I know a large portion of the country is ticked off at my generation for continuing to go on spring break trips in the midst of the Corona Chaos (that’s my name for this pandemic). I’ve heard it from several people, including my own grandparents, about our carelessness being the reason our age group is the largest carrier and the reason elderly people will die.
Yep, it’s been said to me as harsh and blunt as that sentence may portray.
To be quite honest, they’re not completely wrong. I know people who extended their spring break trips in Florida when they found out their spring break was extended/they were switching to online school.
As I mentioned in my last blog post where I showed mostly everything I wore during spring break (minus the drool covered pajamas), most of my spring break plans were destroyed. However, my friend and I still decided to go on our quick trip to Asheville, North Carolina.
We used foamy hand sanitizer, kept an appropriate distance from people, and washed our hands a ton (my hands get crusty after continuously washing them, and I left the AirBnB Tuesday morning with the crustiest hands I’ve ever seen).
Though the trip was short and “risky” (according to most of the people in my family), my friend and I still managed to have a good time without becoming carriers.
This is a recap of our short, fantastic trip to Asheville (hopefully I get everything right).
Sunday
We arrived in Asheville some time Sunday morning and went straight to a really cool doughnut shop called Hole Doughnuts. I wish I had some sort of picture of the shop or the doughnut or something because it was the greatest doughnut I’ve ever had. They specialize in fried doughnuts, and I just- *chef’s kiss*. They are phenomenal. Unfortunately, I only have a couple of stickers I bought to remember them by. Hopefully, the Corona Chaos subsides and/or disappears before August, so I can go back to Hole Doughnuts since my university is a lot closer to the shop than Nashville.
Afterwards, we went to the Asheville Art Museum, which I enjoyed. Since Asheville isn’t a BIG big city, I thought the museum was the perfect size. It wasn’t too small nor too big. Again, I failed in the picture taking department and only have a magnet and sticker to remember it by. Since I’ll be closer later in the year, I’ll go back.
When we left the art museum, we went to a place called L.O.F.T. (which I later found out means Lost Objects, Found Treasures). There used to be a place in downtown Nashville called Pangea (may she rest in peace) that had the same kind of vibe as L.O.F.T. It was a chill place with an assortment of fun and funny items that I 10000% want in my future apartment. There were items such as these candles (there were a ton of Lizzo and Obama items, and I was thriving):
To finish our indoor activities for the trip, we went to Well Played Board Game Café and chilled there for a few hours. Honestly, it was so much fun; if I lived in Asheville, it would probably be my weekly hangout. We played three games: Scrabble, a numbers game I can’t remember that was super confusing, and Haiclue (I’m still trying to figure out where I can buy this game from since it was created by an Asheville local). Haiclue is the perfect game for small friend group functions; it kind of challenges you in a fun way. Anyway, I also had chocolate milk (which was the best chocolate milk I’ve had in a long time; I ordered two glasses and withheld temptation to get a third) and a grilled cheese made with three cheeses of my choice.
Since grilled cheese just wasn’t enough, we swung by a garage-turned-ice cream shop called Sunshine Sammies for some ice cream. I got a soda float that consisted of strawberry rhubarb soda and vanilla ice cream, but the shop is known for their ice cream sammies. If I liked cookies, I probably would’ve gotten one. While we ate our ice cream, we fawned over two dogs for a few minutes.
Then came time to check out our AirBnB. It was a tiny house in Weaverville, NC on the Sparkle Bark Farm, which is an organic farm with nice residents and a couple of cats (there could be more animals, but I only remember seeing two cats). The Farm has three other AirBnB options, including a bus, but we stayed in the tiny house; I highly recommend checking out the Sparkle Bark Farm for any trips you have to take to Asheville and/or surrounding areas. Now, I have such an appreciation for tiny living; I would love to have a tiny house for vacationing… or if I just want to escape my future husband without leaving our property. It could be my “she shed.”
To finish off the night, we ate dinner at Blue Mountain Pizza, one of my favorite pizza places as I talked about in my first round of Top Travel Eats. However, this time around was a little different because someone payed for our pizza. We were a little weirded out for a while but eventually came to the conclusion that it was the waiter/bartender who greeted us when we walked in. However, that mystery is still unsolved.
Monday
We wanted to start our day off at the above restaurant, Double D’s Coffee & Desserts, but it was closed because of the Corona Chaos. Instead, we got a doughnut from The Underground Cafe. My friend got a doughnut called “The Simpsons,” and my doughnut was blueberry, rosemary, and lime; what a combo.
After chowing down on doughnuts, our outdoor activities began, starting with the River Arts District. We didn’t explore the entire district; instead, we stationed ourselves at an area with a lot of graffiti for about an hour or so. I captured my new phone wallpaper there (which you’ll see in a later post).
Then we went hiking, which was an experience (it always is). First, we tried to go to Craggy Gardens but had complications getting to the visitors center since the road was blocked. We found an alternative way to get to the visitors center, which involved a muddy, half mile hike that kind of kicked our butts (especially going up). Our view ended up being a parking lot and a bunch of picnic tables. As we ventured to our second location, we stopped at all the lookouts to capture different views of the mountains. We chilled at Buzzard Rock for a while and admired more graffiti; Buzzard Rock provided a lot of wholesomeness.
Before heading to dinner, I went crazy at a gas station because I was dehydrated and forgot to bring water for the hikes (again). For dinner, we went to Chai Pani, which was my first time having Indian food. The restaurant had a super cool, relaxed vibe about it and was the most Corona Chaos conscious out of all the restaurants we visited. I do not do well with spicy food… like, at all; literally, hot Cheetos can really do a number on me. I ordered something I can’t remember the name of, but I know it was chicken (I also don’t like chicken, but it was the only thing on the menu that seemed safe). My mouth was on fire, and I was point five seconds from shedding a tear, which would’ve been really awkward considering I kept accidentally making prolonged eye contact with everyone who works there.
Before retiring to the tiny house Monday night, we swung by a candy shop. After finding out the final two restaurants we wanted to go to were closed, we hit the interstate Tuesday morning and returned to Middle Tennessee to begin our quarantine.
I’m really happy we decided to still go to Asheville. As I enter the craziness and slight uncertainty of this week, I look back at the good time we had last week and smile because I know more opportunities like that are waiting for me in the future (after the Corona Chaos).
For now, I’m going to try to not be nervous about going back to work on Friday. Since I work at a place deemed to be an essential retail store, I still have a job. Don’t get me wrong; I am extremely grateful, especially with the way the economy is looking. However, the second someone sneezes around me, I’m out. I know my body can fight it, but I’m living with my grandparents until I head back to school in August. They don’t have any underlying health issues, but I can never be too sure.
Spring break was nice, but now it’s time to deal with a different reality.
