grove park inn Archives | with a Side of Sneakers

Gingerbread Central

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.