Asheville, Not Nashville
The furthest west we decided to stray on our way back up the East Coast was to a cute little Appalachian mountain town…Asheville, North Carolina. We had read about Asheville a bunch before heading there. One article voted Asheville the most veg friendly small city in the US. We were pumped.
As we drove North from Charleston, we noticed the fall colors and the changing landscape. It was pretty pretty…up until we actually got to Asheville where it was frigid and snowing and we remembered that winter was upon us. After sitting in the car for a few minutes, we mustered up the courage to brave the cold and ran to the first veggie restaurant on our Asheville list, The Laughing Seed.
I ordered some Yerba Mate to warm me up and Nick ordered some coffee. Then, I opted for a fake sloppy Joe and Nick got a tropical seitan creation. Both were delicious but a little spicy. So it goes. The last course was a yummy vegan mint chocolate cake that defied both of our expectations.
After dinner, we headed to our Couchsurfing host’s lovely log home. Unfortunately, our host, Chall, was sick that evening and his girlfriend, Lucia, was working late so we chatted for a bit and then all headed to bed. The next morning, we bundled up for the freezing temperatures and headed out for a cup of coffee and sweet potato scone. Then, warm and satiated, we stopped at the local food co-op to look around.
Next it was time for us to check out what the downtown was all about. We popped in and out of stores, warming up just a little in each one. Then, it was time for lunch. We ate at another veggie place called Rosetta’s Kitchen. We split a veggie Reuben and sweet potato fries. I guess sweet potatoes were the theme that day.
In the evening, we met Chall at the movie theater to see Lars and the Real Girl, a movie that didn’t look too promising, but ended being really good. Then it was off to a local bar for some beer, billiards and darts. Nick and I shared a delicious Gingerbread beer and tried not to hit anyone with our darts. (Actually, Nick is pretty good at both darts and pool…I knew I picked a winner.) When everyone got tired of watching me scratch, we headed back to the house for our respective beauty rests.
The next morning, we bid farewell to Lucia and Papa (their super cute doggy). We had already said goodbye to Chall who had to work early that morning. It was so much fun staying with them in their cozy library of books…I was even able to bring one home with me. Thanks for everything, Lucia and Chall!
From there, we headed to Sunny Point Cafe for a gigantic and very delicious brunch. Nick had huevos rancheros with veggie chorizo and I had an egg and tofu bacon croissant. And we both indulged in the endless supply of coffee. After our hearty breakfast, we took a ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway, stopping at a great Folk Art Center on the way. The Parkway was beautiful though we couldn’t go very far because they had closed part of it for construction that day. We were there after peak leave color season, but it was still very vibrant.
Then, we stopped at a cafe for some, you guessed it, coffee…and WIFI, of course. Finally, it was over to Keith and Laura’s place. They were our second couchsurfing hosts in Asheville since Chall and Lucia could originally only host us for two nights and we wanted to see more of the city.
We were warmly greeted by Keith and Laura and clicked with them right away. We all pitched in to help with dinner (mini eggplant pizzas and risotto). YUM! Then, we headed out to see Keith play some tunes at the Root Bar, a bar with a fantastic beer selection. Nick, of course, loved it. The bar is famous for Root Ball, a game that was created there and then patented. Sadly, it was too cold to play. We played some games of pool, one we actually won, and then headed back to Keith and Laura’s cute apartment.
We found ourselves up late chatting with our hosts (who are soon setting out on their own longer version of our trip). We made sure to give them pointers on how to avoid hitting deer, national parks to see and other road trip ideas. We hope they have an amazing time on their journey…and we hope they will visit along the way.
The next morning, we were off early, headed towards Virginia Beach for a night before our trek back to the NJ. We were so fortunate to have met such amazing people in Asheville. We hope Keith, Laura, Chall and Lucia will visit us wherever we end up!
