Having left fairly late in the day on the first leg of our trip, we drove until we were tired and elected to stay the night just south of Durham, NC. That would leave us a four hour drive to Asheville and a noon lunch reservation at Curate’, one of the few plans that I had made in advance.
The ‘Ole Buckeye and I are Marriott Rewards members and have trained ourselves to use the Marriott App on our road trips. It aids in our flexibility and is helpful in determining the best options for a stay using the Senior rate or rewards points. We also have three parameters in our final determination of where to stay and they are…breakfast included, close to our route and cost effective.
On this night we selected the Fairfield Inn and Suites, Durham Southpoint. I was surprised at how upscale the interior of this property was. If I had to make a guess it would be that this was a converted Renaissance property…but only a guess. The accommodations were more that adequate.
After an “included” breakfast we were off. (An included breakfast tends to be economical both in time and treasure.) We refreshed our cooler with ice and we were on our way.
Our preliminary plans were non existent except for lunch and reserved accommodations in Cherokee for the night. The weather forecast…hot in the mid 90’s and humid.
I was aware of several options that sounded appealing. My first interest was to visit the grounds and the winery at the Biltmore. 2 years ago we visited the mansion with the grand girls, but had no time for the rest of the property. I wanted to determine if a separate ticket could be purchased for the grounds. We also wanted to explore more of Asheville and the surrounding area.
Our drive continued on I40 for the 3 plus hour trek to Asheville. We arrived at 11:15, drove around the downtown area determining the location of Curate’ and nearby parking. The downtown was filled with locally owned shops, boutiques, and art galleries. There were none of the touristy trappings usually found. Asheville is also known for their breweries. Unfortunately for the ‘Ole Buckeye, I am not a beer person. That part of the exploration was left for another time. After finding parking we walked and window shopped until it was time for our lunch.
Being the “Foodies” that we are, Curate’, was on my must list. I had attempted to make reservations for dinner 10 days in advance. Booked. Hum, that made me want to experience the food even more. I opted for lunch and made a noon reservation.
Curate’ is known for their Spanish tapas and Chef Katie Button has been nominated for the James Beard Award three times. Since we have been to Barcelona on numerous occasions and are huge fans of tapas, this place was right up our alley.
We enjoyed Curate’ so much that I will devote a separate post relating our experience there. Definitely worth an advance reservation if your travels take you to Asheville.
As we left Curate’ and hit the 93 humid degrees, we decided that there would be no hiking today, nor were we interested in strolling the hot pavement.
We decided to check out the ticketing at the Biltmore before making further decisions. We arrived at the ticketing area and confirmed that there is only one ticket and it covers the entire home and grounds. I was given this information by a lovely lady controlling the crowds but she also added that there is a nice savings available to veterans. There were 2 special tours of interest to us, but it was too late in the day to take advantage of them. We did take some time to watch an informative video about the property which we missed when we were there with the girls.
And it was HOT! Too hot to enjoy what Asheville might offer on this day.
The decision…since we had reservations in Cherokee for the night, we would drive the lower end of the Blue Ridge Parkway between Asheville and Cherokee. Wise determination.
The drive was truly beautiful with one overlook that surpassed the next.
The temperatures dropped as we conquered the mountains.
It is times like this that I wish we could both be passengers, since the driver is unable to see some of the surprising vistas.
There are plenty of overlooks, but a glimpse between trees as we drove took my breathe away.
As the ‘Ole Buckeye kept the car on the curvy road, I would relay my delight with oohs and aahs.
There was a little chuckle along the way. We stopped at one overlook and noticed a couple on the other side of the parkway, studying the fauna and flora. I was struck by the matchy, matchy attire of the lady. She left her companion momentarily and I over heard her say, “It’s too hot, I’ll be back.” She returned with an umbrella to offer some shade. Notice how her accessory compliments her attire.
We arrived in Cherokee late in the day. This little town lies at the edge of the Cherokee reservation and took me back in time. We choose this overnight because Cherokee sits at the opening of the Great Smokey Mountain National Park, the beginning of our next trek.
Cherokee is a small community. The most impressive part of town is the Harrah’s Cherokee Casino which is apparently a big draw and an important reason for the important financial changes in the schools, jobs, and health care in the community, however not a draw for us.
In fact, for me this little touristy community was not very appealing. There were lots of shops, but after such an entrancing drive through the beautiful mountains, shopping held no interest. This little town sits between the Blue Ridge Parkway and the entrance to the Great Smokie Mountains and that fact of nature is all I needed for the day. Instead of going out for dinner, we decided to utilize the lovely deck at the hotel.
We pulled out our pasta salad, gazpacho, and a bottle of wine and enjoyed dinner at the base of the Smokie Mountains.
We decided to explore the area in the morning, but agreed to celebrate nature, not the commercial fluff.
As our first day of our trip ended, we found enjoyment in the journey, as we continued our pilgrimage toward our wedding weekend.
