Asheville Autumn
Goals of Trip: Savor local flavors, Gather local Asheville gifts for friends and family
Keywords: Funky, Crisp, Fall Foliage
Time Visited: October/Fall
Don’t forget to pack:
Growler (for filling at one of Asheville’s breweries)
Bathing suit (For our visit to Sauna House)
Hiking gear (shoes, coat, hat, sun protection)
Travel:
Staying in Downtown: The ability to walk to many local restaurants, breweries, cocktail bars, and attractions is one of the main reasons we adore this funky town. We keep our car in the hotel garage and go carefree – no struggling with meters or fighting for parking spots
Flying into Asheville: Recommend hiring airport pickup and drop off and would make walking-friendly plans. For this trip, we drove for Sauna House, Ginger’s Revenge, and French Broad Chocolate (Factory Location). If you are more outdoorsy and want to go hiking, renting a car will be necessary.
Accommodations:
Kimpton Arras Hotel: Our second time here and it was just as wonderful as the first. On the pricier side, but worth it for the logistical haven (centrally located, walkable to the brewery district, next door to the art museum AND the French Broad chocolate lounge). Included amenities sweeten the deal- we requested a Nespresso for our room for the duration of our stay!
This hotel has beautiful, art-filled interiors and friendly staff who are happy to offer their local recommendations. One of my favorite activities is enjoying a beverage while admiring the nighttime views from our hotel window. Also, Kimpton Arras is known for being pet friendly!
Views from our room
Day 1 - Friday
Leisurely drove 2 hours from East Tennessee to Asheville in time for 3pm check-in. This time of year, even the rest stops boast beautiful fall foliage views! Passing through the hills and mountains make this entire drive scenic.
We took our time and admired the views at lookout points on Foothills Parkway and snapped photos of the fall foliage peeking through the trees’ summer green.
Views from Foothills Parkway
Gorgeous scenery at a rest stop after passing through the mountains
4pm Casual Brewery Dinner
To close out our travel day, we opted for a casual brewery dinner at. Wicked Weed Funkatorium, (the first-ever sours-focused taproom on the east coast!) has an amazing selection of sours and other brews and the food is also fabulous.
Outdoor covered seating area - plenty of dogs lounging with their owners!
One of the best things about Asheville: There is always a vegetarian or vegan option. These veggie-friendly options are not afterthoughts, they’re amazing flavor explorations on their own!
The avocado smash sandwich at Funkatorium is proof of this. We also enjoyed the elote corn fritters and grilled cheese. The pub chips here are perfectly crunchy, thick, salty, and flavorful – pub chips plus the sours here are a match made in heaven.
Elote Fritters
Fresh avocado smash sandwich with pub chips
As a sour beer fan, I chose the Roulette Flight. This flight ranged from a pumpkin spiced cider (Fall Out Boi), triple berry plus honey sour (Brettaberry), farmhouse ale with watermelon (Phunkmelon), to a barrel aged sour with Montmorency cherries (Cerise Morte). My favorite of these was the Cerise Morte, with a divine cherry flavor. The other sour that I really loved from this visit was the Amorous (dry hopped sour with neutral oak) – it had such a simple and clean finish, but with the signature sour flavor that I was craving.
6pm Dessert at French Broad Chocolate – Chocolate Lounge
Getting an early dinner has the benefit of letting you get an early dessert (and beat the lines!) at this popular downtown chocolate lounge. I love French Broad chocolate! It’s an excellent place to snag gifts for friends, family, and your future self! Offerings include a stunning array of bonbons, cakes, cookies, confections, and ice cream! The golden milk ice cream stays in rotation and for good reason! Its vibrant yellow color will catch your eye, with spices that linger on your tastebuds. We also savored the triple chocolate mousse, with three picturesque layers of white chocolate, milk chocolate, and dark chocolate. This dish acts as a chocolate “flight,” showcasing just what the confectioners at French Broad are capable of! From a mild white chocolate to the bracingly delicious bitterness of dark chocolate, they can do it all.
Golden milk ice cream with bonbons
Triple chocolate mousse
Day 2 - Saturday
11am – Brunch at The Med
This brunch is non-negotiable. I will not visit Asheville without spending at least one morning here. I would sacrifice it all for another bite of this crispy-crunchy-piping-hot fried catfish.
Put your name in with the host and enjoy the nearby park or visit nearby shops and pick up some souvenirs – they’ll text you when your table is ready and you won’t have to just stand on the curb with your stomach growling.
We always add $10 to buy a round for the cooks – it’s a lot less creepy to show my appreciation this way than for me to tell them that I cried one tear because of how beautiful the catfish with grits was.
My partner savored eggs with sausage and rye toast and we split a dreamy slice of french toast topped with blueberries to round out the meal. We stuck with coffee for this round, but they do serve alcoholic beverages if you prefer a boozy brunch.
Catfish with greens and grits (red-eye reduction on the side)
Eggs with sausage and rye toast
French toast with blueberries
12pm – Patton Avenue Pet Company
We dropped in to grab gifts for our pets (this is a normal pet parent thing to do, right?). Asheville is a pet-centered town, featuring many pet-friendly restaurants and establishments. We picked out a new puzzle toy and freeze-dried bison livers for our dog plus a fashionable bandana for my parents’ dog.
This store had an extremely cute interior and features a huge section dedicated to pet foods. Lots of sweaters for the cold weather (handmade with love) available as well as any accessory you can possibly think of.
Beautifully decorated dog treats
1pm – Asheville Art Museum
Tickets were $15 per adult plus an extra fee for admittance to the touring exhibition on photorealism, which was completely worth the extra cost. Instead of my eyes trying to focus, it was my brain trying to focus on the fact that these works were painted by hand instead of taken via a garden variety digital snapshot.
It was a joy to explore this museum– our favorite was the food-themed exhibit featuring works by Andy Warhol. Upon reaching the top of the museum, we enjoyed views from the balcony accompanied by Asheville-made Poppy popcorn and coffee from the cafe.
3pm – Shopping!
Spare Chayng- Witchy, Kitschy, Hilarious
Abode- Awesome selection of Poppy popcorn flavors
Charmed-Picked up postcards to mail to friends and family
5pm Dinner at Itto Ramen & Japanese Tapas
We split a bottle of dry sake to go with our tapas plates. We enjoyed the pork bao, takoyaki, eggplant, beef tartare.
Pork bao
Pork bao, eggplant, takoyaki
6pm Dessert at Sweets and Seats
The origin of this offbeat name: this café is a dessert café and a furniture shop! A very unusual combination, but we enjoyed our stop here. You can’t miss it since it has a model of a boba tea outside!
We shared the tiramisu and taro boba. Unfortunately no ability to adjust sweetness and ice levels as would be available at a Kung Fu Tea (my gold standard). I believe this place charges extra for “no ice” option. Sweet and smooth tiramisu with the desired edge of bitterness from espresso. Boba was cooked nicely, chewy with fresh taste and texture. Taro flavor was gentle and well executed.
Tiramisu
Taro milk tea
Sunday – Day 3
11:15am Brunch at Chestnut
Glad we booked a reservation, this beautifully cozy brunch spot filled up in a flash! The décor reminded me of the cheesecake factory – quirky and curly but not in a bad way.
On a wintry weather day, the lobster bisque absolutely hit the spot. Rich, smooth, savory and comforting. I could have guzzled another gallon with the help of my friend, Lactaid. We got the breakfast hash with eggs and the pork belly eggs benedict.
The breakfast hash was the perfect way to kick off roasted vegetable season – potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, delicata squash, and chickpeas beautifully seasoned and topped with 2 fried eggs.
The eggs benedict was wonderfully executed, with all the fatty and savory flavors I could wish for, but with a kick in the hollandaise seasoning that cut through the fatty flavors for a great balance. Fries were cut a bit thinner than steak fries, allowing for satisfying crunch.
Lobster bisque
1pm Tea at High Climate Tea
After exploring a few galleries next to Chestnut, we headed to High Climate Tea. Their serene, plant-filled, spa-like paradise is a wonderful place to sip a pot of unusual tea paired with delicately sweet offerings.
Black sesame mochi was savory with a beautiful bite as ever and the matcha tiramisu light and complemented immensely by the tiny slice of orange on top. We went for a young leaf tea that was described as “brothy” and the flavors were kaleidoscopic, with phases from sweet to savory, with a light finish.
3pm Spa Time at Wake Foot Sanctuary
The name sounds as if feet are endangered species which must be sequestered at this sanctuary in order to repopulate. The reality is, this spa specializes in foot soaks and you can opt into additional massage services as desired.
I had to leave a message and get a call back in order to book, highly recommend booking ahead of time because these slots stay filled!
Upon entering, you check in at the front desk – everyone speaks in whispers to preserve the serene environment. You are provided with a set of soft white slippers to use and keep- after changing into these, you are welcomed back to the spa area. I relaxed into the soothing foot bath they provided. My partner chose the head and neck massage (20 minutes), while I opted for the foot and calf massage (20 minutes). Both were extremely relaxing, and we were able to meditate/zone out during our session.
5pm Charcuterie at Battery Park Book Exchange and Champagne Bar
After our relaxing foot spa experience, we wandered around the adorable Grove Arcade. I really wanted to check out the book exchange after seeing pictures of it online. Such a romantic interior, filled with books, live jazz band combo, and delicious cheese pairings which we enjoyed with prosecco and a mocktail. Of note, they have serious rules about the ambience- no laptops and must be over 21 on the weekends.
Skylights in Grove Arcade
7pm Dinner at Shanghai Dumpling House
A substantial wait (45 minutes), but this place was close enough that we could put our name in and relax in our hotel’s lobby until it was time for us to walk over.
The soup dumplings had a beautiful light broth inside and were well flavored. By far our favorite dish here was the shishito peppers – they had a beautiful pepper flavor, seasoned well with nice amount of salt and garlic in the mix. I could have eaten a bushel of them.
Shishito peppers
Pork belly bao
Soup dumplings
Day 4 - Monday
Our plan for a morning hike turned into a morning scenic drive on the blue ridge parkway, as the temperatures dropped from the mild mid-60’s to a drastic 40F over the weekend. We took the drive up to Craggy Pinnacle (39 minutes), stopping to admire the views at the lookout areas. By the time we arrived at Craggy Pinnacle itself, we were immersed in the Blue Ridge Parkway’s first snow of the season. The temperature was now in the 30’s and as I struggled to capture a photo of the ice-encased bushes, I resembled Luke Skywalker on the ice planet of Hoth.
12pm Lunch at Green Sage Café
Gulped down an energizing and vibrant fresh beet juice here. We both ordered nourishing vegetarian bowls with delightful dressings. Great place for vegans or if you enjoy the occasional meatless meal. Fresh and light, which was exactly what we were wanting before heading over to the sauna.
Falafel bowl
2pm Coffee at French Broad Chocolate Factory
Stopped in for a warm drink and something sweet! The factory location is usually less crowded than the downtown chocolate lounge location, with more room to spread out and enjoy. Picked up seasonal bonbon packages for parents, scorpion chocolate for ourselves, and a chai latte as well.
Chai latte with oat milk
4:30pm Sauna House
Booked our reservation 2 months in advance, but not sure if that was wholly necessary. Sauna House focuses on the Hot Sauna – Cold Plunge – Relax cycle. Main floor is for regular/talking and the basement floor is for the silent, meditative experience. Private sauna rooms are also located in the basement. We proceeded to shower off as requested, nice dr. bronner brand products are available for this. Slipped into our bathing suits and headed to the main floor sauna, followed by the cold plunge pool, then we finally relaxed in the heated couch area. We ended up doing our 2nd and 3rd cycles in the basement for the peaceful environment- also the cold plunge pool was bigger in this level. Although we were intimidated by the cold plunge, and I definitely did not hold out for 3 minutes in cold plunge at any time, we felt invigorated and restored after our time at Sauna House. The price was also quite reasonable $40/person (substantially less than our wake foot spa experience). The feeling afterwards was a sense of being energized, similar to the way you’d feel after an exercise session. My muscles felt relaxed and I felt calm and satisfied. Highly recommend this experience - face your fears and do the cold plunge!
6pm Ginger’s Revenge
Another favorite must-visit, we brought our Ginger’s Revenge growler with us for refilling. Uniquely Asheville, this ginger beer brewery offers alcoholic options, non-alcoholic options, and snacks. Check Groupon- they usually have a great deal on there that will include a flight, glasses, and a growler! We couldn’t choose between flights, so we got 2: A traditional flight with their tried-and-true brews and a flight entirely composed of their seasonal offerings. My favorite this round was a fresh berry and basil ginger beer. We ended up filing our growler (Cranberry Herb) in addition to purchasing and filling another growler (Cucumber Lime Basil Peppermint).
8pm Late Dinner at Miyako House
We were craving sushi, so we walked over to Miyako House for dinner. It was fairly empty due to being a Monday night, but the staff stayed busy with take-out orders, marking this as a local college town favorite. We ordered sashimi plus a variety of rolls and they were beautifully presented.
Tuesday – Day 5
Grabbed to-go breakfast at Rhu around the corner – biscuits and gravy plus a trout + everything bagel sandwich. Picked up a beautifully spiced dirty chai latte and an americano to jumpstart our drive home.
Bonus: On our way out of town, stopped by the Spicewalla pop-up shop in Grove Arcade! My eyes were watering from the fresh spices being ground – well worth it to pick up a few gifts for ourselves and family. Our favorite from here is the smoked paprika! A small tin of this will seriously upgrade your cooking game.
