Weekend Review: Asheville

This weekend was one for the books (now I can cross of 1/2 of number 32 off my list), as it was my first trip to the mountains of North Carolina and to Asheville as well. I went with a friend of mine, April, who it was also her first trip to Asheville as well. We had an incredible time and I really cannot wait to go back again. There is so much to do, visit, drink and EAT in that town - that it cannot all be done in just the matter of one weekend. We hit the road as soon as I could escape from work...both of us leaving behind our pups, whom we adore.

After dropping off our luggage at the hotel, we began our walk to downtown to find some overdue dinner. Though we made decent time, we were both starving by the time we arrived. We had so many suggestions from friends and through social media trying to decide on where to eat was a little bit overwhelming. We settled on Salsa's, a Mexican-Caribbean restaurant, for our first meal. Let me just say, we made the right choice. We started off with a pineapple mango salsa, that was just spicy enough. I ordered the quesadillas with chicken (swapped the tofu for chicken), goat cheese, roasted peppers, corn, and a yummy sauce. As you see my plate was over-flowing with food as it also came with salsa, rice and beans. April ordered the pork pom-pom-pom - a Puerto Rican dish served in a wooden bowl. It was all extremely delicious and satisfying to two very hungry girls.

Pinapple-Mango Salsa

Chicken & Goat Cheese Quesadillas 

Pork Pom-Pom-Pom
(photo courtesy of April)

After dinner we began our explore of downtown and trek to our next destination, which ended up being Wicked Weed Brewery. Let me state for the record, I am not a huge fan of beer, I drink it slowly and its not my favorite...however, with that being said when surrounded by such incredibly breweries you do as the locals. I ended up having the fiesty blonde and a beer that was made with cherries...both were good but the cherry one was by far one of the best beers I have ever had. After we spent some time at Wicked Weed, we headed over to LAB (Lexington Ave Brewery) it was highly recommended and I was able to have something other than a beer. I was impressed with how trendy this place was, we ended up having a lot of fun.

Since were out so late the night before, we kind of got a late and very slow start on the day. We took ourselves out for a late brunch at the Early Girl Eatery...which somehow kept getting called the Easy Girl...that is not the same thing. I didn't get anything spectacular or different from Early Girl but my breakfast food was really yummy.

For dinner we decided on Barley's Taproom for some good ole pizza, before dinner we decided to make a pit stop at the Double D's Cafe...which is literally a Double Decker Bus that has been turned into a coffee shop. It is quite unique.I decided on an Italian Cream Soda instead of a coffee...it was quite yummy and perfect for a pre-dinner drink.

How can you go wrong with double-d's

We made our way across the street to Barley's...where we were met with yet again another wait to eat. Thankfully as of all the places the wait was well worth it. I started with a pasta salad before our meal. We ended up splitting at 14 inch white pizza one side with sundried tomatoes and the other with my personal favorite of pepperoni and sausage. The pizza was delicious.

nom. nom. nom. 

For dessert we tried to make several stops to try and get dessert from places people recommended. The first place was closed...which I was hoping to get some gelato...no luck. The 2nd place there was a line outside and the inside looked packed out. Finally. We made it to The Chocolate Fetish where I got a bag of goodies to take with me.

Do I have a Chocolate Fetish! You bet I do. 

We didn't stay out too terribly late on Saturday evening since we wanted to make it early to Tulepo Honey, I did however not make it to sleep until 4AM...somethings are important and worth losing sleep over. We made it to Tulepo Honey by 9:30AM and had only had a 30-minute wait. And it would have been worth a much longer wait. It really did live up to the hype. I had their homemade rosemary peach lemonade....it was this subtle party of flavors in my mouth, that makes me thirsty just thinking about it...and of course I had the sweet potato pancakes with bacon. Delish. And I am glad we waited to eat there as our send off from Asheville.

The jam and biscuit were the perfect
pre-pancake started

Where have you been all my life?

I have to say that my first trip to Asheville was not only fun but eventful. Who wants to go back with me in the spring? I just cannot wait to visit this great town of North Carolina. I cannot believe I have lived in Charlotte for 11 years with Asheville only two-hours away and this was my first trip. Until next time.

This is what happens when I don't wear heels
and stand next to tall people. 

 If you want to see my pictures of my weekend adventures and eats follow me on Instagram!