Instead of heading out-of-state for Memorial Day we planned a week-long return (2021, 2022) to the NC mountains. As the title of this post indicates, it simply wasn’t meant to be…
On 11am Friday we met our friends in Durham and drove to Asheville, stopping at Burial Forestry Camp for beer and a late lunch. I got the local cheese plate and the porter ‘Lightgrinder’ while Eric opted for the fries and a tart sour cider. It was a nice day so we sat outside on a picnic table with some shade.
Our next stop was the mountain house where we unloaded all of our bags, stocked the refrigerator, and then discovered that there was no running water! I texted the owners and after several phone calls and some troubleshooting we discovered that something (a bear? a person?) had destroyed part of the well they shared with a neighbor and while she had water, we did not. Unfortunately it was Friday evening of a holiday weekend and the soonest anyone could come out was Tuesday.
A bit flustered, we re-packed everything and headed to Frog Level Brewing in Waynesville to re-group. I had the Croak-a-nut Porter and the smashburger (which had good flavor but arrived room temp to the table), while Eric had the rotating kettle sour and chicken tenders. I was able to grab the last table outside near the river and the live music was solid.
During dinner we took advantage of the wifi and searched for a new place to stay for one or two nights, attempting to salvage part of the weekend. The first AirB&B request in Lake Junaleska fell through but we found a cabin in Asheville available that night, so we pivoted and drove 45 minutes back toward Asheville. Pretty worn out mentally, we decided to stay in, drink some wine and play Moninkers.
Our plan for Saturday was to eat a hearty breakfast and drive up the Blue Ridge Parkway to Crabtree Falls for a 2.5 mile hike. Luckily the rain held off and we stayed dry while enjoying the beautiful views.
Afterwards we stopped in Little Switzerland and snagged the last available four top for lunch at the Switzerland Cafe. I had the smoked trout BLT and Eric had the BBQ sandwich, followed by sharing a slice of the most delicious strawberry rhubarb pie. Everything, including the service, was great.
On the way back from the mountains to I-40 we detoured to Fonta Flora’s Whipporwill Farm location. I got the Half Birthday Wine – a 14% barley wine that tasted like a good cocktail and Eric had the Razzmatazz Remix. We found a table upstairs on the deck overlooking the fields of picnic tables and finished our beers just as the rain started.
At this point, we said our goodbyes to our friends and headed back to Durham, picking up a Sicilian pizza from Vici Ristobar on the way.
We were quite disappointed that this planned 10 day trip was scuttled but it was out of anyone’s control, and we hope to re-try our plans in the future.