Monday

Asheville

Camping in Asheville, N.C. was great. We were very happy with our site at Mama Gertie's just north of town. This was a secluded campground with nice spots on the lower level, and several sites way up high on the mountain with great views. We preferred the lower level as the angle of the hillside entrance seemed a challenge for my 6 cylinder Chevy.

Being just outside of town gave us several opportunities to drive in and check out the restaurants and bar scene. Asheville is the Beer City of the East with many breweries and loads of local and nearby brews to sample. We ate at Farm Burger our first night, and enjoyed the city scene. Lots of strolling couples and others, sidewalk musicians, and a generally fun atmosphere. The chocolate at the local shop was awesome.

We spent the next morning and part of the afternoon at the Riverside Art district open house. Many galleries with a huge assortment of arts and craft to see and purchase if you choose to. We heard great live music, and the weather was simply perfect. Asheville sits at 2600 ft elevation so it is always a bit cooler than Atllanta.

Next day we visited the Arboretum on the Blue Ridge parkway and were treated to gorgeous plants and flowers, and a terrific bonsai garden. auwas a fun place to hike the grounds.

We checked out West Asheville next, and up and coming area of town with a few cool restaurants. We ate lunch on Haywood Ave, not far from the Riverside Galleries.

From Asheville we drove back towards home and stopped in Greenville, SC. This is a nice town with great main street area for walking. The street leads to a waterfall, with a bridge over it for pedestrians to enjoy.
We found a great spot to eat, and though it was a lot warmer here than Asheville, we enjoyed our short stay.

We camped at  nearby Paris Mountain State Park, which was very quiet and wooded. It rained all night, but we had our window A/C unit cranking cool air and it was very comfortable in the Airstream.

Here are some photos from the trip...

Our little old dog- happy at Mama Gertie's