2015 - Asheville/Atlanta Roadtrip Summary

Duration: 9 days (Saturday June 13 - Sunday June 21)
Cost: roughly $1,000/person which covers all expenses (gas, accommodations, food, admissions)
Distance Driven: roughly 4,000 km

Top 3 Highlights (in no particular order):

- Georgia Aquarium, which this shouldn't be too much of a surprise for me since I did drive all the way to see it, it was still quite the sight to actually see it and compare it to what you had in mind.  While it wasn't as large as I imagined it would be, the star attraction that I went for, the whale shark, met my expectations.  What exceeded it was definitely the dolphin show.  I know that it has weird times and you need to make sure you get in while there are still seats, it was definitely worth it and I would say, makes the Georgia Aquarium, one of the must-see sights there.

Two whale sharks with two giant stingrays.

- Foam Henge, I know we didn't spend a lot of time at this free roadside attraction, but I think this is a surprising site that exceeded my expectation.  When you read that someone created a foam version of Stone Henge as an April's Fool joke, you expect something silly that is worth a short stopover, but, in my opinion, it is worth making the trip (although only if you are nearby).

Foam Henge!

- Humpback Rocks (Blue Ridge Parkway), we lucked out and this place wasn't a zoo when we arrived and it gives you a great view of the surrounding area.  Do note that there is quite a bit of a hike to get up to this point though.  Well worth it in my opinion.

Lowlights (only had one disappointment):

- Shenandoah National Park, while it isn't bad, it just did not compare at all, in my opinion, to what I got to see at the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP).  To add insult to injury, there is an admission fee to the park, mind you, it is only $20 and it is good for 7-days, you can get on the BRP for free and it is MASSIVE (over 490 miles).

Must try food places (in no particular order):

- Nine Mile, Allison really like the scallop and mussel pasta dish, and although my jerk chicken pasta was a bit confusing, given how much she liked her dish, I'd say it is worth stopping at.

- Sunny Point Cafe, both of our dishes here were really good and I really enjoyed the drinks and dessert that we had as well.

Huevos Rancheros.

Chicken and sweet potato waffles.

Ice Box Key Lime Pie.

What would I change?

- I greatly underestimated how large some of the areas that I was visiting and I should have done a bit more research.  Awhile I thought that we could do Clingmans Dome and Chimney Tops in the same day, it is a bit of a stretch when you include a lunch break inbetween and then having to drive all the way back to Asheville would have made for a really long day.  In hindsight, if I want to do more of Great Smoky Mountain next time, I would stay nearby in Cherokee which would save roughly 3 hours round-trip versus staying in Asheville.

Hope you enjoy reading about our trip.  If you have any questions about what we did, feel free to ask.

2015 - Asheville/Atlanta Day 5 (Asheville, North Carolina)

Breakfast at the Country Inn and Suites was a slight step above the Holiday Inn Express.  There were eggs and bacon although microwave kind.  It has a waffle maker which is awesome.  It had a lot of the other things like cereal, yogurt, bread and bagels.

Breakfast at Country Inn & Suites.

By now, I finally realized that the United States is a HUGE country (or the areas we were visiting are really big).  It took us roughly 2 hours to get to Oconaluftee Visitor Center from Asheville, another 40 minutes to get from the Oconaluftee Visitor Center to Clingmans Dome.  And finally, it would take another 40 minutes just to leave the park to Gatlinburg.

View from Clingmans Dome.

Due to not doing enough research on how long things would take, we did Clingmans Dome in the morning which is the the highest point in the Great Smoky Mountains which gives you very nice views of the surrounding area if you arrive on a clear day (which we did not).  It is a bit of a steep climb though but worth it.  Note that because of how easy it is to get there, expect a lot of people and cars, so don't be surprised that it takes you awhile just to get there from the parking area.  Definitely worth a stop if you are here.  The park and the dome are both free.

Panorama from Clingmans Dome.

Drove to Gatlinburg in hopes of lunch and ended up at a place like Lundy's Lane in Niagara, Ontario but on a much larger scale.  Ended up eating at Subway there.  The area is actually quite nice but we managed to arrive when it was the hottest time of the day (around 1pm) and we just ate lunch and headed back otherwise we would've wandered around.

The Village area in Gatlinburg.

By the time we finished at Gatlinburg, I knew that we couldn't do the other thing today which was the Chimney Top's trail, so we drove back to Asheville for dinner at Sunny Point Cafe in Asheville, North Carolina.  Ordered the heuvos rancheros and the chicken and waffles.  Both of which were really good.  Ended up getting the key lime pie dessert and I thought it was really good although it wasn't as limey as I would have liked.  Having not read the description, I didn't realize that it would be frozen, so it was actually like eating an ice cream cake version of Key Lime pie.  What a great way to end off the meal and the hot day that we had.  Definitely stop by if you are in the area.

Heuvos Rancheros.

Chicken and sweet potato waffles.

Ice Box Key Lime Pie.

Tomorrow we will head to Atlanta.