Asheville, Day 3 - horseback riding and Graveyard Fields

Our first activity of the day was horseback riding at Sandy Bottom Trail Rides.  We were signed up for the two hour trail ride.  I figured the 1-hour was maybe not long enough, and the 3-hour included an extended break at the garnet mine on the ranch.

Neither of the boys had ever been on a trail ride; their only riding experience was the horse camp lesson in English saddles last summer.  I was pretty sure they would like it, but was a little apprehensive.  Rudy saddled up first and wanted the Ronnie, the trail leader to hold a lead line for him.  

The trails were a muddy, soppy mess because of all the spring rains but the views were amazing.   

With the sheep in the valleys, the mountains, and the green grass, we could almost imagine we were in Ireland. 

We had about a 15 minute break at the garnet mine.  
We found one snake on the rocks in the cave, one baby snapping turtle, and a small handful of rough garnets!

 Wow!!

We had a late breakfast, knowing that we'd be on the trail around lunchtime.  After the trail ride, James picked BiscuitHead for lunch.  We'd driven past it, but didn't really know what it was.  We pulled in about 1:30, and they close at 2.  It was perfect timing, because it was not crowded.  Apparently, lines are usually out the door.  Rudy chose the pulled pork biscuit, which included some ridiculous amount of meat.  I had the fried chicken biscuit which, according to the guy at the register is nationally known and written up in foodie magazines.  The biscuits were ah-may-zing.  And?  The other best part?  The JAM BAR.  About two dozen varieties of jellies, jams, honeys, and butters.  Delicious.  

Reenergized, we headed to part of the Pisgah National Forest for a hike.  We decided to do the Graveyard Fields and first and second falls hikes.  Without trail maps, our strategy is to take a picture of the map at the trail head... 

This was another great hike...lots of rocks to climb on!!

 

Second falls:

After leaving the second falls, we went through Graveyard Fields to the first falls.  The area is called Graveyard Fields because there was a windstorm in the 1800s that blew down many of the trees and the stumps looked like gravestones.  Then, in 1925, a wildfire burned through and the area still hasn't fully recovered.  The low scrub-brush like plants are a lot different from the surrounding areas.

Upper falls was pretty small and not quite the 'destination' we expected.  Still a nice way to spend a beautiful day together.  

Back out at the parking lot, taking in the view...

We'd had a late lunch, and Rudy still wasn't quite 100% well.  We decided on a quick and quiet dinner for the night and got crepes to go in downtown Asheville.  We ate them in a little square in town before wrapping it up for the night. 

Asheville, Day 2 - Gem Mine and Chimney Rock

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.