we visited the north carolina mountains in the beginning of fall (september 2020). we badly needed the trip, since the covid started we didn't really go anywhere at all except grocery shopping. we choose to go around fall because the weather was super nice, not too cold and not too hot either. just perfect.
if you are coming from fayetteville, nc or fort bragg, driving to asheville, nc or hendersonville, nc will take about 4 to 5 hours, depending on the traffic.
where we stayed:
- we stayed at the lodge at flat rock in hendersonville nc. it's like 30 minutes away from asheville. we didn't really want to stay in asheville because we don't want to deal about the difficulty of parking, the traffic issue, etc. it is touristy area and we want to stay away from that especially the covid situation. the lodge is a very nice hotel, very friendly people and we just had a nice stay overall.
here is the link to the hotel: https://www.mountainlodgeflatrock.com
where we ate/drink:
- go to oklawaha brewing company- for some reason i felt home at this place, everyone has a smile on their faces, and stayed focus on 6 feet away policy, kid friendly and animal friendly. it was just HOME.
- the poe house is also amazing! we went twice to eat and drink. get the hummus plate and pizza, they are so delicious! it has an amazing vibes and everyone is friendly. we went twice for dinner because we couldn't get enough of how delicious their food.
https://thepoehousehvl.com/menu
- check out the mezzaluna tap house too, nice ambiance, we had a great time dining in there. the people are super nice and the food was excellent!
- for great coffee, we went to mosaic cafe, they have yummy pastries and sandwiches and reasonable price good coffee. http://www.ilovemosaiccafe.com/
- burntshirt vineyards is also amazing! great wine selections, it was a bit crowded when we were there but other than that, i recommend going if you are a wine person! my husband loved it!
https://burntshirtvineyards.com/hendersonville/
- don't forget to check the falls, they have so many, we ended up going to the glass falls, its very pretty!
we also went apple picking and pumpkin patch, however, i would not recommend doing that, although we had so much fun doing it, there were too many people, too many! Every orchard we went to were extremely crowded, and we got stuck into the traffic too which was horrible! We went on Saturday, i wasn't sure if it isn't too crowded on the weekdays though, so just a little heads up!
we started driving up into the top of the mountains, i suggest bringing these to your drive up!
- camping chair- it's great to bring one just in case you are dizzy from driving the narrow beautiful squiggly road, you can take a break to one of the peak and set up a picnic and enjoy the amazing mountain view
- food- bring some food to snacks on, you don't know when you get hungry so to enjoy the ride, fill yourself up! you don't want to feel hangry!
- water- you will need this! especially when you stop at one of the peak and decide to go for a quick hike which we did a couple of times.
- maps-- there were sections where our google maps stopped working, so just a heads up!
- and over all, just enjoy the ride!
when you get to the top of the mountain, there was a super long lines of cars parked. we got there at around noon and the parking was the worst. so i suggest going up there super early in the morning.
overall! the trip was amazing! just beyond beautiful!
here is the link to the other video from this trip: https://youtu.be/XwHcDUEEZhA
here are some more photos from the trip!
