Asheville, NC

On October 20th, we went to Asheville for a couple of days to see the beautiful leaves! It wasn't the EXACT perfect time to go...but October is a super busy month for us, and it was the only shot we had! We had a great time! It was nice to get away and relax a little after wrapping up the fair and Jai's birthday party. The leaves were very beautiful. We arrived in Asheville on Wednesday around noon. We went to eat at Rosetta's, which is an all vegetarian & vegan restaurant. We had GREAT meals that included Veggie Burger (grace), Tempeh Buffalo Wings (paul), and mock chorizo tacos (Jai & I). It was amazing! We also ate a heavenly chocolate and lemon swirl (vegan!). I forgot my camera in the car...it's a shame! But, I still had to tell you about it. Asheville is amazing when it comes to vegetarian food. That was only the beginning! :)

The next morning we got up and took a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We parked at this overlook, and across the street there was a HUGE rocky mountain that 2 young people had bravely climbed in FLIP FLOPS!! Paul and I , and another couple that was there, were mortified that they were going to fall! They were so high up, it was unreal! All I could imagine was one of them falling and landing on the road below. I know that is super morbid...but if only you were there. It was so scary just glancing at them. Eeeeek! I snapped a few pictures and we got out of there, before anything happened that we didn't want to experience. Hopefully those 2 are still with us today. :)

We found an awesome Indian "street food" restaurant named Chai*pani. We were able to feast on Rice, Dal, Pakoras, and Naan. The Naan was actually a tortilla. Haha...so disappointing! The Genet's can do that feast so much better though I have to say! :)

(Beard, Month 2)

We took Miss Maggie with us! She had a fun time hanging in the hotel while we were exploring. We were happy to take her along, but I think the next trip we will board her.

I love that you can see the mountains from the city. Such a beautiful place!

Gracie has always wanted to go gem mining! She has talked about going since she was about 4. I searched online for a nice place to go that was close to Asheville and found this cute place! It was called Randall Glen. It was about 30 min from Asheville, and the ride up made me very nervous. Lots of twisty, tiny roads in the gravel. I was super irritated when we got out of the car, and had about 15 HUGE dogs surrounding us. Having little kids, that would make any mother uneasy. I wasn't sure how they would react to the little ones, and they were so close I could barely move. I guess you could say I overreacted..haha. I eased up a little though once I realized that they were sweet old country dogs. They had so many animals everywhere. It was pretty awesome in the end! You can see a couple of the dogs in the picture below...

This was the mining table. You may have to click on the picture to zoom it...it's hard to see so small. It was pretty cold this morning and the water was freeeeeezzing!!!!

Gracie in gem mining heaven! These were some pre-dug buckets we could choose from , or dig our own. We got a pre-dug bucket for $25.00. Yikes! It was worth it though to do something that she has been so interested in! Lately, she has been reading gem mine and rock books...she's really into it. :)

This guy was helping us out. He was a super friendly guy but talked the ENTIRE time to Paul and it was a little aggravating. I hate to be that way. I had just meant for it to be a total hands on family experience..haha. Paul was so occupied talking to him, that it was hard to handle the kiddos, and mine at the same time. Oh well! Better luck next time..haha.

This was our bucket. It took a looooong time to go through all of that!

Some of our gems!

Jai was bored!

They have some beautiful land. Two ladies own it, and they stay on site in the house that the gift shop is in. I didn't get any pictures of the inside, but it was pretty cute to say the least!

We went back downtown later that afternoon to grab some lunch and check out some shops!

These were some of the gorgeous trees downtown Asheville.

We ate at the laughing seed cafe. We feasted on more rice and dal, and veggie sloppie jo's. Pretty yummy! It was a very nice atmosphere. The girl next to our table took about 30 min leaving a origami tip for her waiter that she made out of money. It was pretty extravagant! I think he was irritated that she was holding up the table for so long. She had made a beach with waves, beach towel, umbrella and magazine all out of bills. Haha! They headed for the exit, and the waiter swooped up the money without even looking at it. What a shame! I hope that girl doesn't do that everywhere she goes. I felt bad for her friend that was waiting! Sorry...got off subject a little there...onwards!

Gracie loved the giant iron downtown Asheville.

This was a cake shop that our friends Erik & Stacey recommended. We went there under the impression that it was a vegan cake shop. We went there the first day and they were closing and only had a couple of things left...sooo we went back the next day and they had more of a selection. BUT, it turned out that only 2 or 3 cupcakes were vegan and one of them is a spicy cupcake. Who would want a spicy cupcake?! We grabbed a few of them and hit the road again. It was so cute inside. I wish I could've taken more shots of the inside, but Paul was embarrassed that I even had my camera to begin with! Haha..

So cute! :)

For about a year now, I've dreamed of opening my own little vegetarian/vegan sweet shop! Visiting this cute little place has only heightened those dreams. Hopefully one day!!! ;0)

On our way out, we visited Rosetta's once again! We couldn't leave town without taking a little bit with us!! Of course, I forgot to take shots, but we all enjoyed some of Rosetta's goodness! Sure do love that place!