Birthday Weekend in Asheville

We spent the weekend in my second favorite city (to Charleston, SC) ever – Asheville! As part of my birthday gift we booked a room at the Grand Bohemian Hotel Asheville. What a huge surprise this hotel was! Every single detail is absolutely stunning from the moment you pull in.

via (my outside shots just didn’t do this hotel justice!)

We arrived bright and early on Saturday morning and although our check in time wasn’t until 4 pm we were immediately whisked up to the 4th floor to the most gorgeous room. The service was incredible and the lobby was so warm and inviting. Oh, and there are unbelievably beautiful chandeliers everywhere.

We loved our room. The Grand Bohemian doesn’t miss a detail from the oversized velvet-tufted headboard and gorgeous light fixtures to the huge tub that opens up to the sleeping space. It was all around perfect…and Caroline agreed.

 {Side note: This probably sounds like a sponsored post but it isn’t. Although, if the GB wants to give me a discount on our next stay I wouldn’t mind one bit!}

 This little munchkin had her own crib next to our bed. I took full advantage of that tub…and the bath salts and bubble bath from the spa too!

We spent the afternoon walking around downtown Asheville listening to all the street corner musicians and had lunch at one of my very favorite places, Early Girl Eatery. We even bumped into one of my old college friends while we were wandering around.

The weather was absolutely perfect too. We couldn’t have asked for a better weekend to visit Asheville. After lunch we went back to the hotel to let Caroline nap and cracked open a delicious bottle of The Dreaming Tree wine.

If you’re looking for a deliciously smooth wine I cannot recommend The Dreaming Tree Cabernet Sauvignon enough! It’s affordable ($15 for a bottle) and it was created by DMB frontman, Dave Matthews! Highly recommend!

Months prior to our trip I made reservations for dinner at The Admiral at the recommendation of one of my best friends (who loves Asheville as much as me). The dive bar turned restaurant is small (less than 10 tables) and books up fast! It also has hundreds of outstanding reviews (google, yelp, etc.) and is rated almost 5 stars. However, when we first arrived we definitely thought we were at the wrong place. The exterior of the restaurant screamed “dive bar” for sure and it was located in between a junk yard and gas station…what?!

The website even describes the establishment as “a modest cinderblock building on the wage earning side of town”. Despite the appearance of the outside The Admiral was definitely every bit of 5 stars and served the best seared scallops I’ve ever had!

We had an early dinner reservation to avoid any potential meltdowns at the table. Caroline was absolutely perfect through dinner so we decided to push our luck and head back to the hotel for a complimentary birthday dessert at The Red Stag. We went with the “award winning” five layer red velvet cake!

With full, happy bellies we decided to get back to our room and put Caroline to bed. To my surprise we were greeted with complimentary champagne to continue my birthday celebrations! Um, did I mention how awesome the service at The Grand Bohemian is?!?

The next morning we awoke to the most amazing view…

…and a happy baby!

For breakfast we dined at Corner Kitchen, another highly recommend place that did not disappoint! I’m still talking about the delicious cream cheese scrambled eggs with chives and fresh herbs…mmmm!

And of course, one of my favorite parts of the trip was driving the Blue Ridge Parkway to show Caroline the mountains for the first time.

I never get sick of this view.

 

Our first vacation as just the 3 of us and it couldn’t have been more perfect. This birthday goes down in the books as the best.