ADVENTURING IN ASHEVILLE

For Valentines I surprised Dustin with a getaway trip to Asheville for camper hangs, breweries and bar-b-que! We left work early on Friday and made it around 4 in time to see the Silver Bette in the daylight, just look at how adorable she is!

I didn’t feel like fooling with my DSLR so I snapped all weekend long using my Iphone, not mad how the photos turned out either! Here goes our full recap, with first a tour of our home away from home on wheels –

Our Spartan was manufactured in 1955 by the Spartan Aircraft Company who made their start making war planes during WWII. After the war Spartan began making these huge luxury rolling caravan’s. The first Spartan Camper was made in 1948 and the last Spartan was manufactured in the early 60’s before the company closed it’s doors for good in Tulsa Oklahoma. The Bettie is similar to an airstream, but with MUCH more headroom and space inside and with even more history! –Air Bnb post

Bette had a full kitchen complete with retro pots and pans for cooking. Not pictured is the old school crimson fridge with the most adorable ice box (aka freezer) inside!

There was a TV but we didn’t bother turning it on, just listened to classic rock on the little radio on the left.

After we explored and unpacked we went to Haywood St. for pre-dinner drinks and apps at Oyster House Brewing. We split a dozen raw oysters, a new acquired taste of my adult tongue, and each had a beer before going to our dinner destination Buffalo Nickel.  We had deviled eggs, Dustin’s all time favorite food, they were yummy and got his seal of approval. For dinner I got the pumpkin ravioli that had lump crap, cranberry, brussels petals, mushrooms, brown butter, sage and lemon-HELLO DELICIOUS! They made the sage like kale chips, not sure how but it was very impressive. Dustin got the North Carolina shrimp- tasso ham, October beans, shellfish tomato broth, grits and fennel. He said it was the best shrimp and grits he’s ever had! I had a bit and would agree, wow!  After dinner we moved over to the game room side and played some pool and darts with locals. A restaurant with games is a winner in my book!

The following day we started with brunch at Sunny Pointe Cafe which came highly recommended.  We were warned about the wait but were told it was worth it. So we toughed out the hour and something wait and they were right, WORTH IT!

HELLO BEST HEUVOS RANCHEROS EVER!

Savory black bean cakes served with Snow Creek chorizo sausage, feta cheese, roasted tomatillo salsa, and herb tossed spuds topped with two free range eggs any style, cilantro crema, and crisp tortilla strips.

Seriously though. That dish went above and beyond. We also really liked the biscuits and gravy and had a bunch of leftovers that we threw all together (with some bbq) and had for brunch Sunday. Have I mentioned breakfast/brunch is by far my favorite meal?

Also, this bloody mary was gorgeous. Dustin said it tasted real good too. I can’t mix tomato juice and coffee but if I could I would have been all about it. Server said they picked the ingredients from their very own garden!

Going out of order here but keeping with the food theme…Buxton BBQ! I had seen this pop up a few times during my web searching and could tell by the menu and graphic design work, it was up our alley. We ate an early dinner here after brewery hoping. After the huge brunch we skipped lunch and were about starved and that’s when we spotted the HASH FRIES. A mound of waffle fries topped with bbq hash, buttermilk gravy and pimento cheese! We died and went to a smothered-n-covered heaven! We sipped local brews before our dinner came which looked something like this:

When it comes to bbq joints Dustin and I both usually get a pulled pork plate. Then I usually order the beans and whatever else sounds good.  We knew our dinner would be fantastic after the devouring of the hash fries and it really was, especially the brussels sprouts!

If you can believe it, we had made room for dessert. It just didn’t feel right leaving without trying the banana pudding pie. Despite the full belly ache that followed, it was so worth it! What made it stand out was the salted graham cracker crust. Mmmmm

We sat at the bar to avoid waiting which gave us THIS view. Open ceilings, exposed bricks, unenclosed kitchen-like being in a big loft!

Now on to brewery hopping!

Not in order but here’s where we went and how we felt about it –

Lexington Ave Brewery – Dustin fell hard in love with their “Thumper” Belgian Tripel. He said it was his all-time favorite of the trip.

One World Brewing – This was an accidental discovery when we were walking to a different destination and HAD to seek warmth. Glad we needed the heat because this little underground brewery was a good find! We both enjoyed the farmhouse ale.

Bhramari – New to the brewery scene and was only serving one of their own beers, the Carolina Common, producing notes of caramel and sweet corn. Tasty! This was another spot we stumbled in for warmth. We are never strict schedule followers so popping into unplanned breweries was fun to us!

Catawba – Is next door to Buxton BBQ and has the same open floor plan with lots of different seating areas, some made of old barrels. We were too full after the BBQ so we split the White Zombie White Ale but at dinner had tried the Farmer Ted Cream Ale which made my top picks list.

Funkatorium- The funkier side to Wicked Weed and the East Coast’s first ever sour dedicated taproom! This was our favorite stop! I wish we had gone there earlier (it was the last stop of Saturday night and I was tired) but when we return it’ll be our FIRST revisit location!

Wedge- We got a small flight of 4 and gravitated towards the smoky ALT bier “sticke” which is a Dusseldorf style. The tasting room is small but the outside area is it’s selling point. Too bad it was a high of 22 degrees otherwise we would have been all about the corn hole!

Thirsty Monk – Not sure how many beers they actually brew but they were only serving 3 of their own that day. I got the blonde and Dustin got the barley wine style ale.  He likes this type of beer a lot and thought theirs was on point. The blonde was easy drinking. They have a lot of other people’s beer on tap but not sure we’ll go back. Feel like there’s better breweries to hit up.

Wicked Weed- This place is popular! The first attempt of visiting was a flop because they were at capacity and had a long line of people waiting to get in. Waiting in 20 degree temperatures with a wind chill that made it feel like the teens-no way jose! We went back the next day. I tried the Orange Peel-named after the neighboring music venue-and thought it was just OK. Dustin got something aged in bourbon barrels and liked it a lot. Now that I’m thinking of it, I don’t think Dustin met a beer he didn’t like, HA! My coworker had an old friend that worked there that I tracked down and he gave us some samples that were tasty.  Next time it’d be nice to fully experience this spot as well.

Of all the beers we tried we felt like the most unique were the sours from Funkatorium so we brought home three! The La Bonte with figs, the Oaxacan that’s aged in tequila barrels and the bourbon oblivion.  How cool is that carrying case!?

Aside from breweries, we popped into a few boutiques I had found after researching online. In downtown we went to Old North, a rad shop for men and women.  We found Dustin a handsome short-sleeved gingham shirt that’ll be real nice when it gets warmer. Also went into the best antique shop I’ve been in a while, Lexington Park Antiques. You could seriously get lost in there for hours!  Horse + Hero has fun art and for cute gifts hit up Whist and Duncan & York.  My favorite non-beer stop was Flora, a flower and plant boutique that also specializes in wedding and event styling and floral design. JUST LOOK!!! >>>

We popped in on Valentines Day.  I picked out a small planter and air plant. When we were checking out I was asked “want me to doll this up?” YES PLEASE! The gal filled the planter with rocks for the air plant to rest on and then handed me the above bag with a sweet corsage attached. Man, I just love places that go above and beyond! It’s currently drying out because it’s too pretty to toss. Flora is a must visit! As well as Asheville, but maybe when it’s a little warmer!