uptight...and very tickleish. But OMG, can you say AMAZING!!! It was soooo relaxing and I was actually surprised when it was over. "That's it? We're done? Seriously? You sure?"
I look like I'm freezing here. I was.
Check out the background....a hot tub that overlooks the mountain. So cool!
Anyway, it was a great day and we finished it off by ordering some disgustingly greasy Chinese food and drinking wine back at the house.
We had to wake up pretty early Sunday in order to drive back to Charlotte to catch our flights back home.
It was a wonderful trip with some fabulous friends and I think it all made us come home more refreshed and ready for day.
My mom had come up to watch Brenna on Friday while Brett worked but other than that, he was on his own with her Saturday and Sunday and he did great! I think they really enjoyed their time together. I couldn't wait to get home to them and Brenna gave me the biggest smile when she saw me and laid her head on my shoulder and just laid on me so sweetly for quite a while.
Here's a pic that my friend Amy took of Brett at the beach with Brenna while I was gone. Didn't he do a good job at getting the lotion on? :-)
