Spring Break; defined as "a vacation period in early spring at universities and schools which started during the 1930s in the United States and is now observed in many other countries as welI". Some spend spring break backpacking across Paris, hiking a national park, day-drinking on a cruise with beautiful views, simply sleeping the entire week away or catching up with family, friends and lovers!
Initially, I planned on working just about all 5 days of my Spring Break - I even submitted those days to my hospital in February for the March schedule! Upon actually receiving my March schedule, I was given my ENTIRE spring break off and of course I immediately texted my boyfriend to see if he was up for a quick getaway.
Long story short, HE WAS!
When?
Friday February 28: official start of SPRING BREAK!
Saturday February 29: Brothers championship game and hair appointment!
Sunday March 1: Work (Retail)
Monday March 2: Spoke at my High School!
Tuesday March 3: Ambassador Event for the College of Pharmacy from 09:15am - 12:00pm THEN left for vacation at 07:00pm! Arrived at our Airbnb close to 11:00pm.
Wednesday March 4: Vacation!
Thursday March 5: Vacation!
Friday March 6: Left vacation and headed back to reality (insert sad face)
Saturday March 7: Work (Hospital)
Sunday March 8: Work (Hospital)
Where?
We went back and forth for a few days on exactly where we wanted to go. Our inclusion criteria included things such as less than 4 hours via car, the entire Airbnb to ourselves, a nearby city for us to explore and lastly a hot tub! Once we excluded several destinations, our decision was between the North Georgia Mountains and Asheville, North Carolina. From there we saw which of our top Airbnb's were available, were near our top immersions and didn't break our banks.
Alas, Asheville was our spot!
Asheville is most notably known for the Biltmore Estate and its numerous breweries to us visitors but to the locals it's just a city in Buncombe County, North Carolina. We rented a beautiful blue cottage less than 5 miles from our planned immersions, 7 miles from Downtown Asheville and beautiful views via the many windows!
What did we do?
Biltmore Estate:
The Biltmore is "The luxurious family home of George and Edith Vanderbilt is a marvel of elegance and charm, as magnificent today as it was more than a century ago. Faithfully preserved and filled with original furnishings and masterpieces of art, no other residence in America offers a more authentic and inspiring view of Gilded Age life while suggesting that the Vanderbilt's and their guests are still at home."
I must say, the Biltmore Estate was definitely a sight for sore eyes. We drove miles from the entrance gate to the shuttle station where we parked my jeep and hopped on a trolley like shuttle which gave a quick history lesson of the estate on the overhead radio. One moment we're looking at the beautiful nature and all of a sudden, we come upon a large Châteauesque gate. After our shuttle driver gets the okay nod from the guards, we're driven into the front yards before making a right turn and being mesmerized by the beautiful Biltmore Estate.
With our $69 self-guided house tour ticket, we also had access to the gardens, waterfall, koi pond, stables, Downton Abbey exhibits, winery and the various restaurants on the property! We were exactly one minute late for our 1:00pm house tour reservation but that didn't stop us. We walked through the front doors (which are massive) where we were greeted and given a tour booklet which listed out each room of the house we would see on our self-guided tour as well as the rooms uses!
The estate has four acres of floor space and 250 rooms in the house, including 35 bedrooms for family and guests, 43 bathrooms, 65 fireplaces, three kitchens. Throughout our tour we got a close look at the magnificent 16th century tapestries, a library with 10,000 volumes, a banquet Hall with a 70-foot ceiling, 65 fireplaces, an indoor pool, indoor bowling alley and more!
New Belgium Brewery Tour:
Honestly, we're not huge beer people so we opted for the free complimentary daily brewery tour. Let's just say we're a BIG fan of New Belgium Brewing now!
While the reservation is meant for a 90minute tour - our tour guide went over the allotted 90 minutes and we enjoyed every second of it! Throughout the tour you receive generous samples of year-round and rare offerings provided during the experience, inside looks, as well as the history and science behind the brews! Our tour guide was hilarious, personable, and knew everything about New Belgium and the science behind the brews.
Foooood!
We LOVE food and exploring new places to eat! During our few days in Asheville we of course stopped by the famous Biscuit Head for breakfast 2 days in a row and then Manicomio Pizza & Food for our one fancy night out.
Biscuit Head was founded by a Husband and wife team to share their love of southern cooking, their inspiration from travel, and their commitment to local foods. What we loved about Biscuit Head were the Vegan, Vegetarian and Gluten Free availability as well as how they strive to have as light of a carbon footprint as possible and participate in local charitable events. Locations include Asheville, NC and Greenville, NC!
Vegan Options:
Vegan biscuit
Sweet potato gravy
Smoked tomato creole gravy
House-made Veggie "Chorizo"
Callaloo Collards
Gouda Fries (omit cheese)
Tossed Kale Salad
Fresh fruit plate
Seasonal fruit & arugula salsa
House-made granola
While we unfortunately had to return to reality, 300+ emails, exams, presentations and more after spring break - we were glad we got the chance to enjoy being away for a few days!
Spring break is honestly what YOU make it!
Whether you're cruising, backpacking, hiking, sleeping or working - I hope you were able to enjoy friends, family, lovers and some downtime before returning to reality!
-Ruuds
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