Asheville 2019

Chestnut, Downtown Asheville, Blue Ridge Butcher Bar, Montreat

Day 3

Our weekend in Asheville and Black Mountain was wonderful. Our cottage was great, save for the fact that it only had two bathrooms a tiny water heater, and often ran out of hot water. Thus, the Snapchat below:

Our original intention for Sunday morning was to have our own little worship service in our cabin, but unfortunately we all overslept and were in a rush, so we had to settle for a car singalong instead. We left Creekside Cottage shortly before 09:45, and headed to downtown Asheville for our brunch at Chestnut.

Brunch - Chestnut

Chestnut is one of my favorite restaurants not just in Asheville, but in North America. I had been several times, once with Faith on our honeymoon. However, I’d never gotten to experience their brunch before. As expected, it was absolutely wonderful; in my opinion, the best meal we had all weekend. I’ll list our menu selections and Chestnut‘s descriptions below:

  • CJ: Poutine
    • House Cut Fries, Benton’s Bacon Red Eye Gravy, Local Cheese Curds, Sunny Side Egg, Scallions
  • Christina: Avocado Toast
    • Del Vecchios’ Focaccia, Avocado Puree, Bacon, Sliced Heirloom Tomatoes, Eggs
  • Daniel: Eggs Benedict
    • House-Cured Smoked Canadian Bacon, English Muffin, Poached Eggs, Hollandaise Sauce
  • Sarah: Shrimp & Grits
    • SC Adluh Cheddar Grits, Bacon, Cherry Tomatoes, Serrano Peppers, Spinach, Peppercorn Cream Sauce
  • Isaac: Donut (+ Shrimp & Grits!)
    • Served with a Chestnut Glaze and Powdered Sugar 
  • Faith: Eagle Street Chicken and Waffle
    • Southern Fried, F.S. Carbon Waffle, Creamy Sausage Gravy, Chipotle Honey Drizzle
Chestnut
Asheville, NC

Excellent food, and has been consistently good every time I’ve been there. Bruch is great, but their lunch and dinner menus are great too.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Downtown Asheville

After breakfast, we explored downtown Asheville for several hours. We started at Diamond Brand Outdoors, headed up to the Mast General Store, and then went in many other shops, including a bookstore, the Chocolate Fetish to grab some truffles, and others.

The Ames and Hinshaws decided they wanted to tour Highland Brewing Company, and there were only four spots left, so Faith and I split off for a while to go to a few stores on Tunnel Road while the other four enjoyed the tour.

Foothill Local Meats

A short time later, we regrouped in downtown Black Mountain, where we decided to seek out a late lunch/early supper at Foothills Local Meats’ Butcher Bar. We got an assortment of cheeseburgers, house-made hot dogs, and fries. In lieu of fries, Faith and I got a mac and cheese skillet to split.

Blue Ridge Butcher Bar - Foothills Local Meats
Black Mountain, NC

Simple menu, but everywhere is exceptionally well done. They now have a new complex open closer to the heart of downtown, with broader menu offerings.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Montreat

Feeling satisfied after devouring our food, we decided to make one last stop before we wrapped up the weekend: Montreat, NC. Home to Montreat College and one of Ben Long’s frescoes, Montreat is a beautiful place to relax and enjoy the scenery. We walked around the lake for a while and took some group photos, finally remedying the lack of photos of the six of us.

After wrapping up our photoshoot, we walked up to the Prayer Chapel to view the fresco.

Heading Home // Conclusion

Leaving Montreat, we headed back home to impending snows, even colder temperatures, and an awaiting workweek. Welcome to Boone. It was a wonderful, fun, relaxing weekend in Western NC, and I’m sure we will all remember it fondly. We definitely hope to do it again sometime, and even talked about venturing up to Washington, D.C. for a long weekend sometime.

After a quick pitstop in Marion for gas, we made it safely back to Boone around 19:15. Faith and I went to her cousins’ house for dessert, and didn’t make it home until 21:45; thus, the reason this post is delayed.

Things to Come

As you may remember, I mentioned an upcoming surprise…

I’ll post details (via a new blog post) about that in the upcoming weeks. Faith and I are very excited to share our latest plans with you! I’ve been planning this for quite some time, and am almost ready to give you a preview.

Bern, Switzerland
A tiny preview

Goodbyes

Thanks for following along with us this weekend! We hope you enjoyed reading our posts, and will follow along in the future.

From our “Family” to yours,

Isaac & Faith, CJ & Christina, Daniel & Sarah

5 Responses

  1. I’m glad you had a wonderful weekend! Loved all the pictures! The Butcher Bar Restaurant looks interesting…your dad and I will have to check it out!

  2. As always, I love reading your blog and your trip to Asheville is no exception. Asheville is actually our favorite NC city with the exception of Granite Falls!! Now, I’m awaiting the surprise! Oh, let me guess?????

  3. A fun adventure in the Asheville area . . . Thanks for sharing it with us all. When the girls were young and Kendall was on a traveling basketball team, it was based in Asheville. Brings back so many good memories – especially at Montreat where we often walked around the lake waiting between games. Now . . . I’m intrigued to find out what the two of you are up to next . . .

  4. Loved reading about the entire adventure. Loved the pics too, especially the ones made in Montreat. Thanks for taking us all along on the trip.

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