Michele had another spa appointment this morning, so the boys and I were off on another adventure after breakfast. We decided to go horseback riding. I am not that fond of horses, but Cameron mentioned that he would like to go riding, so I thought I’d give it a try. We drove about 40 minutes out of Asheville to a beautiful little valley, home of Sandy Bottom Trail Rides. As we were getting out of the car, we saw another family that had been eating breakfast at the table next to us this morning at the hotel, which was kind of funny coincidence. They were visiting from Raleigh. We checked in for our ride and the lady at the desk was super friendly. She mentioned that she had been a Bailey before she was married, so we are probably cousins!
We stepped outside, met our guide, Justin, and mounted up. Cameron and I rode together on a big while horse named Cotton. Brandon was on his own horse named Daisy. Brandon was a little nervous, so Justin led his horse with a long rope as we left the stable area. After about 10 minutes, he was feeling more comfortable and Justin handed him the reigns. He did great! We rode for about an hour through the gently rolling hills & forest. Cameron chattered away the whole time about this or that. He diligently watched for poop on the ground and quickly alerted our group if he spotted any. Once, Brandon’s horse pooped right in front of us and Cameron about laughed his head off! It was a very relaxing and enjoyable ride. The only time I got a little tense is when we were descending a steep hill in muddy conditions. I was praying that Cotton would stay on his feet through the tricky terrain. Soon, we were arriving back to the stables and not a moment too soon, as Cameron was complaining loudly that his butt was hurting.
The boys slept a bit on the drive back to the hotel. We got back to the room around noon, changed into shorts and waited for Michele to get back from the spa. Our plan for the afternoon was to go out for lunch and then go hiking at the NC Aboretum. While we waited, I looked up someplace good to eat and found a restaurant called Burgermeister’s that looked interesting and received good reviews. Soon, Michele called from the spa to say she was done and we agreed to meet at the car.
I plugged the address into the GPS and away we went. It was a short drive to West Asheville where we came to a small downtown area with a bunch of restaurants. We spotted Burgermeister’s and pulled in, but it was closed. There were workers inside and it looked like it may have sustained some type of fire or water damage. We decided to head back to a Mexican restaurant we passed on the way in. We walked inside and the place looked like a real dump! I was just about ready to turn around and leave when Michele grabbed a table. Her logic is that it was pretty busy, so it couldn’t be all that bad. Her reasoning was sound because the food & service were both pretty good.
Tummies full, we headed to the NC Arboretum. We parked and went inside the visitor center to use the bathroom and get a trail map. The boys were really hyper and were driving us crazy –I couldn’t wait to get them outside and let them run. We started out with a quick tour of the garden area and Bonsai exhibit, then we found the trail head and began our hike in earnest. This is exactly what the boys needed. They ran, jumped, yelled, played with sticks, skipped rocks in the river, and just generally had a good time. I really enjoyed myself, too. It reminded me of walks with Dad in Virginia when I was young. Michele was feeling a little run down and tired, but she is a trooper and she kept marching.
We hiked a big loop (2 miles?) following Bent Creek for a while and then doubling back through the hills. It was cooler out than yesterday with lower humidity and overcast skies –quite comfortable. As we neared the farthest point on our hike, the skies began to darken and we heard peals of thunder approaching. It was almost as dark as night on the trail under the cover of the trees above. I thought for sure we were going to get drenched any minute, but the rain must have passed us by as we only had a few sprinkles here and there. Our timing was perfect –it started to rain in earnest just as we got back to the parking lot. We rain the last few yards, jumped in the truck, and took off. We got back to the hotel again and we all took a short nap. Our plan for the evening was to get dinner downtown and then go on a “ghost tour.”
We drove downtown and headed to the restaurant we had looked at on-line, the Tupelo Honey Café. Unfortuneately, when we arrived we saw a huge line of people waiting to get in. Well, on to plan B: Carmel’s Italian. I pulled over and gave them a quick call and they promised they could seat us right away out on the patio (in the shade). Now, how to get there from here? I punched in the address and it looked like we were very close, but in which direction? I made a U-turn and then realized it was back the other way. I made another U-turn and drove down the street about 2 blocks and there was the restaurant –it was practically right next to us when I was making the call! The food was delicious, but the service wasn’t great.
After dinner, we walked about a block to the Haywood Hotel where we checked in for our Ghost Tour. The tour was run by a lady and her teenage daughter. They had recently moved here from Tampa! Before we started, they showed us some photo’s in their portfolio, which they claimed showed paranormal activity. They were all nighttime shots of buildings and such around Asheville. In many of them, bright circles or dots appeared in seemingly random locations. They claimed that these “orbs” were the spirits of the deceased that are still hanging around the place where they died. They encouraged us to take lots of photos throughout the tour and let them know if we saw anything.
I must admit, I had mixed feelings about the tour. Mainly, I wanted to go for a walk around town, see the architecture, and hear some local history. I didn’t believe any of their nonsense about ghosts, but I didn’t want to be rude to them or ruin it for the kids. On the other hand, I didn’t want the kids to get too scared, either. I gave the camera to Brandon and let him snap away throughout the tour. As a amateur photographer, it seemed silly to me for all these people to use little point & shoot cameras with flash to capture an enormous building hundreds of feet away, but I kept my mouth shut. A couple people (including Brandon) claim to have captured orbs.
We walked around downtown for about 90 minutes, stopping occasionally to hear a story about how someone died here, was murdered there, jumped off this building, etc. The kids behaved pretty well and it was a pleasant walk. Next time, I think I will skip the ghost business and just take a walking tour during the day so I can get better pictures. Toward the end, I showed Brandon how you could make it look like a ghost was in the photo by setting the camera on a stable surface and using the self-timer with a slow shutter speed while walking through the frame. He & Cameron loved it, but our tour guides frowned upon my demonstration. We finally got back home around 11pm.
Tomorrow, we are heading home to Tampa. I will be flying back to Asheville on Friday morning with Nick’s Dad, Steve, to pick up the boys from camp.
We stepped outside, met our guide, Justin, and mounted up. Cameron and I rode together on a big while horse named Cotton. Brandon was on his own horse named Daisy. Brandon was a little nervous, so Justin led his horse with a long rope as we left the stable area. After about 10 minutes, he was feeling more comfortable and Justin handed him the reigns. He did great! We rode for about an hour through the gently rolling hills & forest. Cameron chattered away the whole time about this or that. He diligently watched for poop on the ground and quickly alerted our group if he spotted any. Once, Brandon’s horse pooped right in front of us and Cameron about laughed his head off! It was a very relaxing and enjoyable ride. The only time I got a little tense is when we were descending a steep hill in muddy conditions. I was praying that Cotton would stay on his feet through the tricky terrain. Soon, we were arriving back to the stables and not a moment too soon, as Cameron was complaining loudly that his butt was hurting.
The boys slept a bit on the drive back to the hotel. We got back to the room around noon, changed into shorts and waited for Michele to get back from the spa. Our plan for the afternoon was to go out for lunch and then go hiking at the NC Aboretum. While we waited, I looked up someplace good to eat and found a restaurant called Burgermeister’s that looked interesting and received good reviews. Soon, Michele called from the spa to say she was done and we agreed to meet at the car.
I plugged the address into the GPS and away we went. It was a short drive to West Asheville where we came to a small downtown area with a bunch of restaurants. We spotted Burgermeister’s and pulled in, but it was closed. There were workers inside and it looked like it may have sustained some type of fire or water damage. We decided to head back to a Mexican restaurant we passed on the way in. We walked inside and the place looked like a real dump! I was just about ready to turn around and leave when Michele grabbed a table. Her logic is that it was pretty busy, so it couldn’t be all that bad. Her reasoning was sound because the food & service were both pretty good.
Tummies full, we headed to the NC Arboretum. We parked and went inside the visitor center to use the bathroom and get a trail map. The boys were really hyper and were driving us crazy –I couldn’t wait to get them outside and let them run. We started out with a quick tour of the garden area and Bonsai exhibit, then we found the trail head and began our hike in earnest. This is exactly what the boys needed. They ran, jumped, yelled, played with sticks, skipped rocks in the river, and just generally had a good time. I really enjoyed myself, too. It reminded me of walks with Dad in Virginia when I was young. Michele was feeling a little run down and tired, but she is a trooper and she kept marching.
We hiked a big loop (2 miles?) following Bent Creek for a while and then doubling back through the hills. It was cooler out than yesterday with lower humidity and overcast skies –quite comfortable. As we neared the farthest point on our hike, the skies began to darken and we heard peals of thunder approaching. It was almost as dark as night on the trail under the cover of the trees above. I thought for sure we were going to get drenched any minute, but the rain must have passed us by as we only had a few sprinkles here and there. Our timing was perfect –it started to rain in earnest just as we got back to the parking lot. We rain the last few yards, jumped in the truck, and took off. We got back to the hotel again and we all took a short nap. Our plan for the evening was to get dinner downtown and then go on a “ghost tour.”
We drove downtown and headed to the restaurant we had looked at on-line, the Tupelo Honey Café. Unfortuneately, when we arrived we saw a huge line of people waiting to get in. Well, on to plan B: Carmel’s Italian. I pulled over and gave them a quick call and they promised they could seat us right away out on the patio (in the shade). Now, how to get there from here? I punched in the address and it looked like we were very close, but in which direction? I made a U-turn and then realized it was back the other way. I made another U-turn and drove down the street about 2 blocks and there was the restaurant –it was practically right next to us when I was making the call! The food was delicious, but the service wasn’t great.
After dinner, we walked about a block to the Haywood Hotel where we checked in for our Ghost Tour. The tour was run by a lady and her teenage daughter. They had recently moved here from Tampa! Before we started, they showed us some photo’s in their portfolio, which they claimed showed paranormal activity. They were all nighttime shots of buildings and such around Asheville. In many of them, bright circles or dots appeared in seemingly random locations. They claimed that these “orbs” were the spirits of the deceased that are still hanging around the place where they died. They encouraged us to take lots of photos throughout the tour and let them know if we saw anything.
I must admit, I had mixed feelings about the tour. Mainly, I wanted to go for a walk around town, see the architecture, and hear some local history. I didn’t believe any of their nonsense about ghosts, but I didn’t want to be rude to them or ruin it for the kids. On the other hand, I didn’t want the kids to get too scared, either. I gave the camera to Brandon and let him snap away throughout the tour. As a amateur photographer, it seemed silly to me for all these people to use little point & shoot cameras with flash to capture an enormous building hundreds of feet away, but I kept my mouth shut. A couple people (including Brandon) claim to have captured orbs.
We walked around downtown for about 90 minutes, stopping occasionally to hear a story about how someone died here, was murdered there, jumped off this building, etc. The kids behaved pretty well and it was a pleasant walk. Next time, I think I will skip the ghost business and just take a walking tour during the day so I can get better pictures. Toward the end, I showed Brandon how you could make it look like a ghost was in the photo by setting the camera on a stable surface and using the self-timer with a slow shutter speed while walking through the frame. He & Cameron loved it, but our tour guides frowned upon my demonstration. We finally got back home around 11pm.
Tomorrow, we are heading home to Tampa. I will be flying back to Asheville on Friday morning with Nick’s Dad, Steve, to pick up the boys from camp.
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