So You Travels: A Weekend in Charlotte and Asheville, NC - Things to Do and Places to Eat

With limited time off from work, we picked July 4 weekend to get away just the two of us while the kids are away at sleepaway camp for the summer. We wanted a destination that had an easy, short flight, so we flew direct in and out of Charlotte. From there it was a 2 hour drive to Asheville, which allowed us to see Charlotte, and also works out to be about the same, by the time you add in the time of a layover. We always love exploring new places. I’ve also learned to experience food more as part of travel, so I’m also sharing where we ate. I’m gluten sensitive (not celiac), and my husband is pescatarian away from home, so these restaurants are friendly to those dietary needs. Here’s what we discovered.

Night 1 - Charlotte - NODA

Growlers Pour House and Abari
We arrived at around 9 pm. The car rental building and view into the city were nice sights along the way from the airport. I’d done some research before our trip and wanted to check out Abari, a retro arcade for our evening activity, so I called to see if they served food, since we were a bit hungry from our travels. They did not, but were able to recommend a few places in the NODA (North Davidson) district up the street. We ended up at Growlers, where they had a mix of bar fare with some healthier options as well.

Day 2 - Charlotte - Exploring Uptown

Brunch at Famous Toastery
After our late night out, we slept in a bit on Thursday, and started our day with brunch. The place we were headed to was closed, but we found a lovely place nearby and enjoyed our meal at Famous Toastery instead. They had gluten free pancakes, which is always a treat.

Romare Bearden Park, The Green, Bechtler Museum of Modern Art
After that, we explored Romare Bearden park, which is an urban green space. I wanted to see the Mint Museum, but since it was July 4, it was closed. We explored The Green park across the street, which has some cute literary and Charlotte public art. We made our way back across the street to explore the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art. It was small and didn’t take us long to see it, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. I’ve never met an art museum I didn’t enjoy. I appreciate creativity.

Discovery Place Science Museum
The weather was looking ominous, so we took advantage of our Frost Science Museum Membership from Miami and explored the Discovery Place science museum. We checked out the lego buildings exhibit, where it was neat to see buildings that exist in different parts of the world co-located in the same room. We had a snack downstairs, I touched a millipede, and we enjoyed watching an octopus swim.

Little Sugar Creek Greenway - Charlotte
The highlight of our trip to Charlotte, for me, was biking along the Little Sugar Creek Greenway. We had to download the B Cycle app and get a day membership for $8 each, but then we had 2 hours with bikes, which we rented from the rack near Elizabeth Park and rode to Freedom Park and back. The bike trail weaves its way on either side of the creek, and the shade from the trees and breeze from our bikes made this activity a lot of fun.

NODA - Dinner at Cabo Fish Taco and Desert at Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream
We returned to NODA for dinner. This fish taco place was amazing and they had all sorts of combinations of fish tacos. I got a teriyaki salmon taco and an ahi tuna taco, served on corn tortillas, and both were amazing. We were going to head downtown for fireworks, but instead headed up to the light rail station where were able to see some pyrotechnics on the horizon in the distance. We finished the night at Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream, which we discovered in Nashville on our trip there 2 years earlier.

Day 3 - Asheville Downtown

Morning in Charlotte - Breakfast at 7th Street Public Market, The Bag Lady for Crystals
Before leaving Charlotte, we had breakfast as 7th Street Public Market, which is like a food court. I really enjoyed my gluten free crepe from Hazelnuts Creperie, and hubby had eggs and grits from Uptown Yolk. I’ve discovered crystals over the past year, and it’s fun to explore shops in different cities. We stopped by The Bag Lady on our way out of town to check out their selection.

Downtown Asheville - Lunch at White Duck Taco Shop
Our first stop downtown was lunch at White Duck Taco Shop. Their menu is extensive, and fun.

Downtown Asheville - Urban Hiking
We explored a few more shops, including a kitschy souvenir store (LOFT), a mineral store (Cornerstone Minerals), a used book store (Downtown Books and News), an art gallery (Momentum Gallery), and a stationery shop (Write On). I refer to this day as our urban hiking day since I logged over 14,000 steps! I especially loved the secret books at the book store. They were wrapped with brown paper, and a short description of the plot. I selected the one on the left. Any guesses what it might be? I haven’t opened it yet!

Downtown Asheville - Lexington Park Antiques
This antique store was practically a history museum, with some piece of nostalgia around every corner!

North Carolina Arboretum, Dinner at All Souls Pizza, Asheville Friday Night Drum Circle
We headed out to the Arboretum for some nature, had pizza for dinner at All Souls Pizza where they had an incredible gluten free polenta crust, and were able to check out the Friday Night Drum Circle. We only caught the last few minutes, but the energy was palpable, and I’m so glad we made it!

Day 4 - DuPont State Park - Triple Falls, High Falls, and Hooker Falls

For the next 2 days, we went to the market and bought ingredients for breakfast and lunch to save time and money on meals leaving more time and money for exploring. We drove about 50 minutes out to the park for this hike which would take us to 3 different waterfalls. It is a very popular hike, and parking extended out onto the highway, and there was a bit of foot traffic on the trail, but as a novice hiker, I always find comfort in the presence of other humans enjoying nature with me. It was a hot and humid day, but we were rewarded by a dip in the water at Hooker Falls. It was cold, but not too freezing for this Florida girl to enjoy.

West Asheville - Dinner at The Walk, Sunshine Sammie’s (Downtown), Retrocade
After our hike, we headed back for showers, then found dinner at The Walk in West Asheville. We met up with family who was also in town at Sunshine Sammie’s for desert, then headed back to Retrocade in West Asheville, where $10 each got us unlimited retro video games.

Day 5 - Biltmore Estates

On our final morning in Asheville, we headed to the Biltmore Estate. It was SUPER hot. There’s no AC in the house, but there are fans. Still, it was hot. I selected the kid’s audio tour, an idea I got when we visited The Breakers in Newport, Rhode Island a few years back, where the children’s audio tour is narrated from the perspective of the house. This tour is narrated from the perspective of the dog. I found the facts to be equally informative, and the delivery is a bit less dry. After that, it was back to the airport and home. We enjoyed the bonding that comes from exploring a new place, and this is some place that would be fun to return to explore further!

The Pinterest Image: A long weekend in Charlotte, NC and Asheville NC | Things to do | Where to eat | A day by day itinerary

So You Travels: The Ultimate Grand Canyon Road Trip Part 2 - Utah and Nevada

Part 1 of this post describes the first four days of our adventures in Arizona.  Click here.

Day 5 - Zion National Park - The Narrows

After driving in from Arizona, we knew we wanted to hike The Narrows in Zion National Park.  So we drove through the scenic road within the park and eventually arrived at the Visitor's Center.  We didn't really know what to expect, and we got information from a park ranger who suggested visiting an outfitter to rent neoprene socks and walking sticks since the water can be cold and the bottom is like walking on bowling balls.  So we headed into town, which is literally right outside the gate of the park. and not only got neoprene (like wet suit material for those unfamiliar) socks and walking sticks, but we also got water shoes too! 

This was one of the most incredible hikes I've ever done.  In most cases the water was up to ankle or mid-calf height.  We had taken the shuttle bus out to the stop for the hike, then hiked the paved trail for about a mile, and then enjoyed hiking up and back in the canyon.  Could we have done it in normal sneakers? Sure.  But the warmer shoes allowed us to be more comfortable and really enjoy, rather than worrying about cold feet!

Day 6 - La Verkin, Kanarra Falls, and Toquerville Falls

Instead of staying right in the town immediately outside of Zion, we selected an airbnb in the nearby town of La Verkin.  Day 6 was originally earmarked for a day trip to Bryce National Park.  But the kids were exhausted from many late nights, and we were off to a late start in the morning.  Also, our hosts had a book in the apartment with some pictures and instructions for some more local hikes. 

That morning, Kay knocked on the door and delivered a bag of apricots hand picked from his tree in the front yard!  So we got to talking, and ended up deciding to do two local hikes.  One to Kanarra Falls, and one to Toquerville Falls.  For the first, it was another mile or so of hot desert hike, and then a hike similar to the narrows, walking in and out of a rocky creek. ending in a shorter narrower canyon, that was like a cross between Antelope Canyon and The Narrows.  There was a waterfall and a scary metal ladder that the kids and I climbed to further explore a natural rock slide!

Toquerville Falls was in a super remote area that can really only be accessed by ATV, which our host and his friend offered to take us to, and we couldn't refuse!  Once we arrived, we enjoyed the natural swimming hole.  At the end of the day, we got to watch as our host harvested the chicken eggs we had been enjoying for breakfast during our stay.

Day 7 - Las Vegas - M&M World, Coca Cola Store, NY NY Arcade, O Cirque du Soleil at the Bellagio

We arrived in Vegas and checked into the hotel, then spent some time on the computer researching and purchasing tickets for a show later that night.  We explored M&M World and the Coca Cola Store which were down the block from our hotel.  Then we met up with my college bestie and her family whom we vacationed with 2 summers ago in Colorado.  They live in LA, so Vegas was just a road trip for them that morning.  

The boys enjoyed the game room at the NY NY Hotel, and we all had dinner together.  Then their family went to bed, and our family went to see O Cirque du Soleil at the Bellagio. It was an incredible experience, with acrobatics in and out of the water, and a dynamic stage that transformed between covering the water, to being deep enough to allow dives from great heights.  It was only my second cirque show, the first being one my parents took me to on our trip to Vegas in 1995.  It was unforgettable, and I'm grateful I was able to pass that unforgettable experience onto my children.

Day 8 - Hoover Dam and Las Vegas, The Orleans Hotel

On our final day of vacation, we explored the Hoover Dam with our friends.  I think if I had known more about it, I would have wanted to plan some water time on Lake Mead.  Now I know, and will plan to explore should I return to the area.  We had planned to return to town and explore some of the hotels.  On the way into town, our friends' eldest wasn't feeling well, so we broke plans to spend time together.  My family saw a billboard for Incredibles 2, so I used my Flixster app to purchase tickets for the next showing.

The movie theater turned out to be inside of a ginormous off-strip casino called The Orleans.  And after the movie, we followed the signs to the Bowling Alley that we'd seen on the way in.  It was the biggest bowling alley I've ever seen!  70 lanes!  And that was on the second story of a part of the hotel.  Unreal!  We bowled a game together, and then decided to stay for dinner at the buffet for the full Vegas experience!  It was fun to explore this off the beaten path Vegas spot.  Our next stop was to check out Circus Circus, but the timing didn't work out for us to see one of their free shows, and we were kind of done by that point, so didn't do the rides or games.  We did end the day with a beautiful sunset on the way back to our hotel!

Day 9 - Travel Home

We woke up and had breakfast in our room as we had every other day of the trip.  We arrived at the airport only to find out our flight had been cancelled!  This had not been communicated to us prior to arrival at the airport, so we got in a short line, which ended up being long because it wasn't moving.  I called the airline in parallel, and received the 30-45 min call back before we reached the front of the line.  The airline had put us on another flight with another carrier approximately an hour later, so we were able to make it home on the same calendar day as originally planned.  In hindsight, I think it was just one final adventure to make it exciting to get home.

So You Travels: The Ultimate Arizona Road Trip Part 1 - Phoenix, Sedona, Grand Canyon, Antelope Canyon, Lake Powell, Horeshoe Bend

Day 1 - Flight to Phoenix, Cosanti, Arizona Science Center, Taliesin West

This year's trip took us out West.  We flew into Phoenix late Thursday night.  You can see how I rocked baggage claim in the middle of the night when we arrived early Friday morning!  We spent our first day exploring Scottsdale, AZ, with a stop at Cosanti to see the wind chimes by designer Paolo Soleri and a visit to the Arizona Science Center.  We concluded our day with a tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West, which was just as I remembered it from when my parents took me in 1995!

Day 2 - Sedona

Day 2 was spent exploring Sedona.  We started off the day at the Chamber of Commerce to get some information about hiking.  We wanted a hike with rocks and water, so after a mile or so in the incredible heat of the Baldwin Trail, we were rewarded with the cool waters of Oak Creek and the vortex near Cathedral Rock.  I have to say, I'm definitely a believer in and senser of the Earth's energy, and my family definitely got back in the car happier.  We finished our day with an off road jeep ride, where we were blessed with a driver who also knew how to handle my camera, and was able to get some lovely sunset family photos of us!

Day 3 - Grand Canyon

On Sunday, we explored the Grand Canyon.  First we biked around on the South Kaibab Trailhead.  We were so busy stopping to enjoy the sights along the way, we didn't even make it out to Yaki Point!  After we returned the bikes, we stopped in the General Store within the park for some snacks and drinks.  We finished up the evening taking the shuttle bus out to Maricopa Point, walked to Powell Point, and finished enjoying the sunset at Hopi Point.

Day 4 - Antelope Canyon, Kayak Lake Powell, Horseshoe Bend

Lower Antelope Canyon was one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.  It was a good almost hour (with stopping to take many photos along the way, of course) of walking through seemingly endless twists and turns of incredible colors and rock formations in this incredible slot canyon.  We spent the afternoon kayaking on Lake Powell, and the evening enjoying the sunset at Horseshoe Bend.

Part 2 of this blog post, highlights our adventures in Southern Utah and our road trip conclusion in Las Vegas!!  Click here.

So You Travels: Tennessee Family Vacation to Nashville and Gatlinburg

Every year, we like to explore a new city as a family.  So far we've done Boston / Newport, RI / NY, DC / NY, and last summer Denver / Breckenridge, CO.  This summer, I was drawn to Tennessee.  I feel like a lot of people have been visiting there lately, and it has intrigued me, and seemed interesting and fun.  We decided to spend 2 days in Nashville and 2 days in Gatlinburg.  It's kind of a whirlwind, but enough to give us a feel for the city.  I typically plan a morning, afternoon, and evening activity, so we really pack it in and make the most of our travels!

Day 1 - Travel to Nashville

I started off the trip shooting!  With my kids having been at camp all summer, I was excited to capture them just being themselves.  We got great direct flights on Southwest.  It happened to be my youngest's birthday, and they really made him feel special.  They turned down the cabin lights, had everyone turn on the flight attendant call light so the cabin was illuminated, sang happy birthday, and had him blow out the 'candles'.  His in-flight birthday celebration was completed by a crown they made out of peanuts and coffee stirrers.  I'm sure it's a happy birthday we'll never forget! 

When we arrived, we wanted a snack, and were told Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams was the place to go, so we did!

Day 2 - Nashville

On quick trips, I've found bus tours to be a great way to get a feel for a city.  In my research of Nashville, I found that JoyRide offered these cool golf cart tours, so we started off the day with one.  We had lunch at Dick's Last Resort.  Totally touristy, but totally humorous, which is right up our alley.  We're not big fans of country music, but were told the Country Music Hall of Fame was a must-see, so we visited, walking along Broadway on the way.  We had dinner, I did some line dancing, and we experienced some of Nashville's music scene at Wildhorse Saloon.  

We really lucked out, because the Thursday night we were there, was the first night of the free Live on the Green Music Festival, which runs Thursdays in August, through Labor Day weekend.  We walked in that direction, stopping in a fun old timey candy store called Rocket Fizz.  Then, we walked into Museum Hotel because we had to use the bathroom, and it turned out we'd stumbled upon another gem, because it was a free modern art museum!  Apparently there was more to see on the floor above and below us, but we only had time to explore the main floor.  Then we headed over to the park to listen to Michael Franti and Spearhead.  The kids weren't interested in standing in the concert crowd, but did enjoy some cornhole, giant Connect 4, and a photobooth.

Day 3 - Cheekwood and Paddleboarding

Since we explored downtown on Thursday, on Friday, we wanted to explore some of Nashville outside of downtown.  We had breakfast in the lovely airbnb we stayed in, where the light in the kitchen was amazing every morning, so of course I had to take a pic.  Our morning activity was exploring the Cheekwood Mansion and gardens.  The mansion was slightly underwhelming compared to the gardens, where the kids enjoyed throwing rocks into the lake, watching leaves flow down a stream, and model trains, but we enjoyed our visit overall.  

For our afternoon activity, we went out to the Hamilton Creek Recreation Area for Stand Up Paddleboarding, a sport I have enjoyed in several cities.  It's always interesting to explore the water, as well as the land when travelling.  The water was the perfect calmness for SUP, and the perfect temperature for swimming.  We headed back for showers, and then to East Nashville for the Tomato Art Festival.  The festival was to take place on Saturday, with a preview Friday night.  There was a bandstand, music, and a bunch of people trying to break the Guinness World Record for most people dressed like fruits and vegetables in one place, but not much art set up yet, so we had some dinner, and hung out at Soda Parlor and played games.  We introduced the kids to Cards Against Humanity, censoring some inappropriate cards, and answering questions about others, and they really had a blast with it.

Day 4 - Drive to Gatlinburg, White Water Rafting

On Saturday, we woke up and drove to Gatlinburg, stopping for lunch on the way, and headed straight for our white water rafting excursion.  I had gone once on a family vacation in North Carolina when I was my kids' age, and my husband had gone a few times with his sleepaway camp in North Carolina, and it was the kids' first time.  Our guide with Smoky Mountain Outdoors was excellent, and we were treated to some serious rapids, since the river had seen much more rain this summer than they usually do. 

We had dinner in downtown Gatlinburg.  Now, I chose this city for this trip b/c I had heard about the interesting kitschy things here, but holy tourist, it is well beyond what I could have imagined, and I have quite an active imagination.  Basically the entire strip is restaurants, souvenir shops, and tourist activities.  We had dinner on the roof of a Mexican restaurant, and headed back to our cabin, where I enjoyed looking at the stars, and the boys enjoyed some pool before bed.

Day 5 - Laurel Falls Hike, Zipline, Alpine Coaster, Island

We started our morning with a hike to Laurel Falls in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  We were slightly fearful of seeing bears on our hike, but were excited to see a baby bear on the drive in!  We chose this hike because it wasn't too deep into the park (and we had to be at our ziplining appointment early in the afternoon), it was one of the shorter trails, and it was paved.  This made it very popular, and there were a lot of people there.  It was steep and uphill, and didn't feel terribly adventurous because of the paved path and tons of people, but, the humans did frighten away any bears.  

In the afternoon, we ziplined at Foxfire Mountain, and then enjoyed some of their rope bridges.  They had more hiking trails which would probably be lovely to enjoy in the fall or spring or first thing in the morning, but by that point we were a bit burnt out from the heat and our morning hike, so we stopped at the Alpine Coaster, which we'd done the previous summer in Colorado and loved, and headed over to The Island in Pigeon Forge to enjoy their musically choreographed fountain, and dinner.  

Day 6 - Lane Motor Museum and Home

Since any flight from closer to Gatlinburg would have required a layover and pricier tickets, we made the drive back to Nashville for our flight home.  By now, you can tell I like to pack it all in and see everything, and the Lane Motor Museum had been on my radar, and something we missed in our 2 days in Nashville.  It was also close to the airport, so we were able to swing by for a quick visit before heading out of town.

So You Travels: Travel to Colorado – Denver and Breckenridge Summer 2016

Michelle and I were born on the same day in the same year, twins we say, but to different mothers on different coasts.  We met our Freshman  year at college in NYC, and have been friends since!  Since we live so far, it makes us logical travel buddies as there are plenty of places to meet up!  This time, we planned to get together with our families in a city neither family had explored, as close as possible to the middle of the country.  Since we’re both from hot climates (Ft Lauderdale, FL and LA, CA), we wanted to pick somewhere that would be cooler. 

There was a lot of beauty on this trip.  Beautiful scenery, beautiful blue skies and white puffy clouds, beautiful sunshine, beautiful families, beautiful moments, and I think these photos capture some of that.  I shot with my Canon 6D and a Yongnuo 35 mm f2 lens with no flash (available light only).  I also managed to hand off the camera a few times so I appear in a few too!  There are many photos, and I could easily break this down into several blog posts by day, but here we go in one long digest.  Grab a drink, sit back, and enjoy!

Day 1:  Travel, Tiny Town, Drive to Breckenridge

We flew into Denver on Thursday after work and spent the night there.  The next morning, we went to Tiny Town and enjoyed our drive through the mountains on our way to Breckenridge.

All the road signs we don’t see at home!

We pulled off the road to explore this stream.

Day 2:  Hike, Breckenridge Summer Fun Park, Playing Catch

We started the next day with a short hike behind the house where we were staying before heading up to the Breckenridge Summer Fun Park at the bottom of Peak 8.

There were many fun things to do here today.  We rode an alpine slide and an alpine roller coaster (uh-mazing), played mini golf, mined for gems, and jumped on a bungee trampoline.

Apparently, Michelle’s boys travel with a baseball and glove.  What a great idea!!  We had a blast playing catch before dinner.  And I am obsessed with the light in this next shot.

Photo credit for the pic on the right goes to Ben.  I’ve trained him in how to focus and compose.  He had the camera while I was throwing the ball, and said this little guy came up to him with a big grin, so he snapped the shot, and what a great shot it is!

Day 3:  Biking Vail Pass to Frisco, Drive back to Denver

This bike ride was definitely a highlight of the trip for me.  A friend from Florida had posted a photo of her bike ride a few weeks before, so I asked about it.  Her description was spot on, and we followed in their footsteps!  The bike rental company takes you to the top of Vail Pass in a van, and then you ride the 14 miles downhill.  Except for a bit of pedaling through Copper, it’s pure coasting downhill through the gorgeous mountains on a paved path with the wind in your hair (or through your helmet).  It was an absolute pleasure.

We went to Jazz in City Park when we arrived back in Denver.  We were a bit too far to enjoy the music, but the kids had fun playing catch again.

Day 4:  Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Rockies Baseball Game

The home where we stayed in Denver had a pool table, which the kids loved.

They had a great time at the science museum exploring Space, Nature, the body, gems, and a children’s exploration area.

For this body challenge, whoever could be the most relaxed would force the ball into their opponent’s goal.

We had dinner at the 16th Street Pedestrian Mall before heading over to the game for a great ending to a great trip!

A homerun came our way!  Check out the screen shot from espn.com and our crew checking out the replay on the cel phone!