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Wanted to share this thread from reddit. Some really great general advice for anyone traveling in the USA regarding best way to travel and best hotel.
Looks like this is a subreddit run by bots? lol Edit: the joke went waaaaay over my head
i read almost the whole thread to wife last night and we both laughed until we cried. i don't know why i find those bots so funny. they are earnestly trying to offer travel advice and massively failing.
I'm also a car traveler. If you're worried about being lost, you can rent a truck and drive around the USA. I personally don't like the truck but it's still a lot more convenient.
I'll also recommend a van. You can pick up gas, get a hotel room, drop off your car in the middle of nowhere and drive on.
I have always used a van because it's more convenient. I also like the convenience of being able to stop wherever I choose. I usually just stop in a gas station and grab a beer.
I don't know why I'm still using my backpack. I don't like having to carry it around everywhere. I also don't like carrying it around in the car. The van will be much more convenient for me.
If you're worried about being lost in the van, you can always try hitchhiking.
I know you will be okay if you don't use the van. If you do use it, you'll just have to carry it around in the car.
thepeppers, sang, Dave M, Dylan and all else who knows or lives in Asheville, I need some food and place recommendations. The family rented a mountain cabin about an hour SE of Asheville in Rosman for Columbus-murderer Day week. I’ve been to Waynesville/Maggie Valley and Cherokee numerous times. I’ve only been down this way once when we drove to Looking Glass Falls and Sliding Rocks.
We will find a couple more waterfalls close by, but considering COVID-19 issues, what do we need to do outdoors in Asheville itself? The only time I was ever there we went to the giant farmers market. We will do that again. Also if there are any must get takeout from places, I’ll want to get some of that. Eclectic, bbq, etc doesn’t matter. Just as long as it’s something you’d recommend we not miss.
I’m bugging on not being able to go to all the brewpubs and microbreweries as I know that’s a big draw. And I like beer. But next time up there after a vaccine is available, I’ll hit some of those.
Thanks for any insight you might want to throw out there for us.
Maybe someone will come in and correct this if anyone reads the thread and can help us out.
Must Go Places for Me WNC Farmer's Market (have been before) Barber's Apple Orchard (have been before) North Carolina Arboretum French Broad River Dog Park
Waterfalls We're Looking At Mingo Falls (have been) Looking Glass Falls (have been) Courthouse Falls Catheys Creek Falls Cathedral Falls Rainbow Falls Connestee Falls Upper Whitewater Falls (appears to be a must see)
Post by thepeppers on Sept 29, 2020 8:07:21 GMT -5
A good amount of breweries down here have outdoor seating and setups in which you don’t have to go inside unless needing to use the restroom.
Upcounty Brewing in West Asheville revamped its outdoor seating a year or two ago, it’s behind the building. They created window on their deck to where you can order and just find a table outside. Solid pizza and bar food.
White Labs is a favorite of mine in the south slope area (near downtown, and right near our minor league baseball field). They brew some great beer and do pizza/bread dishes with special fermentation - can read about on the website. They have an outdoor patio, it’s not a big one, but the wife and I have got seating there the two times we have went since they opened it. Can also get takeout and bring a growler for them to fill up.
The Wedge has two locations in the River Arts District - both have plenty of outdoor seating. Might would have to go in to order beers there. They usually have food trucks on popular days.
I’m sure there is some decent outdoor options downtown - but to be honest I haven’t been out anywhere downtown since COVID. Don’t know if you want venture out this far but Chimney Rock State Park/Lake Lure is a gorgeous area. A lot of different hikes you can do in that park, and Hickory Nut Brewery is nearby. There outdoor seating behind the building is probably the best view you can have while at brewery - the river runs right through it. Gorgeous views.
We hiked Linville Falls two weeks ago - gorgeous views, but it’s not really much hiking to be had there. All the slopes/view points are not far away once entering the area.
As far as takeout BBQ options - there is plenty of them. Doc Browns BBQ is in my neighborhood and has very quality food, but it’s out of the way unless you live in Candler. Bonfire BBQ is top notch and Buxton Hall is very good - they’re more of a fancy style of BBQ, little more pricey than your average place.
Yeah that's bomb. Thanks man. Great information. My kids have been up there 3x, but their mother hasn't ever been near the Smokies. I told her this would be her introduction and then after Covid-19, we can easily come back and stay downtown and do Asheville right. The general plan now is mostly outdoors and trying to take advantage of the fall colors (since we don't get fall down here). Our dog is only about 4 months old, but she's got a lot of energy and your city is a very dog-friendly place. We'll have 4 full days in the mountains. One of the days I will take them to the Smokies through Waynesville/Maggie Valley and go to Barber's Apple Orchard, let K see the winter slopes (she wanted to go snow tubing, but it's too early still; I wanted to go to Bryson City and raft the Nantahala, but it's all closed) and then drive the 441 and get a few photos. Because the Smokies aren't really dog friendly, we don't plan on doing the usual hikes (Laurel Falls, Clingman's Dome, etc.) I've done in the past. We'll just drive through. Another day will be a waterfall day - Looking Glass, Upper Whitewater, etc. where we'll check out several. Another day will be a trip to Asheville. We're going to go to the Arboretum and probably French Broad River Park as well as the WNC Farmer's Market. And the 4th day (whichever one that is) is up to her. She said one of her friends at work highly recommended Greenville, SC for a day. I'm not opposed to that since we're right there anyway, but it's probably unlikely. I think we'll go to Asheville two of the days and will make sure to try out some of the recommendations. Can't thank you enough.
Post by thepeppers on Sept 29, 2020 9:01:44 GMT -5
All those outdoor spots I named off are dog friendly as long you’re on the patio. French Broad River Dog Park is great but if you’re going on a weekend I would suggest going to Richmond Hill Park instead. It’s big freezbie golf course that has trails for dog walkers and bikers. They are usually crowded on weekends too - but it’s a lot bigger and private space compared to the dog park. Our dog is older - but we let her run off a leash once we got started on the trail since you don’t run into others often on the trails.
If your looking for some scenic driving in the mountains, would recommend hoping the Blue Ridge Parkway. Took the long way back on it two weeks ago when we went to Linville Falls. Gorgeous.
Also, Greenville is a great city. For a Saturday/Sunday you would prob find less crowds than Asheville. Granted I think if you stay away from downtown you hardly ever run into big crowds here.
Post by Dave Maynar on Sept 29, 2020 9:08:49 GMT -5
Haha thepeppers is actually who I was going to tag to give better recommendations than mine. I have not been to Asheville since May 2019, and that was a quick up and back for a show at The Mothlight (RIP). sang_xcx has probably been there more recently than I. I will give a hearty second to Wedge and French Broad Chocolate. Like peppers said, Wedge has a fantastic setup for COVID. I was only able to go on the tail end of a trip where I went to Asheville, but it is a definite when I go again. As far as downtown beer goes, Burial was my favorite when I last took a tour through the city. They had a pretty decent outdoor setup when I went, but it has been a bit. I would stay away from Wicked Weed especially in COVID times. That place is always packed when I go to Asheville. abrakapokus reminded me of Hot Springs which could be a nice break for you and the lady if you could leave the dog for a little bit.
All those outdoor spots I named off are dog friendly as long you’re on the patio. French Broad River Dog Park is great but if you’re going on a weekend I would suggest going to Richmond Hill Park instead. It’s big freezbie golf course that has trails for dog walkers and bikers. They are usually crowded on weekends too - but it’s a lot bigger and private space compared to the dog park. Our dog is older - but we let her run off a leash once we got started on the trail since you don’t run into others often on the trails.
If your looking for some scenic driving in the mountains, would recommend hoping the Blue Ridge Parkway. Took the long way back on it two weeks ago when we went to Linville Falls. Gorgeous.
Also, Greenville is a great city. For a Saturday/Sunday you would prob find less crowds than Asheville. Granted I think if you stay away from downtown you hardly ever run into big crowds here.
We're getting up there on a Sunday and leaving Friday, so it's basically Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday so hopefully we won't see too many crowds. But we'll note Richmond Hill Park.
Not much I'd add. peppers lives there so he knows more than I do. We haven't been to Asheville this year. If you're not far from Hendersonville I'd hit Hendough up one morning. There's also one of those in Greenville at a place called Gather that has a bunch of cool places to eat, but idk if I'd go there right now.
Thanks again to sang, thepeppers and Dave M for the good word. We had an awesome time as usual up in Appalachia. The only drawbacks were that we were so high up a mountain near Rosman that we were actually pretty far from most places we would have gone to, and of course COVID-19. We stayed in an Air B&B on the downslope of a mountain, but it had a fenced in yard which was great for our dog who is 3 1/2 months now. This was the view though the photo doesn't do it very much justice.
We decided to avoid most indoor places except groceries, so we didn't get to do a lot of fine dining and brewery tours which I'll do again in the future once I have been vaccinated. We got up late Sunday night, so Monday we figured we'd go up to Asheville which was about an hour NNW of where we were. We went to the WNC Farmer's Market and got a bunch of produce and also went to the NC Arboretum. One of the unknowns of the trip was how our dog would do on trails, hiking and shit. Turned out she was a fucking champ which was both good and bad. The good was that she was a pack leader and all into leading the way to wherever we were going. The bad part is, she's so fucking cute that everybody and their grandmother wants to pet her. I don't know if coronavirus transmits from people to dog hair back to people, but what can you really do about that except be a dick and tell people no or hold her back (because she loves everyone). We just let it ride. We got lunch at Biscuit Head which was pretty great (highly recommending their blueberry-jalapeno jelly). That was the first time I sat down and ate anywhere since early March. But it was outside and properly spaced, so we went with it. Place was delicious and probably would be a regular stop for me if I lived in Asheville.
Tuesday we decided we'd trek up toward the Smokies. We wanted to go to Barber's Apple Orchard in Waynesville www.facebook.com/BarberOrchardFruitstand/ which was a haul from where we were. Fortunately a good chunk of the drive was on the Blue Ridge Parkway which is always fucking great. We went and got a bunch of apples, apple bread, apple slushies, apple pastries and all that great apple shit they have. Then we drove over to Mingo Falls. I've been there probably 6 or 7 times over the years, and often we were the only people there. However, it was fn packed, and the upper falls trail was closed. One of my kids and his gf went up there anyway and said the trail was changed and greatly deteriorated from 10 years ago which was the last time we went up there. Day was winding down so we figured we'd drive up the 441 through the park halfway and then just cruise back and grill out at the cabin. We got up to Newfound Gap and took a bunch of photos.
Wednesday we decided was going to be waterfalls day. We were in Transylvania County which I'm pretty sure has the most waterfalls per capital than anywhere else in the Continental US. But I fucked that up royally. We had a book of WNC waterfalls, and I had a bunch of them x'd off on a map. But since GPS doesn't work in a lot of remote areas, it was nearly impossible to find many of them. Next time I go back, I'll do individual maps because I know we were within a few miles here or there of numerous falls. What we ended up doing was going to Upper Whitewater Falls which was about a half mile hike. We were looking for something close by but someone had to piss. So we stopped in at Gorges State Park to use the bathroom. The park had a bunch of maps, and Rainbow Falls was on it. So I was like shit, this was something I targeted anyway, so let's just do the hike. It was about 1 1/2 miles and considered "strenuous' in that most of the hike to the falls was downhill, but the way back would kick your ass a little if you're not used to it. Some old lady was leaving the trail just as we were getting on it and told her husband, "no more waterfalls!" haha. This turned out to be an award-winning falls. We hiked it and climbed on some of the rocks over where the water cascades after the falls. What I didn't know was that if we would have kept hiking above the falls, we could have gone to Turtleback Falls which is above Rainbow Falls. Next time.
My mother-in-law was en route to New Orleans, so she decided to stop in with us for Wednesday night, so we were a little limited on what we would do Thursday. I got up early, and one of my kids was adamant about driving up to Sky Top Orchard www.skytoporchard.com/ to get more apples to juice and eat. So he and I cruised up there in the morning and got a bunch of pecks of apples, apple cider donuts and apple slushies. This place was in Flat Rock close to Hendersonville, so we took sang_xcx 's advice and stopped at Hendough's Chicken and Doughnuts to get something to eat for the ride back (besides the warm apple donuts we already had). Chicken was really fucking good. It was different - reminded me almost of like fried cod in that it must be some type of wet and dry batter mix. We got a couple donuts to go along with the chicken, and it was all fire. I'd probably get takeout from there pretty regularly as it was way, way better than shit like Zaxby's or Cane's. Gracias senor. The rest of the day would be a trip to Asheville to dick around. We decided we wanted to go hike around the French Broad River, so we went to the dog park there for a couple hours. Very cool, and we met lots of cool dog owners there. Dave Maynar seconded the recommendation for French Broad Chocolate, so we drove to their downtown location and grabbed a bunch of chocolates, coffees and shit. Place was great, and I love artisan chocolate. Much obliged for that. We got home last night, but a lot inside tells me that I probably need to go spend a couple of years up there in retirement. I love the mountains (as do all my kids), and there's shit to do all year long (rafting in the summer, hiking all year, skiing and all in the winter). I love the air up there even though I'm a thin blood Gulf Coaster who ordinarily hates anything below 60 degrees. And I'd really like to delve more into the food and beer scene. We got some Lt. Dank and had some other local shit we got at the store, but we really missed out on brewery opportunities.
Post by 3post1jack1 on Feb 1, 2021 18:38:27 GMT -5
this popped up in my recommendations last night. thank you youtube algorithm.
it's these two british kids, their first time in america, and they start in NYC and take a bus and then a train all the way to LA, with stops along the way. It is a shockingly well done little 43 minute documentary of their travels, with some really brilliant musical choices, if you can forgive him using both Art Blakey's "Moanin'" and Simon & Garfunkel's "America" twice. He gets some really beautiful shots from the train. It really makes me want to take a bunch of time off and travel by train. It makes me want to travel period. Some great footage in their stops along the way. And the filmmaker and his girlfriend just seem like cool nice kids.
i thought y'all would find it enjoyable. a good reminder of the wonder and awe you can get from travel in a year when we haven't been able to travel.
this popped up in my recommendations last night. thank you youtube algorithm.
it's these two british kids, their first time in america, and they start in NYC and take a bus and then a train all the way to LA, with stops along the way. It is a shockingly well done little 43 minute documentary of their travels, with some really brilliant musical choices, if you can forgive him using both Art Blakey's "Moanin'" and Simon & Garfunkel's "America" twice. He gets some really beautiful shots from the train. It really makes me want to take a bunch of time off and travel by train. It makes me want to travel period. Some great footage in their stops along the way. And the filmmaker and his girlfriend just seem like cool nice kids.
i thought y'all would find it enjoyable. a good reminder of the wonder and awe you can get from travel in a year when we haven't been able to travel.
I used to be really into the idea of moving to Finland and I still subscribe to a couple of those travel bloggers' videos. Someday when the kids have moved out I hope to do something like this. I'd also love to do the Appalachian Trail but that's going to have to wait until I'm retired.
Going on another road trip and will have exactly one night in Atlanta. If you had only one mid afternoon and night in Atlanta, what would you do? If it was just one restaurant and possibly one bar afterwards, where is THE place to go?
I saw BoccaLupo and was intrigued. Give me the scoop please
Going on another road trip and will have exactly one night in Atlanta. If you had only one mid afternoon and night in Atlanta, what would you do? If it was just one restaurant and possibly one bar afterwards, where is THE place to go?
I saw BoccaLupo and was intrigued. Give me the scoop please
I believe it's 10goldbees that has a big Atlanta list
Torched Hop Brewing has great bar food and top notch brews. New Relam Brewery has rooftop seating with a great view of the city, but I wasn’t that impressed with the beer selection.
Clermount Lounge if you want take a walk on the wild side.
Hi! Yea that's me who made the Atlanta list but it's actually a map! Save it to your Google Maps and toggle it on when you get near the Perimeter and you'll see everything available to you.
One general caveat is that I made this specifically for people who were visiting for Shaky Knees and staying downtown. I would encourage you to not go downtown and stick to the neighborhoods. Though if you are in fact staying down there, you've got plenty of good options.
If I were picking one restaurant to go to it would either be Little Bear or Talat. Both are in Summerhill and they are incredible. Little Bear can accommodate outdoor eating but I don't think Talat is doing it right now. Little Bear is right across the street from a great brewery called Halfway Crooks but both are near enough to the Westside Beltline that you could scoot over to Monday Night Garage or Wild Heaven and have some great beers.
If you want to stay closer to Midtown, my vote is going to Inman Park and hitting either Ticonderoga Club or Victory Sandwich Bar. They both have great food and EXCELLENT cocktails with TC trending a little pricier and VSB being more casual. Victoy has lots of outdoor dining space too. Or you could always get an insanely good burger at Fred's and just grab drinks at Ticonderoga Club. Boccalupo is in that area too though I am fairly indifferent to it. I'm not a big Italian food guy though.
If you want Southern food ... Miller Union and Revival are great but pricey. Busy Bee is by far the best meat and three place in town.
East Atlanta Village has good eating and drinking options too ... Banshee, Midway, Argosy, The Earl...
Honestly the city has basically anything you want. If you are looking for something specific let me know and I'll point you in the right direction! jakicker
