North Carolina...again!

This past Friday-Tuesday, I went on another road trip to North Carolina with my friends Audra and Dayna. This trip was planned the day we left North Carolina in October. Think we like road trips much? :)

Would you believe that there was NO snow? If you know me and my obsession with snow, you can imagine how disappointed I was. I was holding out hope until the minute we left; thinking maybe, just maybe, there might be an area with snow somewhere along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Unfortunately though, there was none.

So what does that mean? It means that another trip has already been planned for January or February. This time, a snowstorm will dictate when we go. I'll be watching the weather consistently over the next few months, and when it works out that we're free and a snowstorm is moving in, we're gone again! I can't wait!

We left Friday after school. We left later than originally planned, but in true procrastinator-fashion, Dayna and I were not packed yet. It worked out though because our drive was 5 hours flat with no traffic. Friday night we stayed in Audra's uncle's cabin in Georgia. It was so fun! The smell of pine filled the cabin and it just felt cozy! When we arrived, her uncle had everything set out for us, complete with Christmas music playing. This experience made me dream of spending a Christmas(es) in a snow-covered cabin somewhere in the mountains.



Saturday we headed to our final destination of Asheville, NC. We stayed in the exact same hotel we did when we were there in October since the hotel worker told us in October that last Christmas they got 16 inches of snow. While we were there, we were able to visit The Biltmore Estate, shop, eat at new restaurants, and go Christmas-light-looking through the mountains. Skiing, snowtubing and/or snowmobiling was on the original agenda until the weather decided it wanted to be "unseasonably warm." {Probably my least favorite phrase, ever.}

Here are pictures to help tell the story of our trip...

The classiest McDonald's, located near Biltore and equipped with a grand piano and fireplace

Beautiful Biltmore

The impressive intricate design


Nighttime with the Christmas tree lit up



Audra and I waiting to go in to Biltmore Candlelight Christmas, freezing cold!


After Biltmore, we went to eat at this restuarant which had a delicious New York Strip!


Shopping in Asheville


After shopping, we visited The Grove Park Inn in Asheville. They were hosting a huge gingerbread house contest and had some shops and in-house restaurants. We walked around for a while and then got some hot cocoa which we took outside to sit and overlook the mountain view.


We had planned to go to a sit-down restaurant for dinner but to our surprise, many of the restaurants closed at 9:00. So we settled for a place called Cookout Burger and I thought it was SO good! We ate outside in the cold weather, but I was soaking it all in! :)


When we got back to the hotel, Dayna and Audra played chess in the lobby while I relentlessly searched the weather forecast on my iPhone. (We know how that turned out.)

Although no snowflakes fell from the sky this trip, it still was fun being in the company of great friends and enjoying the first few days of our Christmas Break in another state! The cold weather at least made it feel festive. Hopefully my next post regarding a trip involves lots and lots of snow pictures!

3 days 'til Christmas!