In July 2023, very shortly after traveling for 8 weeks on the International Business Institute, I took my first-ever girls group vacation to Asheville, North Carolina. Why Asheville? None of the six of us had ever been there, it was within a one-day driving distance, and seemed to offer quite a bit of variety in terms of things to see, do and eat.
We had a fairly unnotable drive across the country (with the exceptions of a great lunch somewhere in Kentucky and a very overstimulating first-time experience in Buckees for me… hot take: I don’t think I ever need to go back). I did weirdly get carsick for most of the ride, which is abnormal for me. Perhaps my age is showing; maybe I’m just not as much of a mountain girly as I once thought.
The AirBnB we stayed in was just outside of downtown Asheville and was great for a mid-sized group like ours. We cooked dinner there the first night, plus a few rounds of breakfast. Everything we wanted to do was within a 20-minute winding drive through charming (and sometimes nausea-inducing) scenery.
The goal of our 5-day trip (including bookend travel days) was to get a good taste of somewhere new. Our group was pretty united in a desire for variety of activities and restaurant options which was very fun. We hiked, white water rafted, painted ceramic pottery, wandered through local shopping and arts establishments, toured the Biltmore (worth the hype!) and drank tons of coffee—mission accomplished! Plus, we pinked-out to see the Barbie movie in theatres, which was perfect for a girls trip.
I left Asheville feeling as though we saw a lot, but that the city and surrounding areas still left more to offer. I would definitely recommend it as a place to visit. One random note: I didn’t necessarily feel unsafe, but there were a ton of very strung out individuals in the main downtown area on any given day or night and there were times I felt a bit uncomfortable and was glad I was in a group.
The Highlights – Things I loved in Asheville, NC
The Biltmore Mansion & grounds. White Duck Taco Shop. Rose gardens. Haywood Common. Sunshine Sammies ice cream sandwiches. The River Arts District (I loved wandering through the different galleries & studio spaces). Summit Coffee. White water rafting the French Broad River. Izzy’s Coffee Den. Driving along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Zuma Coffee. Street festival. Lunch at Wallace Station. Hiking the Blue Ridge Mountains (Craggy Gardens Trail & Craggy Pinnacle Trail). Sweeten Creek Coffee. Painting pottery at Fired Up!. Chicken and Waffles at Tupelo Honey.
SDG
L.M.Beatty 