Our horseback riding trip was originally scheduled for today, but Rudy woke up with a low grade fever and some tummy troubles. We thought that on the back of a horse in the middle of nowhere was probably about the last place he'd want to be, so we postponed the trip for a day. We'd talked about gem mining with the kids before the trip, so Brady talked to the front desk people at the hotel and picked the Elijah Gem Mine. We decided to give it a shot, since it seemed like a pretty quiet activity that would be suitable for Rudy.
After some Advil and rest on the ride, Rudy perked up at the gem mine. He loves rocks and was excited to add to his rock collection. We splurged for the giant green bucket. James and I recognized this place as something of a tourist trap, but honestly, $60 for a solid 90 minutes of family fun? Worth it. For the kids, it was like they'd come across a vein of actual gold. They were so excited to dig into the bucket and sift through the sand to find the gems. They each got a geode (which they got to help crack inside) as well as a wide variety of semi-precious gems (rubies, emeralds) and crystals in a wide range of colors.
After the gem mine, we could see that Rudy was starting to crash. He can only have Advil every 6 hours, but Tylenol does nothing to bring down his fevers. We had a similar problem on his trip to Baltimore with strep throat. Chimney Rock had been on my list, but then I'd taken it off after reading reviews about how it had become too commercial and not as "wild," and it had an elevator. All that sounded a lot better with a sick 8 year old in tow, so we decided that would be our afternoon excursion.
We decided to stop for lunch on the way. Relying on my trusty TripAdvisor app, I found the Underground Baking Company. It wasn't really clear if it was just a bakery, or if they had real food, but we headed there anyway. As luck would have it, they happened to have a special that day and they'd just put out pizzas. Um...YUM! Amazing pizza and the pretzel was among the best we've ever had.
Rudy wanted to try hiking up to Chimney Rock. We took a short side trip into this cave before heading up.
Rudy was moving pretty slowly, but he made it to the first overlook and to the main overlook.
Chimney Rock reminds me a bit of Humpback Rocks. While being at the top of Humpback is always a terrifying mom-experience, with my kid scurrying around at the top, I'd hate to see it commercialized and gated in like Chimney Rock. The views from the top of Chimney Rock are pretty spectacular.
He decided he didn't want to go any further. It was hot, so definitely not worth pushing him any harder. He and James took a spin through the gift shops and rode the elevator down, while Brady and I continued on to Exclamation Point.
Selfie...we made it!
Back down in the valley, you can see Chimney Rock:
We didn't have much of an evening plan, and it was still early enough for a little stop. As a kid, one of my most favorite parts of vacations was climbing on rocks around rivers. The same is true for these two. We found a place to pull off the side of the road and they spent a happy hour or so scrambling around the rocks, building dams, throwing stones in the river, and exploring.
We headed back to the room for a bit before heading out to dinner. Rudy fell asleep and we couldn't bring ourselves to wake him up. He obviously needed rest. James and Brady took the van to get gas and to pick up more Advil for Ru.
That gave him about an hour long nap before we roused him for dinner. We were thinking of going to Tupelo Honey, which is one of THE restaurants to try in Asheville. With a 90 minute wait, and Rudy barely tolerating being out at all, that just wasnt' meant to be. We went upstairs to the Early Girl Eatery, which I had read about as a good breakfast restaurant. We were able to sit immediately and it wound up being a solid choice. I had a true southern platter - fried chicken, grits, and mac and cheese. The sides were nothing special, but it was THE BEST fried chicken I've ever had. James' biscuit was OK, Rudy said his applesauce entree was good, and Brady raved about his banana walnut pancakes.
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