Asheville Trip {very photo heavy post!}

Mike and I went up to Asheville for a few days and had so much fun. I decided that I would be one of those girls that took photos of everything for the sake of her blog. Yes, including meals! 

We stayed at the Aloft in downtown Asheville and loved it. We're able to use the SPG points + cash deal to get a great price on the hotel. It is super nice to be able to not have to drive at all! One of my favorite things about this Aloft was the chalkboard wall. Our last day in Asheville, there was an engagement announcement! So sweet! :)

Like I said: photos of everything. :) We love staying in hotels because we get cable TV. Awww yeah! We spent a lot of time watching ESPN and HGTV. Also, I had to take a photo of the Bliss products that Aloft hotels have. I <3 Bliss!

I posted on Facebook & Google+ that our trip was all about eating good food. Everything else was just waiting for the next meal. This was so true and there are a LOT of photos of food in this post! 

Sunday night dinner was Salsa! I had put out an inquiry on Facebook asking friends where to eat and this is one of the places that was recommended. It was also right around the corner from our hotel which made it an obvious choice for our first night. When you eat at Salsa, you are definitely packed in there, but it's not terrible. Also, the chairs looked like they'd be uncomfortable, but they were actually quite nice. The room is painted a bright yellow, but most of the walls are covered in very cool pieces of art.

Mike and I split the "Fifth Element" Fajitjas--a lot of the meals had movie names, like the "Pulp Fiction" Plantains--and I had a pineapple margarita--yummy! We find that when we split meals not only do we save money, but we don't stuff ourselves so full that we're wandering around going, "Ohhhhhh I ate tooo much..." Because that's never fun. I am certain we will be back because our meal was amazing. Best fajitas I'd ever had.

After dinner at Salsa, we went next door to Bomba for some coffee (or hot chocolate for me!) and biscotti. Bomba and Salsa are owned by the same person, but Bomba has a very different feel. The walls are grey and the room was dimly lit. The coffee was very good--or so Mike tells me. The hot chocolate was rich and delicious and the perfect way to top off my night. 

Monday morning, we went to Early Girl Eatery for breakfast. From what I read online, if you visit this place on the weekends, you can expect to have quite the wait. If you visit on Monday, you get seated right away. :) Working for yourselves and not being restricted to the weekends FTW! There was adorable folk-y farm and animal themed art on the walls and there were hanging baskets of greenery in the windows. The room was open and airy, but they still put your table two inches away from the next table. I didn't like that and found it to be very odd. I'm sure it's so when they are busy they can fit the maximum number of customers in the restaurant...but it was still a little too close for me.

Mike got granola with fruit for breakfast and I got the Southern Breakfast. It was exactly what you would expect: two eggs, toast, grits, and your choice of bacon or sausage. While we both enjoyed our meals, we didn't think it was anything spectacular. Other than the table situation, we didn't really dislike anything. But we weren't wowed either and probably won't be back. (Try instead: Tupelo Honey. Went there last time and LOVED it! However, from what I understand they also have a ridiculously long wait time on the weekends.)

We spent the rest of the morning wandering around and poking into shops.

For lunch, we visited Doc Chey's. Also recommended by my friends and also right near our hotel. I got the Pad Thai and Mike got the Chinese Stir-Fry. I wish we had decided to split because I only ate about half of my meal. I love Pad Thai, but it was just a lot of it. The Pad Thai was delicious but, again, nothing spectacular. I actually thought that Mike's looked yummier. We might visit this place again and split something next time!

After a nice nap, Mike and I popped into the French Broad Chocolate Lounge. Our first time there! We  got three different flavors for a chocolate ganache tasting: Indian (cinnamon and pistachio), lavender & honey, and pure dark. My favorite was the pure dark, I think. They were all delicious and very rich. I think Mike ended up consuming most of the chocolate because I couldn't. But oh, sooo yummy! I can't wait to go back and visit--I need to try their truffles!

We stopped by The Gourmet Chip Company to get some yummy yummy chips to eat while watching the final March Madness game that night. If you have never been to the Gourmet Chip I would *highly* recommend it. Easily the tastiest and most creative chips I have ever had in my whole life. I forget which ones we got The Parisian and The Americana. SO GOOD. Oh, and guess what? They ship some of their chips! Definitely worth a stop.

Ohhh...yum. In typing up this blog, I'm remembering what an amazing food day the Monday was. Ohhh....so good. Okay, for dinner, we went to the Black Bird. It's located in the same building as our hotel. Again with the super convenient. We weren't super hungry, so we both got a glass of wine (red for him, white for me) to go with our cheese board and meat board. I have never liked brie until I tried their brie. On a cracker, with some kind of jellied something. The boards were full of local yummy goodness (some of it award winning!) Feta, goat cheese, bleu cheese, chicken liver pate, prosciutto, pickled vegetables, etc. It was a seriously delicious meal and I would totally have it again.

Tuesday breakfast consisted of us going across the street to City Bakery & Cafe. This time, I was the one who got granola (in the form of a parfait) and Mike got a bagel. I don't get granola much but man was my granola tasty. We loved City Bakery and it made us wish that Greenville had a place like that. 

Our trip demanded a stop at White Duck Taco Shop. Partly because it is amazing and partly because last time we went, I was so not hungry that I didn't order anything. White Duck Taco Shop is in the River Arts District and it is a long way to walk (trust us!), so after checking out of our hotel, we stopped there on our way out of town.

The place was packed and the line was very very long. They have indoor and outdoor seating. We shared our picnic table with another couple, because one of the nicest days of spring, everyone wants to eat lunch outside! I normally would have ordered a fish taco, but I decided to get something different and go with the Jerk Chicken. It was spicy--very spicy for me! I'm a spicy food wimp!--and I drank a LOT of water, but it was really really yummy! It took a little while to get our tacos, so I was glad we got an order of queso and chips. Some of the yummiest queso every, you guys. So delicious. 

Our food was so good, we didn't even stop of a McDonald's ice cream cone on the way home! Something that almost always happens when we are in the car for an hour or longer. We did stop at Greenlife for some GreenMan IPA and Hive Five Coffee Bar for an americano.

Hope you enjoyed this little tour of Asheville with us! There are good posts to come. I've decided to join Mike in trying to cook yummy things and I'll be sure to blog about that!