My sister and brother-in-law were going to Asheville for a short trip and we wanted to meet up with them for a couple hours to hang out. Instead of another short weeknight dinner trip, Eric and I decided to get up super early on Saturday morning so we could meet them in Asheville for breakfast and also spend the day up there.
We hit the road bright and early and watched the sun brighten up the sky from behind as we drove west. We had breakfast at their favorite B&B* and walked around the historic old building. The four of us sat on the porch while the boys had a short cigar. It was a really nice morning until they received an unfortunate phone call and had to head home a little earlier than expected. We helped them pack up the car and said our goodbyes before heading into downtown Asheville.
Eric and I wanted to revisit a bookstore we had been to several years ago, but couldn’t remember the name. When we Googled it, we found three local bookstores all pretty close together and decided to go to all three. One was pretentious and had signs all over saying not to touch or read any of the books, one was more unorganized with uneven rows of old leather bound books stacked haphazardly on the shelves, and the third (the one we had been to before) was full of colorful covers and funny novelties. We stopped for a quick drink before walking back to the car.
On the way back to Charlotte, we stopped at Catawba Falls for a hike. We hadn’t looked into it much and only knew it was a couple-mile-hike that ended at a waterfall, but figured we would go for it since the weather was nice. The gravel parking lot at the base of the trail was more full than we expected, but we passed very few people on our way up.
After a few minutes of walking, we noticed some stacked river stones down by the stream off the trail and decided to get a closer look. As we walked off the trail and down to the water, we must have disturbed the ground because dozens of butterflies came fluttering from what seemed like the ground itself. Different colors and sizes of butterflies flew around us like nothing we’ve ever seen before. It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever experienced and the first time I really split open with happiness in a month.
After pulling ourselves away from the magical stream, we continued up the path as it curved uphill. The last few minutes were pretty steep before we saw the “falls” our hike was named after… and realized where all the people from the parked cars were. Families were splashing in pools under the rocks, but there was a small trail we could carefully crawl up on the side. Making sure not to slip or fall in the water, we got all the way to the top before turning around and heading back down. We heard thunder one the hike back, so we picked up the pace and got to the car right as it started to sprinkle.
