Home Archive Tipp Talk Asheville Talk-April 11

Asheville Talk-April 11

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From GregEnslen.com:


Events, activities and other hometown items going on in and around Tipp City, Ohio Asheville, NC by Greg Enslen

Two weeks ago, my family and I headed down to North Carolina for spring break, so I thought it would be fun to change Tipp Talk to Asheville Talk this week.  Next week we’ll get back to all things Tipp City, but read on to hear highlights (and lowlights) of our recent trip…

A Long and Winding Road…to the Cabin

We headed west out of Bryson City, following the directions to the cabin, and it wasn’t five minutes before we were back on those twisty, turny mountain roads!  The directions were a little hazy, but we finally found the turn-off and started our way up the mountain on a VERY narrow gravel road.  I was only crossing my fingers that someone wasn’t coming down the mountain while we were going up!  There was literally no room for another minivan and my minivan on that tiny “road,” but we made our way up the mountain, following the directions and finally got to the top, where our cabin and two others were located.

Wow!  My sister was in charge of finding/booking the cabin and she went way above and beyond the call of duty.  It had five bedrooms, so my family, my folks, and my sisters’ family all had lots of room to spread out.  The cabin also had a large kitchen, dining room and several large sitting areas, and the kids loved one bedroom in particular—it had two sets of bunk beds, so it became the defacto kid’s room.

A separate cabin held two of the bedrooms, a bathroom and the game room—pool table, foosball table, couches and a big TV.  Now that’s what I call a vacation!

Next to the cabin, with a great view of the mountains surrounding our own, was a large open grassy area with room for the kids to run and, on one end, a fire pit and several chairs.  We would end up spending every night of the vacation out there, enjoying a roaring campfire, ‘smores and the stars over our heads.

Relaxing and Hiking

We spent the next few days just chilling-we’d brought games and toys for the kids, and along with the game room and the slopes on either side of the cabin to explore, the kids were in heaven.  I also brought along a few Lego sets for those quiet times when you just want the kids to chill and relax and do a project that will calm them down, and the sets were perfect.  I break up the kits and put them in a ziplock bag along with the instructions—no muss, no fuss, and the pieces can’t get lost or combined with other sets.

The pool table was a hit—my Mom and Dad and I spent hours around the table, chatting and sinking the cue ball more times than we should have.  The table had a bit of a tilt, so one corner was dubbed “the vortex”—any ball hit near it would get sucked in like a black hole.  And the hole on the opposite end of the table worked in the opposite way—you had to really mean it when you hit a ball in or it would just hang there on the lip of the hole, taunting you.

I’m not sure about everyone else, but the scary road up and down the mountain encouraged our family to stay put in the cabin and just enjoy the amenities instead of traipsing into town every day or running off to do activities.  Sam and I took advantage of the quiet time and got caught up on some reading in between the “hanging out” times with family.

One day we did venture down the mountain to the Great Smokey Mountains National Park to take in some hiking and to see some great waterfalls.  After lunch, I dropped Samantha off at the little coffee shop in town with her laptop and me and the kids wandered around Bryson City’s little downtown shopping area, picking up a few souvenirs and some great ice cream.

Heading Home

It probably goes without saying, but we found another way to come home.  For those of you that read last week’s column about The Dragon, we were looking for a non-vomit-inducing route, so we said goodbye to our family on Friday morning and headed east to I-40, taking that highway over the mountains.  It was much better—the kids slept, and no one was stationed on the shoulders, taking our photos.  The trip home was relaxing, and after a late lunch at Cracker Barrel we made it back to Tipp City.  And while we missed our town, it was a blast sneaking off for an entire week of playing pool, eating ‘smores and hanging out with my folks.

Check In With Me

Hear something interesting for “Tipp Talk?” Visit my website at www.gregenslen.com and drop me a line using the “Contact Me” page. And don’t worry—I won’t quote you unless you want me to!