Asheville Airbnb in Review: 61 days in NC
When first proposing the idea of a year long Airbnb trip to Anthony, I originally wanted to fulfill this bizarre desire that started a few months into quarantine to move deep into the mountains far away from the city. To add some magic to this idea, since being a hermit who needed to learn how to chop her own wood was a little out of reach for me, something like a space vaguely close to a resort near the Tennessee Smokey mountains was ideal.
I had first heard about this resort on a podcast hosted by a big time entrepreneur. Then again in a magazine Anthony receives from his credit card company as I was clipping photos for my mood board. In case those weren’t enough hints, this particular resort would be a stretch for us on a holiday budget, let alone a 2 month long budget.
I guess I will be chopping my own wood!
While looking along the Airbnb map of who was hosting in that area - it was a no go. The closest place I could find on the Tennessee side was Pigeon Forge, which to a Californian who has spent about 24 hours in Tennessee for a drum corps competition, sounded pretty good.
I called my mom to let her know that we were considering Pigeon Forge. Which is when she reminded me that she in fact had a house in the Smokey Mountains in North Carolina. And going to Pigeon Forge to escape the city was like going to Vegas to escape gambling.
Mom’s house was booked, sort of, but now we had a whole new state to consider and still get to enjoy the Smokey Mountains.
About a week later a friend told us about Asheville, and although that’s not exactly away from the city it looked like the perfect city in the mountains combo for us. We found one of the most beautiful and secluded cabins in Asheville. It was our most expensive rental yet (about $2800 as I write this), but worth every penny.
Now you are reading this in retrospect and know what happens, but here’s where the plot twist happens for us.
We book our Airbnbs 1 month before we arrive - so for us that was while we were in Texas just ONE week before the insane snow storm. This caused some major dilemmas of the heart.
Do we ditch the cabin of our dreams to flee the insanity that was a disaster of the century? Or do we stick it out in what was our least favorite Airbnb to make sure we can get our reservation at Sam’s cabin?
Well you know how it went.
When we arrived in Asheville it was the end of Winter, and it sure felt like it at 41 degrees as we unpacked the car. The tall windows surrounding the house made us feel a bit like fish and took us about a week to get used to realizing the only people “looking in” were our own reflections.
Just a few weeks in, we got to watch everything bloom. Don’t blink though, it doesn’t last very long. One day a tree would bloom the most gorgeous pink flowers, then one week later would be barren again. The grass grew so tall it grew over our small river leading the the house.
And the animals! Absolutely breath taking in more ways than one! We found turkey vultures in the trees, regular ol’ turkeys wandering the yard, lots of bunnies and birds of all colors. And of course, black bears. We didn’t see too many around our house, although one did leave some paw prints on our car.
One day I was walking alone down this hill to a house that could basically be the house I live in forever - the only thing missing is the lake. I loved walking by this house with the greenhouse and amazing landscaping. And I wasn’t the only one!
As I was taking some photos with my phone assuming this may be the last time I would see this house before we left Asheville, I turned to walk back up the steep hill. From the corner of my eye I saw one of the bears often seen on that road running into the yard I was just photographing. I could feel it’s strong energy from where I was standing and see it’s silhouette moving through the thick trees.
While this did trigger a lot of thoughts and emotions, I realized running was not the best option and the bear wasn’t following me as I trotted up the road. I love animals so I figured this, along with the fact that black bears don’t typically attack people, was how I “got away”. I did learn what to do if approached by a black bear as soon as I got back to the cabin. Plus, I learned black bears occasionally bluff rush people, a strategy sort of like chicken where they run toward you to see who will veer off first. I suppose it really only works when you aren’t actively using your phone 😅
As for getting out of the city, the amazing thing is while we got to experience all of this beautiful nature, we were also 15 minutes from downtown Asheville. So all of our basics amenities were easily available with no wood chopping required. That 15 minutes combined with the narrow roads it took to get to the cabin meant our spot was nearly silent, save for Mother Nature.
As far as things to explore, we did not dance like we did in Texas or like we are now in Florida but we found and made LOTS of art. Anthony painted for the first time. I frequently visited this amazing local art shop, Horse and Hero, with prints of all kinds.
Plus there was a vibe there that Anthony and I both really flowed with. Maybe you could call it a boho, artsy vibe. From the chill and knowledgeable staff at High Climate Tea, to the many crystal stores, sound healing with Billy, Joy’s Airbnb tea experience and the many galleries and glass blowers in the river arts district. It’s a place where to you feel you can endlessly explore.
Surprisingly, there weren’t too many vegan spots BUT there was one, Plant (yes, that’s the full name), that was written somewhere on the internet as one of the best in the WORLD. And I will say, it is a pretty high contender with my other most favorite vegan spot in Vegas. It certainly is the most fancy AND delicious. Very hard to get a reservation at as well.
Of course, we did also get to visit and hike along the Smokey Mountains, it really is an amazing sight.
If we don’t move there permanently, you will probably find Anthony and I there for at least 1 month every spring.
Thanks for hosting us Asheville!
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theartofmadeline
turnnoffyourmind
gummygunk