Alrighty ladies! My husbands bosses own a house about 30-40 min west of Asheville and they have graciously said we are welcome to use it in October! I am over the moon excited. We are in Florida so it is a 10 hour drive without stops, like that will happen.
My question is: with a 5.5dd, 3.5ds and 10mDD what are the must do activities. We plan on hiking as much as we possibly can, I mean Asheville in October! I was looking at the smokey mountain train because it is something I remember loving as a kid. I would love to do Biltmore.
We will probably only do 1 thing that costs money. The train alone will be about $200 for us to do. One day will be spent visiting my grand parents.
You could visit me. 🙂 I’m about 2 hours west of Asheville. The Smokeys are beautiful that time of year. Lots of parks around for hiking and picnicking. The best time of year to be in this part of the world.
Gatlinburg TN is 2 hours west of Asheville. There are several Ripley’s attractions, including an aquarium and mini-putt. Check out Ripley’s website. Gatlinburg also has some yummy restaurants, and it is a favourite getaway for people in western TN.
I agree with the doing the Biltmore. I’d also say parks and poking around downtown in the shops. There are a few great ones. I grew up there! 🙂 You can’t beat just driving up on the parkway and hiking and putting around. Oh, and Mount Mitchell is fun too. I’m jealous!!
I lived in Asheville for thirteen years before having to move to charlotte for my dh’s job. Very sad. We loved driving on the Blue Ridge Parkway which was only minutes from our home. Our kids loved the WNC nature center. It is a fun and inexpensive place to visit. It is right off i-240.
Of course, the Biltmore House is amazing and a must-see. They have a barn area with lots of chickens, goats, horses that the kids will enjoy even if they don’t get much out of the house. I’m not sure where west of Asheville you will be but there are so many places to hike and see waterfalls. Outside of Franklin, there is a gorgeous drive up to Highlands, NC which is itself a beautiful little town. The drive up is full of waterfalls. In fact, there is one that you can actually park and walk down and behind the waterfall. So neat. We love that one. Once in Highlands, there is also an actual hiking area that leads to other waterfalls.
If you go to Flat Rock, you can go to Carl Sandburgs home. Its free to just peruse the land. There is also a barn there with goats, chickens, etc. I had a friend that went there with her kiddos and they all loved it.
Enjoy your trip. You will fall in love with western North Carolina!!