Waynesville? Who knew!
When we left upstate New York, our goal was to head to Nashville, TN as straight-ish as possible. We’d be crossing paths there with a couple friends and had heard really good things. Being a 15 hour drive from Pheonicia, NY, we had to break the drive up a bit — we decided on a weekend in Washington, D.C. (we both hadn’t been there in years) and a couple nights near Asheville, NC (another city we had heard good things about). We landed on a low-key spot in Swannanoa, NC for a couple days. Needless to say, North Carolina took us by surprise and we ended up extending our stay from two days to two weeks!
Our cow friends 🐄
We started off our North Carolina stay in Swannanoa, just 10 miles east of Asheville. We found this to be a great alternative to staying directly in Asheville — we got some extra space in a quiet neighborhood and it was a quick 10 minute drive to downtown Asheville — and we had cows for neighbors! We also had a great time exploring the trails in the area and taking a morning jog in the neighborhood.
Asheville 🌮🍩
Hole Doughnuts is a must! Fresh, made to order doughnuts — love how they’re all irregularly shaped and surved hot. So good! Their menu consists of four doughnut flavors (Vanilla Glazed, Toasted Almond Sesame Cinnamon, Cinnamon Sugar, Seasonal flavor that changes every week) and are $2-2.75 each. They’re the perfect combination of crispy on the outside, soft on the inside 🤤
Tip: all orders are made online (at least when we went), so make sure you place yours 10-15 minutes before you arrive!
White Duck Taco Shop — We stopped here a couple times while walking around Asheville and needing a quick bit (we actually overheard someone claiming it was “must go” spot as they walked past us). Their taco flavors are unique, pretty good overall experience — worth stopping in for if the mid-day hunger strikes! We enjoyed the Korean Beef Bulgogi and Fish tacos the best.
Burial Beer Co. — there are SO many breweries in Asheville, but one we really enjoyed was Burial. It felt a little more tucked away and their backyard area was awesome — they have multiple levels to find a seat and an old VW van to chill in. Good beer, good vibes.
No Taste Like Home’s Foraging Tour — something that blew us away was the biodiversity in North Carolina. To learn more, we found this foraging tour, which really opened the doors and may have sparked a new life purpose for Crystal! She can spot wood sorrel and chickweed everywhere we go now 🙂. Still haven’t found any morels mushrooms though!
Credit: Lily Aksan, No Taste Like Home
Credit: Lily Aksan, No Taste Like Home
And we also found a lot of interesting foraging finds while exploring North Carolina —
Waynesville 💎
But the hidden gem of our North Carolina stay was Waynesville. We met some really great, welcoming people here — made us feel right at home 🙏. Waynesville is a pretty small town with a main strip and pockets of cool sprouting up all over. Here are a few of our favorite spots that we need to give credit to our Airbnb host for sharing with us.
The Cuban Guy — I’ve eaten quite a few cuban sandwiches, but wow, these are bangers! The owners are so charismatic and you can tell they truely love what they’re doing — they were excited to share some of their colombian soda (really sweet, but tasty!) and colombian coffee (super strong, but kept me out of a food coma!) with us.
Orchard coffee — The town seems to gravitate towards this place. The owner, Cabel, was one of the coolest guys. He welcomed us right in, gave us some great tips for foraging, and makes a killer matcha (along with pretty much everything else on their menu!). This was one of our staples during our stay and would go back everyday for some fresh brew and baked goods if we could 🙌
Frog Level Brewing Co. — This quickly became a favorite post-work spot to grab a beer and relax. There’s a big indoor space, but the star is their backyard that sits right next to a river. Its hard to do anything other than sit back and relax. Oh and their beers are great too — well-balanced variety of lights, IPAs, browns, stouts/porters and sours. We didn’t get to try their food, but heard its excellent!
Tip:In the afternoon, the sun hits the backyard just right 👌
Church Street Depot — If you're hunting for a solid local burger (especially after a few beers at Frog Level), this place will hit the spot.
Haywood Farmers Market — Wherever we stay, we try to find the local farmers market. They’ve done a great job here, keeping it local and at a good size. Everyone was so friendly and happy to share and answer questions. On of our favorites was Lott Farm & Apiary — the owner, Paul Lott, was super nice and had so much to share about his journey into mushroom growing and his mushroom products — so interesting!
Our Airbnb — We couldn't have had better luck with our Airbnb! We had an amazing stay that felt like we were home (just a much more well-decorated home 🙂). Our hosts, Shereen and Chris, were the best — really helping to make Waynesville a great place.
Lake Junaluska —About a 10 minute drive from downtown Waynesville and you’ll find yourself at a beautiful and peaceful lake. We went back a few times for both early morning and evening walks — highly recommended if you’re looking for some peace and quiet and geese.
Oh, and Waynseville also has their own soda? We almost never drink soda, but this I’ll make an exception for!
Gas shortage 😬
Remember how I mentioned we extended our stay to two weeks? Well, that was almost extended again due to the escalating panic of the gas shortage that hit part of the US. It was looking like things would blow over within a few days, but, as it turns out, every gas station around us started putting up “out of gas” signs! We had a quarter tank of gas and had planned to drive 300+ miles in a couples days. So we decided to play it safe and go gas hunting — we checked about 6 or 7 different gas stations in the area, which were all sold out or only had premium gas left. We bit the bullet and filled our Honoda Accord up with premium (I read online that it was ok to mix regular and premium 🤷♂️). About an hour later, that gas station was all sold out! Some things you just can’t plan for, but have to roll with it and adjust accordingly.
Blue Mountain Ridge drive 🏞️
And don’t pass up the chance to drive Blue Ridge Parkway, its absoluately gorgeous! We’ve already decided that we need to go back in the fall to see the leave change — I’m sure it’ll be breathtaking.
