This past weekend we had the opportunity to spend a few days in and around Asheville, as some of our good friends just moved to the area and they are always excited to show us around their new favorite spots.
Highlights for the trip were definitely climbing at the Riveter, a delicious and atmospheric dinner at Twisted Laurel, smoothie sours and games at Dsslvr Brewery, and our drool-worthy first donut and fried chicken experience at Hendough.
By the time we got in at 10:30 on Friday night we were too exhausted to do anything, since what should’ve been a four hour drive turned into five and a half hours from Raleigh, thanks to LDW traffic. We caught up, let the dogs get their road trip zoomies out in the backyard, and then headed to bed.
We got up early on Saturday morning and headed to the Riveter, a multi-sport adventure complex with indoor climbing, an outdoor jump bike course, a hot yoga studio, fitness studio, and—of course!—a bar in the middle (pictured below). It was too rainy and overcast for the guys to hit the jump bike course, so both the girls and the guys spent the morning climbing and then we finished it all off with an impressive selection of beer, cider, and seltzer on tap. The Riveter has members only hours from 6 am to noon M-F and 8 am to noon on the weekends, so it felt like we had the place to ourselves which I loved, given that I’m bouldering again for the first time in actual years since I broke my arm.
We went straight from the Riveter to the North Carolina Apple Festival in downtown Hendersonville, an annual LDW event that showcases 10+ local apple farms (think cider donuts, apple cider, and apple slushies galore!), along with street vendors, a farmer’s market, live entertainment, sidewalk sales, and classic fair food. Our main goal of the afternoon was to score some fresh apple cider donuts, and we definitely weren’t alone on our hunt. We waited in line with probably 75+ other people but eventually made it out with a box a piece of sugar-coated Autumn bliss. We had left the dogs at home per the request on the Apple Festival website, which ended up being a great decision as it was HOT and super crowded. We made our way home with donuts in tow to spend time with the dogs, relax, and refresh before heading into Asheville for the evening.
After we showered, power napped, and snuggled the dogs, we headed to the River Arts District! We planned to poke around the eclectic mix of art studios, galleries, and shops before grabbing a drink, but once we got there around 7 we realized that everything was closed aside from the food/drinks so we went straight to Wedge Brewing on Foundy Street! I’m not a beer drinker so I tried the hibiscus lavender alcoholic ginger beer by Ginger’s Revenge and was pleasantly surprised; I don’t love lavender, but hibiscus was definitely the stronger flavor and helped tone down the ginger too. It was sweet, but great for one drink!
After a round of drinks at Wedge, the four of us made our way in to downtown for dinner. Knowing that we wanted to finish the night at Dssolvr, we looked for food nearby and settled on the Twisted Laurel, which ended up being a spontaneous but incredibly delicious decision. We were able to sit at the bar right away without a reservation, which also put us front and center to people watch as the LDW festivities heated up. We started with the crispy brussel sprouts (some of the best I’ve ever had) and rounded it out with pizzas (the Black Trumpet Farms Shroom Pie and Italian Hero were the stars), and loved everything from the food, to the service, to the ambience. We will definitely be back and I highly recommend Twisted Laurel for a delicious, cool, and well-priced dinner spot—check out the Twisted Laurel dinner menu here.
From there we made our way to Dssolvr! Both Justin and I love their smoothie sours and we were so excited to go straight to the source. We both drank the Two Your Hell(th), a fruited smoothie hard seltzer with cucumber, watermelon, mango, and lime, and it did not disappoint (check out what’s on tap at Dssolvr here). They also have a great selection of card and board games, so we played What Do You Meme? until we ran out of steam and collectively decided it was time to head home.
Despite the late night on Saturday, we turned it around fairly early on Sunday morning to get to the final stop on our itinerary for the weekend, Hendough, in Hendersonville, before the lines got crazy. Hendough specializes in fried chicken and donuts, and while I’m not usually a fried chicken girl, I definitely was not going to miss out on the opportunity. Justin went all in (of course) and ordered the Egg in a Basket, which is two eggs in a donut basket, fried chicken, and bacon, all topped with Jalapeño maple syrup. It is A LOT (of food and flavor), but the sweet and salty is really beyond compare. I “settled” for the Maple Bacon chicken sandwich on a toasted brioche bun, topped with a maple aioli and caramelized onions, and both the flavor and texture were SO good. The chicken is very lightly battered and super tender—I was a fried chicken girl for the day for sure. We of course could not miss out on the “dough” part of the experience so we also took six donuts home with us (picture below: glazed with chocolate frosting, peanut butter espresso, maple bacon bear claw, Boston crème, sugar twist, and apple butter). Throughout the rest of the day, we felt compelled to at least try every flavor, and every single one was magical.
As expected, it took some time to recover from breakfast, so we spent a good amount of time recuperating on the couch. We finished the day with a quick trip to Target to get a jump start on some Halloween décor, and then packed the pups into the car and headed back home to Raleigh.
Even though we packed our schedule full, we made sure that we came home on Sunday night so that we could wake up in our own bed on Monday and have a day to get our life in order before jumping back into the work week. It was so nice to get a sneak peek of fall in the mountains, catch up with friends, and get a taste of Asheville! If you want a quick download of our itinerary, I made a pdf for you! Fill out your email below and I will send it your way 