Charlotte to Asheville

As predicted, we didn't sleep as well as we'd hoped, mainly because the hotel was right near a highway. Even ear plugs weren't that effective! I ended up setting the alarm so we wouldn't miss breakfast, and it was quite reasonable (any place that serves waffles gets a gold star from me). On the way we stopped at a LIDL supermarket to pick up some snacks. Whilst there an elderly lady tapped me on the shoulder and asked if she could hug me as she's "always wanted to hug Superman" (I was wearing my Warner Bros Superman T-shirt). I mean, how could you say no to that? :-)

On the way to Asheville we stopped to look at Lake Lure before continuing onto Chimney Rock National Park. I really loved it there. When we arrived, the lady working at the gate realised we weren't Americans and said "I'd just like to apologise for Donald Trump" which wasn't something we were expecting. Chimney Rock was amazing. The walk up wasn't too difficult, and the view over the valley was worth the effort. What was also good was being able to sit in a deckchair and just look at the valley. Which is exactly what we did whilst having our lunch.

The weather in North Carolina is significantly cooler than California, which I don't mind. After leaving Chimney Rock, we continued onto Asheville, which was listed as one of the top 25 cities in the USA to visit according to Trip Advisor. Once we arrived at our hotel we headed out to explore. To be honest, maybe we missed something. Asheville is nice, but it wasn't quite as amazing as we'd expected. It was even more interesting to see a guy walking around with a snake around his shoulders. The town had a sort of grungy appeal I suppose.

For dinner, we went to a local Japanese restaurant which was a good choice for dinner. Tomorrow we are headed to nearby Biltmore Estate which I think might be the reason why Asheville rates so highly.Read more