A Winter Wonderland Getaway
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January 14, 2021
Wow, what an amazing weekend getaway! For those of us who love to travel, 2020 has been really hard in that respect. I typically go to 5-10 countries every year so staying here in the US for an entire year has left me feeling unfulfilled and deflated. I haven’t been anywhere since Puerto Rico in January! But after several months of staying home, I broke the streak and headed to Asheville, North Carolina for my birthday weekend celebrations.
Asheville Travel Guide
I announced a while back that I’d only travel domestically this year and sadly I haven’t even done that! I honestly haven’t felt right or safe doing so, so I sucked it up and stayed home. So when it came to this trip, I made sure to make it extra safe and covid-friendly. I went on the trip with two couples who have been a part of my very small quarantine pod. They’re the only people Ryan and I have hung out with almost all year. And of course my best friend Meghann came as well. We have all been very cautious and made sure to cover all our bases before we went on the trip.
Where to Stay in Asheville
We also chose to stay at an Airbnb instead of a hotel. This way, we wouldn’t come in contact with any other travelers, staff members, etc. We stocked up on groceries ahead of time and went out in public one time throughout the entire weekend.
We kicked off the celebrations by having a local chef drop off a charcuterie board and light bites made from all local ingredients. We also set up a tasty drink station for coquito and spiked peppermint hot cocoa. It was delicious! And of course we had to have a little candy section. This was a celebration after all! We danced the night away to Todrick and ended the night in the hot tub. It was perfect!
Where to go in Asheville
Saturday was my actual birthday and the one thing I wanted to do while in town was visit Wicked Weed. We went to the Funkatorium, which was doing a great job of keeping the tables far apart and everyone safe. Our next stop was supposed to be to Mountain Madre for some Mexican food, but we opted to head back to the Airbnb early. We wanted to stay as safe as possible and since we had plenty of food at the house, we decided it would be best. On our way back, we tried to stop at Sierra Nevada, but it was closed due to covid!
The next morning we all had brunch together and popped the bottles early. We spent the day relaxing at the house and some of us went on a short hike to Looking Glass Falls – the perfect socially distant activity!
What to Eat in Asheville
For our last night, we hired Chef Thomas Smith from Food, Fire, & Knives, which is a private chef service in cities all over the country. It was amazing! It has been a longtime dream of mine to hire a private chef while on vacation, so my birthday was the perfect time to make that dream come true. We got to create our own custom menu (the site makes it so easy!) and it was absolutely delicious. We started with a soup and salad course, then had appetizers. Next was the entree (which sadly I didn’t get to eat because I got too full! Lol!), and then finally, dessert with some candles to blow out! Everyone was blown away by the meal and the chef was such a nice guy. It was an unforgettable experience and I will definitely be using Food, Fire, & Knives again on future trips!
Although we didn’t really go anywhere, it was one of the best weekends I’ve ever had. Being safe is hard right now, but traveling is possible. I think there’s definitely a way to do it that helps create a balance of treating cabin fever and also following CDC guidelines. Although I did go on this trip, I do still think it’s important to be safe this holiday season. Sadly, we will not be seeing my grandparents for Christmas. Ryan and I stayed home alone for Thanksgiving and it looks like Christmas will be similar. So if you do make exceptions for travel during this pandemic, just be sure to be safe about it.
Do you have any tips for traveling right now?
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Photos by Ryan Carpenter & Erica Valentin.
December 18, 2020 @ 5:31 pm
It definitely looks like you had an amazing celebration! Thank you for sharing your experience. This is a place I will have to add to my list with your recommendations of course. From the composition to the excitement, your photos bring your blog to life.
December 20, 2020 @ 9:02 pm
Wow, what a compliment!!! Thank you so much, Candace!! I can only hope that HALF of my happiness and excitement comes through on the photos! It was an incredible time. I hope you get to explore Asheville for yourself!
December 18, 2020 @ 6:34 pm
Aw! It looks like you had such a great time in Asheville. I’m not far away from there – I need go to and explore!
December 20, 2020 @ 9:01 pm
Omg no way! Yes you do! I do want to go back and do some more exploring. We spent a lot of time at the house because it was just sooo cool, but I’d love to see more of the area because it seemed awesome!
December 18, 2020 @ 10:45 pm
This sounds like so much fun babe! So awesome that you guys did your best to stay safe and healthy but still able to have fun. Glad to hear it was an awesome weekend.
Kileen
cute & little
December 20, 2020 @ 9:00 pm
Thank you!!! We had so much fun and were able to stay safe and healthy. Such a win!
December 19, 2020 @ 8:08 pm
This looked like such a fun trip on Instagram! I love that you were able to have a little getaway with your friends for your birthday—and Asheville is a perfect place for it!
December 20, 2020 @ 8:59 pm
Thank you!!! Yes, girl! It was seriously the BEST weekend! 🙂
December 20, 2020 @ 1:54 pm
Awww what a fun time! Every little detail looked perfect! Now I want some airheads!
December 20, 2020 @ 8:59 pm
Lollll my favorite!!! They were delicious! It was so much fun!
December 20, 2020 @ 8:33 pm
This looks like it was a BLAST of a birthday celebration – and happy birthday! I hope you really enjoyed this to the fullest. I’m glad you got to safely enjoy the time with your friends. You certainly deserve it.
December 20, 2020 @ 8:59 pm
It was such a dream!! I’m so happy we were all able to safely be together and get out of town for a bit.
December 23, 2020 @ 4:26 pm
I love your belief statement at the end!
January 6, 2021 @ 11:27 am
Yayyy thank you!
January 4, 2021 @ 8:13 am
Such a fun weekend! We loved celebrating your beautiful soul! Can’t wait for our next get together! xoxoxoxoox
January 6, 2021 @ 11:21 am
Ahhh you’re the best!! I’m SO GLAD you were there to celebrate with me! I can’t wait for our next trip! Asapppp