Asheville, North Carolina. If you have never been I highly recommend it. Good food, good beer & wine, and a laid back atmosphere with just enough to do to keep you busy. It's not officially on my bucket list, but I have always wanted to take a weekend trip with Kenny for a couple years now. For whatever reason we quickly run out of time in the fall/early winter to go. For my graduation gift from PTA school, Kenny's parents gave me zip-lining tickets & Biltmore tickets for my birthday. To "Go Zip-lining" has been on my bucket list since I got a small dose of it on a ropes course in one of my recreational classes in college. When they told me about this place just north of Asheville I was all in. So, we finally planned our trip for late October!!
Zip-lining originated from Costa Rica as botanists needed a way to study plants in the rain forest from above ground-level. It is currently becoming a "new" outdoor recreational activity with more and more popping up across the US. The place we went to is called Navitat Canopy Tours, it is about 25 miles north of Asheville, NC and voted #1 in the U.S.
The whole adventure took about 4 hours and was complete with 10 zip lines, hiking, repelling, and climbing. The longest zip line was about 1000 feet from one mountain, across a valley, to the other mountain nearby with speeds reaching up to 40 mph! It was really neat to experience the mountains so high up...it's a completely different view. The tour guides were fun and interactive; however, I would recommend going with people that you know, the rest of our group was a family from Kentucky and they were not the funnest of people. I learned a lot about zip-lining as well as nature.
Absolutely *The*Perfect*Fall Day!
View of the Blue Ridge Mountains from up in the trees
Kenny & I at the beginning of our zip-line canopy adventure!
One of the highest zip lines, 200ft above the ground!
We did it!
If you go to Asheville, you of course have to check out America's largest home, The Biltmore Estate. This mansion was created by George Washington Vanderbilt II and completed in 1896.... I get excited about even the smallest of things, which makes this house pretty magical in my opinion. I would highly recommend purchasing the audio tour for a little extra so you can guide yourself through the house and know exactly what you are looking at. We had lunch at the old stables they turned into a restaurant, and did a wine tour/tasting at Antler Village, which is also located on the 8,000 acre estate. My favorite part of the entire weekend was watching the sunset over the Blue Ridge Mountains...I love sunsets. Especially sunsets over the ocean & the mountains....which is one of the many reasons why I love North Carolina. Overall, it was a much needed vacation away for the both of us, and we had a blast!!
That girl is a lot prettier than that guy. Maybe I'm biased.
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