SoCalGal and I are hours away from hopping on cross-country planes to Asheville, NC, to speak about travel blogging at the Type-A Mom Conference. This “mom bloggers” event, the brainchild of the fantabulous blogger, travel writer, social-media maven Kelby Carr, is bringing hundreds of bright women (and a few men) together to talk branding, writing, networking and making money by doing what you love. If you’re attending, we can’t wait to meet you (and if you’re interested in travel blogging, we sure hope you’ll come to our breakout session.). If you can’t make the conference this year, but would like to follow along from afar, keep updated on Twitter with the hashtag #typeamom.
Downtown Asheville
As excited as I am to attend this conference, I’m also glad to get to know Asheville — a mountain town I’ve heard such great things about! Unfortunately, my schedule didn’t allow for tacking on a couple of days to fully explore the area, but I will have some time in between conference-going to glimpse, in particular, the lively culinary scene. In fact, with 17 farmers markets (!), 135 independently owned restaurants and a bunch of craft breweries, this town is passionate about its food and drink. Asheville is actually home to the world’s first Foodtopian Society. Pretty cool.
Jen and I are hosting a dinner at downtown’s Table restaurant, serving a “market-driven, seasonal, New American” menu. It looks A-MAZE-ING – can’t wait! Another eatery I stumbled across in doing research for a magazine article last year is the casual, southern-inspired Early Girl Eatery. The comfort-food entrees and baked goods look divine!
Biltmore Estate
Asheville sounds like a town right up my alley — one that offers visitors not only tons of outdoor adventures (from hiking and biking to rafting and kayaking) but also interesting historic attractions, pampering spas, shopping options, and a thriving arts scene. I’m hoping to get the chance to tour the Biltmore Estate (one of the conference’s sponsors), which is “America’s Largest Home” and a National Historic Site. Built by George Vanderbilt in 1895, this 8,000-acre, 250-room estate is still owned by family members. Visitors can stay on property, at the Inn on Biltmore Estate.
An outdoor-loving East Coast friend visited Asheville last summer, so I asked her for some hints on what to see and do. Here, in her words, is what she particularly enjoyed:
- Went on a great train ride through the Smoky Mountains – Great Smoky Mountains Railroad.
- Drove up to the top of Mt Mitchell. Gorgeous!
- Loved Chimney Rock Park.
I know I’m just scratching the surface of Asheville’s highlights. If any in-the-know readers have other ideas for what to see and do in Asheville, please let us know in the comments!
Photos courtesy Asheville Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Have fun Vacation gals. Say hello to Asheville, NC for me. Haven’t had the pleasure of visiting this state yet.
I’m an Asheville native, born and raised… I love what my once little town has grown to. We have culinary tours, beer tours, ghost tours, and I’m sure I could go on for days…. LOL
Wow that is an very informative blog entry . I like your blog. Maybe you should write more articles of these type.