Girls Getaway to Asheville Highlights

Biltmore Village (http://www.biltmorevillage.com/) was built in the late 1890s at the entrance to the Biltmore Estate and designed to emulate a quaint English community. This area was co-designed by the architect and landscape architect who designed the Biltmore. Today, Biltmore Village boasts more than 30 shops and 10 eateries, all of which are housed in historic buildings with brick sidewalks connecting the area. Here you will find art galleries (complete with paintings, jewelry and crafts), clothing stores and gift shops. We had a delicious lunch at Rezaz Restaurant and Enotecca (Italian Wine Bar) of Turkey Panini, Specialty Pizza and French Fries with Tomato Jam. In the Village, you’ll also find the most expensive McDonalds ever built, complete with gold inlay, a grand piano, fireplace and wall tapestry.

In downtown Asheville, we dined at Zambra Wine & Tapas (http://www.zambratappas.com/) for dinner. With the restaurant’s Mediterranean flair, our table was full of BBQ shrimp, pork spring rolls, steak and arugula salad all prepared in unique and special ways with local produce and meat. It was all wonderful. After dinner, we stopped at the French Broad Chocolate Lounge (www.FrenchBroadChocolates.com). Who could resist stopping at a chocolate lounge? I had to try their highly-recommended sippable, organic milk chocolate truffles. Absolutely delish and a great way to top off a lovely tapas meal! Casey loved her delectable brownie, and we watched an eclectic group of people relax and socialize in this great “loungy” and comfortable space.

French Broad Brewing Company (http://www.frenchbroadbrewery.com/) was another stop during our getaway. Thanks to Aaron (the assistant to the assistant brewer) for showing me how the beer making process works and providing samplings (my favorite was the Gateway Kölsch). This place is popular among the locals as a great evening hang out with friends, dogs and a bluegrass band (check website for music schedule). Asheville has lots of local breweries and is very dog friendly.

As we rode the Historic Trolley Tour (http://www.ashevilletrolleytours.com/), author Kenneth Richards narrated the 90-minute tour and showed us some of the historical and comical highlights of Asheville. Trolley guests can depart and re-board the trolley at several city destinations, including River Arts District (http://www.riverartsdistrict.com/) and the Grove Arcade (www.GroveArcade.com). Both areas are great for browsing and shopping.

Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa (http://www.groveparkinn.com/) was built from granite boulders from Sunset Mountain and opened in 1913. This historic hotel and property was highly recommended as a “place to see” during our visit to Asheville. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Inn was modeled after the old railway hotels of the west. The lobby is known as The Great Hall as it measures 120 feet across, features 24-foot ceilings and two gigantic 14-foot stone fireplaces. The Inn’s elevators are cleverly hidden in the chimneys of the stone fireplaces. Famous guests have included F. Scott Fitzgerald, Eleanor Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, George Bush and Will Rogers. We toured the unique Spa at Grove Park Inn, which is ranked 5th in the U.S. and 13th in the world for spas by Travel & Leisure. This underground, cavernous area of indulgence makes you feel like you are in the grotto area at the Playboy Mansion (at least that’s what I envision it to be like). With mineral pools, treatment rooms, massaging hot tubs, and a lap pool, you could spend an entire day here.

While at Grove Park, we dined at the hotel’s upscale Horizon’s Restaurant. Kenneth made our experience wonderful with fabulous meal recommendations, although I doubt you could go wrong with any of your choices here. After Casey’s five martinis and my Mint Julips (specially made by Kenneth himself), we loved our Cedar River Filet of Beef, Sous Vide North Carolina Poulet Rouget Chicken for our main meals and the Vidalia Onion Bisque, Horizons Signature Lobster Bisque, and Fried Green Tomatoes with Blue Crab for the pre-course. Dessert was impeccable with a Dark Chocolate Lava Cake (but can you really go wrong with chocolate?). After dinner, we crashed the wedding reception of some unknowing bride and groom at Elaine’s Piano Bar located at the Grove Park Inn. After several SEC football theme song battles, we called it a night and headed back to our hotel.

Thank you to Dodie Stephens with the Asheville CVB (www.ExploreAsheville.com) for her guidance and great recommendations of things to see and do during our Girlfriends Getaway to Asheville.

PHOTO: Casey Wohl makes beer at French Broad Brewery in Asheville, NC.