We started our day very early the way Eitan likes it, but this time we had a third traveler so it takes a little bit more time to get everything packed up. We ate breakfast in the hotel and started our 2.5 hour drive to the town of Ashville.

Asheville is a town that is located inside the Cherokee nation. It is surrounded by mountains-ish (I will explain later) and is full of hippies, art galleries, and very good breweries.

Asheville traces its roots back to 1784, when Colonel Samuel Davidson used his soldier’s land grant from the Revolutionary War to settle in the Swannanoa Valley. Davidson was murdered by the Cherokee, but that didn’t stop the influx. By 1790, the U.S. Census counted 1,000 people living in the area (excluding the native population.)

We arrived at our beautiful AirB&B right in the outskirts of the city and the host let us drop our bags before we started walking to the city center. It was about a 40 min walk, so we decided to get some steps going.

The city is full of galleries of all types. The first gallery we visited was amazing, with a variety of art forms that we have never seen before. There were great exhibits of photography and painting, all for sale for very reasonable prices.

The gallery had a diner inside. So bizarre!

The city is also full of historical markers. Eitan of course had to stop to read every single one of them to fully read them. This is what happens when you travel with a history nerd.

The heat was unbearable (about 95°F) so we decided to find a restaurant/brewery and we happen to find the best one in the city called Wicked Weed.

Eitan ordered a spicy fried chicken sandwich that was so hot that he had to schedule his toilet visits for the foreseeable future. That sandwich would wake up the dead, would cure your Covid, and would kill all your tastebuds with just one bite. Eitan saw death face to face while eating this!!

The beers were also fantastic and we were ready to keep exploring the town. Something that was a little disappointing was the fact the mountains here are very very short, so while we were imagining a town like Breckenridge that has the Rockys, Ashville’s mountains are barely visible.

There are very unique places around Ashville, like this coffee shop on a British double-decker bus.

After a little more exploring, we stopped at a Cidery to try a flight of very unique ciders. We loved them all!

We stopped for dinner at an Israeli food restraurant. With this heat, we just wanted a fresh salad and there is a lack of places that serve salads around here.

On the way walking back to the house, about 5 minutes to go, we were stopped by some neighbors on top of the street. They pointed to one of the houses in front of us and we saw a black bear crossing the street and several destroyed trashcans. Eitan was tempted to give up Sarah as a tribute to the bear in exchange for safe passage to the house for Ariela and Eitan, but the nice neighbor intervened and offered Eitan a ride home instead so I could take the car and drive back to pick up the girls. After we arrived at the house, we forgot a few items in the car, so Eitan, like the brave knight he is, risked his life to retrieve those items (Ariela’s Minnie Mouse and Sarah’s phone charger). No bear was in sight this time, but no doubt Eitan would have fought (and lost) with honor.

Bonus fact of the day:

Five #1 box office films have been filmed at least partially in the Asheville area: Last of the Mohicans, The Fugitive, Hannibal, Patch Adams, Nell + Forrest Gump. But nothing is more interesting than the size of Kombucha bottles that they sell here: