Grove Park Getaway

To celebrate our first anniversary, we were lucky enough to spend last Thursday through Sunday here:

The Grove Park Inn
Asheville, NC

Asheville is somewhat special to us, since we almost got engaged at the Biltmore ;), and the GPI came highly recommended from several friends and family members!

We really just wanted somewhere quiet and pretty to spend a few days, and it definitely delivered!

The View from Our Room

I think our primary activities included eating, reading in giant leather chairs, eating again, and relaxing with a beer/glass of wine until it was time to eat again. ;)

View from the Sunset Terrace
(We had dinner here the first night and lunch again the next day. I don't know that we looked at each other much while talking because of the view!)

Warning: Lame sense of humor ahead. Included for posterity's sake.

As part of our dining activities, we got the resort's Fall Splendor package, which was a deal that included breakfast each morning. There were limits to what you could order with the package, so when we put out our express order form the first night, Andrew suggested that I write "Fall Splendor Package" on it so they would apply the credit correctly. I asked him if he was joking, and he said no...so I did.

Then, when he saw it all filled out, he said, "I can't believe you wrote that on there! I was kidding!!" Figures. Anyway - I do have a point. :) When the breakfast came, the only sweetener they brought for the coffee was Splenda. (I don't do Splenda. Only sugar.)

So of course, I surmised...."Maybe they thought I wrote ALL SPLENDA PACKAGE!" lol

Fall Splendor/All Splenda Flowers

I digress...

We stayed in one of the newer wings of the hotel, but there are some rooms in the historic inn (the part that looks like a Mario castle). This is the elevator to those rooms, which is encased inside the giant rock fire place in the Great Hall. It wasn't unsettling at all.

It was operated by a sweet lady who kindly asked us what floor we needed. I sheepishly said we didn't have a floor and were just going up there to poke around. "Yep! No problem! I know which floor to take you to. It's where the guided tour would start ya out! Make yourself at home!" I guess we were not the first ones just interested in plundering...

Now, I have to say, the historic inn gave me...for lack of a better word...the creeps. It is allegedly haunted, which in and of itself is not enough to bother me, but I just got...a feeling.

It did not help that I took a photo of the supposedly haunted room, and a giant orb appeared over the door. Is that you, Pink Lady?

All of the old pictures were neat, though, and they put plaques on the doors of the rooms in which famous people have stayed. Since it was cleaning time, we got a glimpse into some of the rooms, and they were super cute!

Do I look uneasy?

One thing we enjoyed was that E.W. Grove (who built the hotel) made his fortune selling a "tasteless chill tonic" to treat malaria. This was the ad for it:

I sort of want a giant one of these to hang in our office...

On Saturday, it turned cold(er than we expected), so we pretty much stayed inside to enjoy the views! We went to a wine tasting and tried unsuccessfully to find the Georgia game on TV.

We also watched a wedding that was taking place on the terrace. Bless their hearts - it had been sunny and 70 on Thursday and Friday, and then all of a sudden--bam--40 and windy.

It was still beautiful, though, and they looked like they were enjoying it! I just kept thinking, "Wow, this is so much less stressful than last year at this time." ;)

Since Saturday was our last night, we had a special dinner at Horizons. Unfortunately it was cloudy, so we missed out on the sunset views. But we thoroughly enjoyed the food!

They knew it was our anniversary, so at the end of dinner, they brought out a plate of rose petals and chocolates with a candle so we could make a wish! We thought it was so cute and sweet.

 Flashless photo so as not to appear like a tourist in this very nice restaurant...

We were so sad to leave on Sunday, but we decided to make the most of our last morning (despite the continued cold). We walked over to an art gallery/shop. (It very quickly became apparent that it was out of our price range..."Oh, look at this cute miniature bunny sculpture!" Bunny was $229.)

There was also an antique car museum that was being tended to by a precious antique man.

Would you drive a classic car down this "ramp"??

Andrew bought a bottle Coke for the road. The machine had a sign that said, "Please pay attendant." "That's me," said the little antique man. Oh, he was so cute.

We took the Tanger outlet scenic way back and enjoyed our year-old freezer cake when we got home!

Here's to many more!