The artsy photo above is one of my favorites from my recent trip to Asheville with my daughter, Lauren. So why isn’t this image the cover photo you ask? Because this trip wasn’t about the Biltmore, or the amazing food we ate, or even Furman basketball (I’ll get to that later). It was about Lauren and me, just the two of us, spending precious time together.
A more relevant Biltmore photo for this blogpost which features Lauren and me at our first stop on the audio house tour is below.
As you may know, my NewCityNewState blog started as a New York City adventure blog – NYC (my new city) and empty nester (my new “state”). During the pandemic the posts pivoted to a travel blog (new cities and new states). Someone asked me once why I didn’t document my daughter’s wedding in a blog post. I guess because that wasn’t the intention of my blog at the time. But now, it would easily fit into the latest version based on my different “states” or versions of myself. A mother-of-the-bride post would have fit this latest rendition of NewCityNewState perfectly.
Fast forward six years after that beautiful wedding; Lauren is pregnant with her second child. I assume adding a second child is a huge step even though I went from one to three (thank you Sam and Will 🙃). But what I *do* know is that time will be harder to carve out after this baby boy’s birth, so I planned a trip for just the two of us. I chose Asheville because it’s a relatively short flight and a perfect three-day weekend destination.
As a harbinger of the perfect weekend ahead, we secured a prime parking spot at the terminal, used the quickest TSA line and both got upgraded to First Class!
Once we got the rental car sorted (the issues with it don’t fit this narrative, so I’m just going to leave that piece out) and drove from Greenville, SC to Asheville, NC, we found our hotel at the top of the hill in downtown Asheville. When checking in, the desk clerk warned us about pep rallies in the lobby around 4:30 every afternoon. We came to learn that we arrived in Asheville during the Southern Conference basketball championship and shared a hotel with Furman University’s coaches, players and fans.
After settling into our hotel we walked a few doors down to a posh (mostly) gluten free restaurant. Delicious food, amazing service and what delightful company!💕
The next morning we had a bit of time before our tour of the Biltmore, so we walked to a sweet farm-to-table breakfast joint. Hot Honey Chicken was our order. Not many places serve gluten-free fried chicken and even fewer serve it for breakfast. Before you judge, how many chicken minis have you had from Chick-fil-A? Lauren and me? Zero. This was our chance to indulge.
With our stomachs full, we made our way to the Biltmore. “America’s Largest Home” is trademarked as such and has an interesting story. It was conceived by an heir to the Vanderbilt fortune and designed in the style of a French chateau. The grounds were designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted – designer of Central Park in NYC, Prospect Park in Brooklyn, NY, and the village of Riverside, Illinois where I lived from 1992-1996.
Once back to the hotel we had some time to spare before dinner, so we sat in the lobby and watched it fill up. The Furman University cheerleaders were the first to show up. They lined up and periodically did a cheer. I thought their “F-U” cheer was funny – similar to a five year-old thinking the work “butt” is funny. The players and coaches finally came down to the lobby and walked through the spirit line on the way to their buses.
Lauren and I went to dinner and had a delicious meal, but the highlight of the evening was coming back to the hotel, learning that the Furman game was on ESPN, and watching the team win the SoCo Conference title while laying in bed in our matching pajamas.
The next morning we used our breakfast coupons and ate at the hotel’s restaurant. A lot of low-key buzz in the room with the win the night before. We chatted with the coach’s mother-in-law and aunt. We learned how the coach focuses on the person first and basketball second. When we saw the coaches and team walking with their trophy to their bus, Lauren and I were so proud of them. Yes, we’re saps like that.
Once we checked out of our hotel, we just had two more things to do in Asheville: street art and one final meal. Lauren got to experience my travel style: Photographing street-art…
…which led to an amazing curated art and design marketplace…
…which led to us purchasing a few items. Lauren got a couple of pieces of artwork for baby boy’s nursery. I picked up a few knick-knacks and a $15-bag from the grab bag/mystery bag shelf…
…which led to an 1893 Indian Head Copper Penny and a crisp $100 bill in my grab bag!
We finished off Asheville with one last meal at one of the best restaurants in the area: Curate. The salad and paella were delightful!
One last story about our sweet mother/daughter trip- somehow my Maps app directed us to downtown Greenville when we should’ve been heading to the airport. The roads were different, but I thought maybe it was just a different route. When we stopped for gas supposedly 10 minutes from the airport, we recalculated the drive and it was actually 30 minutes. Thank goodness we had plenty of extra time.
First, I want to point out that the gas station was a Gulf station which is special because my mother worked at their headquarters in Houston until they merged with Chevron. My very first charge card was a Gulf credit card complements of my mom.
Second, our new route to the airport took us right past Furman University. Can you even believe that?!!
What a perfect way to end such a sweet weekend: a nod to my late mother and our new favorite private liberal arts university.
A huge thank you to Holton for holding down their fort in her absence.
And as always, thanks for reading! 💕
New City New State 