Travel
When my mom ventured south last week for our bike ride, she took a little detour to the beautiful mountain city of Asheville. Of course I went to visit. 
We spent the day walking through downtown Asheville, following the Urban Trail, a 1.7 mile tour of Asheville’s art and architecture.
It was a fun way to learn the history and explore the city.
Following squares in the sidewalk led us to each of our destinations. First up, a giant flat iron, incidentally across from the Flat Iron Building.
Next up, the Grove Arcade. A large shopping center that was never quite finished- only the bottom level was ever built.
Not a part of the tour, but of course I loved this. Eat Smart, More More, NC! {I was interning at the state department when they launched this campaign!}
The Basilica of St. Lawrence.
Typical Asheville for you: bright colors, crazy collections.
My favorite, Thomas Wolfe’s neighborhood.
A historic bell from early City Hall.
The farmer’s marketplace.
Downtown city fountains- ones you don’t get yelled at for playing in.
Piggies!
Monument and fountain in Pack Square.
Steppin’ out! I forget what this one symbolized…
The Woodfin House and a tribute to art & transportation all in one. Supposedly it makes 11 different sounds when you spin it- we didn’t hear a thing.
Bronze carving tools on Monument corner.
And there you go. The Urban Trail.
Feel like you’ve seen Asheville? {Everything but the beautiful mountains!}
Travel
A quick detour on the way home from business travels landed me in none other than the gorgeous town of Asheville, NC. Seriously. Gorgeous.
But not today… today it was dreary and grey. I still love the little mountain town though.
I didn’t have long and had way too many things I wanted to do see and do and EAT! As much as I’d love to visit the Biltmore at Christmas, there was just no time. Twitter reminded me that Asheville’s home to the National Gingerbread Competition!
Don’t lie, I know you’ve caught glimpses of it before on the Food Network. I had to see what those beauties looked like in person.
The competition is held at The Grove Park Inn, a historic hotel wedged in the side of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The architecture and stonework is amazing. Ted Mosby would approve.
One day when I’m obnoxiously rich I’m going to stay here. Preferably when it’s warmer so I can sit in the rocking chairs and stare at the view.
But then again, there’s always the giant fire pits and heated pool to keep me warm.
I didn’t have much time, so I literally ran in and ran out. Ok, fine, I slowed down to snap a few pictures. I thought I’d get to see the room full of hundreds of gingerbread houses, but sadly there were only a few on display. They were the winners in each category, so they were pretty darn awesome.
The grand champion winner:
I guess it’s pretty cool but that’s not a gingerbread house. I expected more….house.
My favorite: The house from Up!
{If you haven’t seen that movie, you need to.}
I’ve made some pretty badass gingerbread houses if I do say so myself [ha], but sheesh- these are amazing!
A message from the historic walls of the inn:
Are you a skilled gingerbread-house-builder?
