Day trips are one of my all-time favorite things. When I was a kid, my family would always take random day trip adventures to near and far places; leaving me with a lasting love for spontaneous outings. To share with you all my most recent excursion, this past Fourth of July weekend, I and two good friends Lainey and Jessica took to the open road and headed to the one and only Asheville, North Carolina. Now, if you have never been to Asheville, I will simply sum it up for you by saying it is a town full of love, life, positivity, and nature. All of which are held together by the simplistic embrace of mountains. It’s by far one of my favorite getaways in the Carolinas.
Pisgah National Forest
As any sporadic adventure would have it, we had a very slim knowledge of where exactly we were going. But oddly enough, that’s what makes random day trips the best. Taking wrong turns, screaming at the GPS all with the hopes you won’t run out of gas…yeah, I love that. As luck would have it though, we didn’t get completely lost driving, and after two hours and thirty minutes landed in the Pisgah National Forest at our first stop of Looking Glass Falls.
As we parked the car on the side of a mountain and headed down the path, I don’t think my eyes have been that wide in a while, because once I saw this waterfall, I was in awe. Let me tell you when you see a giant natural waterfall for the first time, it’s like everything bad in the world just vanishes for a split second. It’s beautiful.
Now despite the thirty-degree water (or colder, I’m just winging it here), everything about the falls was wonderful. It took us a good ten minutes to finally muster up the courage to get in the water and make it over to under the falls, but once we did it was completely worth not feeling our toes for a while. I can now officially say I’ve been under a waterfall and honestly for me, that’s a life goal met.
The Falls
After our swim, we headed back to the car and ate some packed lunch (stuff tires you out) and then began wandering through the forest roads once again. Surprisingly there was water another fall right down the road, this time Sliding Rock, that you could do slide down into a natural pool. With a charge of only $2 for unlimited slides, we decided to not only swim in a waterfall that day but cover sliding down one too. The second life goal is complete.
To wrap up the day and fill our stomachs with some food before we headed back home to the QC, we took to the town of Asheville and grabbed a bite to eat at a local dive bar. After soaking up the ever-present Asheville atmosphere of live street entertainment, delightful shops, and delicious little bakeries; our day trip had then finally come to an end and we headed back home on the road singing throwback songs and watching the sky turn colors.
With the tranquility of the falls, the warm sunshine, and the blissful company of friends; I couldn’t have asked for a better day. It was all truly beautiful, and if you ever get the time or chance to take a spontaneous day trip drive, well I suggest you give Asheville a try.
With Love,
Lex Paige
