Oh boy! This will be a different kind of trip for us! While we’re mostly spending time in places we’ve been before, we’re doing it in a new way: our besties have rented an RV and will be parking next to us!

We finally convinced our friends to try RVing and they’re hooked. She has family in the northern Rockies, he has family in the Midwest, and during Covid they were able to take a trailer around to see everyone safely. They’ve rented 20-something-foot trailers from Outdoorsy and RVShare to haul with their Toyota Tacoma, and for this trip they have a sweet 22′ 2021 Heartland Mallard.

We’ll be spending two nights in three locations: Asheville, NC (our usual close-to-home vacation spot); Boone, NC (we’ve only briefly visited before while staying in neighboring Blowing Rock); and Fayetteville, WV (we had a great time camping there a couple years ago). Then we’ll part ways and J, Bugsy, and I will take the Airstream to Floyd, VA for two more nights.

Our general plans include a bike ride and a hike in each location. Our cycle-crazed friends are in charge of choosing fun, challenging, and scenic rides, and the AirstreamDog crew is in charge of the hikes and food/drink/play recommendations.

These are the activities we’re considering:

Asheville

• AROUND TOWN: Check out some art: walk around the River Arts District, visit Blue Spiral 1 and the Haen Gallery downtown
• HIKE: Our Asheville hike may just be hiking around town and showing our friends some of our Asheville favorites rather than driving into the mountains
• FOOD: Limones, our go-to, will be closed (we’re there on Sunday and Monday nights); the restaurant at the top of our to-do list, Benne, is closed then too. We’re booked at The Admiral, long on our to-do list, for Monday night dinner
• DRINK: Sovereign’s our favorite. Let’s try somewhere new, too! We’re not a beer-based crew this visit.

(and here’s what we ended up doing!)

Boone

• AROUND TOWN: We haven’t spent any time exploring Boone, so we’ll wander around downtown. And we know downtown Blowing Rock is adorable, so we’ll go there too, but as of now we have no specific targets in either place
• HIKE: We’ve selected this hike from Moses Cone Park off the Blue Ridge Parkway. It’s close to the hikes we did when we camped nearby several years ago, but with bigger views
• FOOD: Our side-by-side campsites on the creek at Flintlock Campground look awesome (and no nearby restaurants made us jump for joy–what are we missing?), so we’re going to eat at home both nights. Boone Bagelry might be a good option for easy hiking or biking lunches
• DRINK: My sister loves vacationing at Chetola, a resort in nearby Blowing Rock, so we want to have a cocktail there and see what all the fuss is about

(and here’s what we ended up doing!)

Fayetteville

• AROUND TOWN: Grab some coffee and take a quick walk through downtown to show it to our friends
• HIKE: We’ve already done it, but we want our friends to do it, so we’ll repeat the Long Point Trail that ends at the gorgeous (ha, get it) view of the New River Gorge and the New River Bridge
• FOOD: Another repeat because it’s great: dinner at the Burrito Bar at Breeze Hill. Sadly, Secret Sandwich Society has closed due to Covid + a fire
• DRINK: And another repeat! Arrowhead Bike Farm is a super cool spot to grab a beer or seltzer and relax outside

(and here’s what we ended up doing!)

Floyd

Now we’re in uncharted territory: we’ve never been to Floyd, for some reason, despite it being on our radar for years and being fairly close to home.

• AROUND TOWN: Floyd looks adorable. We’ll just go into town and look at all the things
• HIKE: I’ve struggled to find a good hike nearby. I’m still looking. But our campground is huge and has trails so maybe we’ll just explore that for our hike
• FOOD: Figure out where to eat when we’re exploring downtown… or eat wherever the best live music is–that’s what Floyd is known for!
• DRINK: Floyd has breweries, a distillery, and a speakeasy… I think we’ll be ok!

(and here’s what we ended up doing!)