Today we went on a bit of a road to trip to explore the surrounding areas – waaaaay too much to explore in one day, but let’s see what we can do. We had breakfast in our room, then grabbed a coffee and snack to pack for lunch from Rowan coffee.

First stop was the Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor center to get some information and maps.

Then we decided to head to Mt Pisgah along the parkway. We are heading north along the Blue Ridge Parkway when we leave Asheville, but there is a short part south-east ish of Asheville that we will be missing, so we decided to drive along some of it today.

There are vistas and views it seems every 10 metres – at first you stop at every one of them, after about 10 you start just driving past. Very beautiful and spectacular around here.

After a bunch of swirly roads we made it to Mount Pisgah. There was a hotel and restaurant up there but we found a bunch of rockers to sit on and have our morning tea with views across the mountains.

From here we weren’t sure where to go. So many things to see, so little time. I was keen to see some waterfalls and we were told nearby Graveyard Fields had a small hike and cool waterfall, so we decided to head there. We bought a sandwich to go to pack for lunch and headed off.

We did a nice little walk around and the waterfall was cute, but not amazing or anything…I mean we have been to Iceland (snobs) so we headed back up to the car.

As we ascended the last steps to the car park we felt a feel drops of rain. By the time we got to the car it was absolutely bucketing with rain. We have come to learn that that is what happens here come early afternoon. Luckily we were at our car. Some hikers that had passed us who were just setting off – not so lucky. We took shelter in the trunk (boot) of the car. The rain was actually quite nice to watch and we were also able to see all the hikers coming back up the steps totally soaked. We decide to eat our sandwich right then and there in the trunk of the car. It was lunch time after all and we didn’t what to drive off in the heavy rain.

No wonder it’s so green around here with all the rain!

Desperate to see a larger waterfall (and I know there are literally HUNDREDS around this area) we decided to drive to Dry Falls – a waterfall that you can walk behind. It was about an hour and a half drive but the roads are so scenic around here we decided it was worth it. Once the worst of the rain was finished we headed off. The funny thing about the mountains is that on one side it can be pouring with rain, then the other side is sunny and dry.

After a lovely drive we made it to the falls! I honestly was not convinced that Google maps had steered us in the right direction as literally seconds before the falls we were driving through suburban streets. But sure enough, we found the car park with all the people and the falls were just a short walk down some stairs.

When you get to the bottom of the falls there is a path where you can walk behind them and yes, it’s definitely very cool.

It was getting late ish by now and it was still a good drive back to Asheville so we thought we had better get going. Problem was, my phone reception was non existent and thus Google Maps wasn’t working. Oh no!!!! Luckily we *kind of* knew roughly where we were and knew which direction to drive (plus our awesome Audi rental car tells you which direction you are driving) so we thought we could probably wing it. Hey, we might end up in Knoxville or Pigeon Forge but hey, we can deal with that! So we were off on our merry way again, and soon enough we saw signs pointed to Asheville so we knew we were all good.

We decided to stop off for a break in Waynesville, but on route to this town we saw something that made us stop…

Yes….that is correct. A cat museum! Omg! We had to do a quick U-ey to get back to it. We made it there at 4:40pm – but noticed it closed at 5pm. That’s ok, we are going in!

It cost $10 to get it – a bargain when you see all the cat memorabilia within. There were even 2 (real) cats in there – one was a ragamuffin – very similar to a ragdoll.

There was so.much.cat things from all over the world. Amazing.

We managed to see it all in just over 20 minutes. They were happy to let us stay past closing time. So great.

Then it was on to Waynesville for a quick stretch of the legs – but by the time we got there it was after 6pm and all the shops were closed.

Ok we need to get back to Asheville now. Too many things to see around here. As we had the car we planned to get dinner at a Taco place which was a bit out of walking distance from our hotel. White Duck Tacos – down by the river. There was a long line when we got there, but it moved quite quickly. They have loads of bench seating outside and it was a nice a warm evening so we sat out there to enjoy our tacos, which were delicious Btw. Particularly the Tofu banh mi one.

It was about 8:30pm by now but still very light and very warm. I kind of wanted an ice cream so we drove to a place I found on the internet- we ended up driving through all these winding suburban streets which led me to exclaim “I just wanted an ice cream!” – when we got there it was just a dodgey looking shopping area – couldn’t even see the ice cream shop, so I got over it and we decided to move on. We were nearby ish The Omni which is large hotel etc that you can go and have a drink at and enjoy the views. It was recommended to us by our Floridian pals Piper and Brett, so we thought we should go and check it out. More driving through winding roads led us to a magical looking place that looked like we wouldn’t be allowed in. After some initial struggles finding somewhere to park, we eventually found our way to the front lobby. I was a *little* hesitant to go in as we were still wearing our scabby hiking clothes but once we made it through those front doors we realised it was actually quite chill in there and yes, some people were dressed up fancy but others, like us, were wearing scabby hiking clothes.

The first thing we noticed was a huuuuuge fire place. Not sure you need a fire place here at the moment, but still pretty cool.

We went out the back to the patio and wow…the views were exquisite! And there was a waterfall and little trails to walk around and yeh….kind of crazy but also not. We thought we should probably have a drink here.

We found this great table with a great view. Everyone who walked past asked us how we managed to get it. We said it was because we came from Australia. Oh how we all laughed. Lovely views and the drinks were actually reasonably priced.

We watched the sun go down over the Blue Ridge Mountains before heading back inside the hotel complex to have a bit of an explore. It’s crazy huge. We watched a little documentary about the guy that originally built the place – made his fortunes with tonic & quinine. Quite interesting.

We eventually dragged ourselves out of this weird and wonderful place and went back to our real hotel. It ended up being a really big and busy day. We talked to the car valet (yes we have a valet) guy at our hotel who was from Florida about manatees before going up to our room and promptly passing out.

A big day in North Carolina.