My Sister and Me In The Mountains
Franklin, Highlands, and Asheville, North Carolina
My sister flew in to spend four days with The Unmistakable Family and I in the middle of my trip around the Southeastern United States. Her visit was the proverbial cherry on top of the past nine days spent traveling to The We Blew Inn in Franklin, North Carolina.
I made the 90-minute to Asheville and met Casie around 10:30 AM, the perfect time for brunch. Joel had recommended two restaurants in West Asheville for us to try and we decided on was Biscuit Heads.
About 20-minutes down the road, West Asheville sprung up out of nowhere. Biscuit Heads was the first place we saw. We ordered a biscuit dish each and took our seats.
I’m surprised they didn’t need a forklift to deliver each of our biscuits. Not only were they enormous, they were packed full of delicious, organic ingredients.
Casie ordered the “Chicken & Biscuit” and I ordered the “Pulled Pork Biscuit.” On top of their delicious food, they provided a hot sauce, jam & butter bar with a variety of about 20 jams, 10 butters, and 5 hot sauces. They were even nice enough to let Casie and me fill six different to-go cups full of our jams and butter to take back to We Blew Inn.
The next two days were spent at The We Blew Inn doing exactly what Casie wanted to do: nothing. There was the occasional outing to Caffé Rel, an upscale french restaurant located in a gas station, and a big bon fire in the back yard with friends, but we kept things relatively low-key.
During the bon fire, one of Joel’s friends, Justin and his wife, Kristina invited us to visit them in Highland’s that Saturday evening for an art exhibit Justin’s father was being showcased in. The show couldn’t have been located in a better place and at a better time. The Unmistakable Family, Casie and I already had plans to spend Saturday night in Asheville and Highlands was on the way. Well, kinda. It might not have been the quickest route to Asheville, but it was definitely a scenic one.
Since my arrival in Franklin, Nicole kept suggesting we see the nearby waterfalls. We decided to wait for Casie, but the chances still kept slipping away when she was there. Our detour through Highlands was the perfect opportunity to check them out.
We visited three different waterfalls along the way: One that was viewable from afar, one that we could walk behind, and one that was man-made.
This was a treat for all of us, and well worth the wait.
Our stop at the art exhibit was a short one, and before we knew it, we were on our way to Asheville. Casie and my plan for the night was to stay at the Bon Paul & Sharky’s Hostel in West Asheville. The area, as described by Joel, was super-local & chill. More-so than downtown.
The Unmistakable Family led the way, since they had been there many times before. They didn’t plan to stay at the hostel that night and stayed at a campground right outside of town.
While Casie and I got set up in the hostel, The Unmistakable Family went to Universal Joint, a local bar and grill also known as U-Joint, to grab us a table for dinner. Casie and I joined them shortly after.
Dinner was great, mostly consisting of burgers (black bean burgers for the veggies), fries and beer (root beer for Lily, of course.)
Even though the distance driven that day was relatively small, we spent a lot of time on the road, which meant Lily was wiped out. She was ready for bed, and Joel and Nicole weren’t too far behind her. They headed towards their campground since they still needed to check-in and get the camper ready before being able to call it a night.
Casie and I decided to explore, which we found out quickly wouldn’t take much time at all to do. Up one side of Haywood Road and back down in less than 10 minutes, we made one and only stop at Westville Pub where we shared a few drinks, some laughs, and listened to a great band.
A few weeks before my sister left for her trip, she mentioned on Facebook she was excited to come to Asheville. This warranted, as it does, quite a few comments suggesting places she should visit while there. Cafe Rel in Franklin being the first, and Early Girl Eatery in Downtown Asheville being another.
Cafe Rel definitely did not fail, so we trusted her source’s judgement and visited Early Girl the next morning. The wait was a stretch, but lead to an exploratory walk through the shops near the restaurant.
We found a few cool places and suggestions to visit Lexington Avenue. There we would find book stores, retro clothing stores, and more. After brunch and our fill of books & incense, we decided it was time to find one of the many breweries Asheville is famous for.
Before we could find a brewery, we ended up at a corner bar called The Thirsty Monk. Our waitress told us that Coxe Avenue, one of the side streets, was home to six different breweries within a quarter-mile stretch. So, down the stretch we went until we found a brewery, the Asheville Brewing Company.
There we sat, drinking our beer and reading our new books, enjoying the nice Asheville weather.
Throughout the day, I kept up with Joel and The Unmistakable Family. Earlier that morning, they took a hike with a few other families and were on their way to have dinner with them at a new friend’s house.
With the invitation extended, I couldn’t think of a better way to end our day in Asheville. The new friend’s house was only a few blocks outside of downtown, so we were there within minutes.
We walked into a house full of new friends, both the adults and the kids had groups of 10 or more of people meeting for the first time that day, yet the feeling in the air was one of long time friendships.
Of course, everyone was crowded in the kitchen.
It was no surprise since the countertops were filled with freshly made salsas and guacamole. The hosts were preparing a large amount of vegetarian taco ingredients, while Joel manned the blender, making sure everyone’s margarita glass remained more than half full. An optimistic drinker, he is.
Initially, I was nervous to see how Casie would respond to such a large influx of new faces to our afternoon. After about 15 minutes, I could tell she was having a good time and didn’t see a smile leave her face the remainder of the night.
After a few hours with our new found friends, Casie and I decided to return to the other side of town. We wanted to get back before it got too late since we had an early morning getting Casie to the airport.
On our way back, we decided we would go out for a nightcap. We decided it was worth being tired the next morning to enjoy a few more hours on vacation with one another.
We met a Canadian couple and an English traveler on our way out and invited them out for a drink. They joined us.
Not one of us knew where to go, so we just started to walk. We stopped into a nearby gas station located one light away from the hostel so Casie and I could grab snacks for the next morning. It’d be too early to have a proper breakfast.
Low and behold, while curiously window shopping their beer section, we realized there was an actual bar inside the gas station. They had their own fridge, draft selection, and a drinking area located on a patio out behind the building. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have a a drink at a gas station, so that is where we stayed.
During our chat, the English traveler, Rob mentioned he was traveling south, with hopes of making it to Miami. He was going the same way and leaving the area at the same time as me. So, it only made sense that we would drive together. I offered him a ride and he excepted.
I would return to Franklin for a few days before beginning my journey south with Rob.
