Asheville, NC to Asheville, NC
We had decided the night before that we would spend one more day in Asheville since so many of the places I wanted to visit were closed. This is the advantage of not having set plans! Today Jason signed up for a forging class nearby in Mars Hill. He’s pretty pumped about it so he was up and moving early.
We headed over to Pulp & Sprout, a totally vegan restaurant in Asheville. It reminded me a little of Wildflour back in Pawtucket. After striking out the day before, I wasn’t letting opportunity go to waste today! I grabbed a mushroom Bahn Mi sandwich, and ALT (Avocado, lettuce, tomato, and an Up Beet salad with pesto and cashew ricotta. I also grabbed Jason a mixed berry crumb cake and an assortment of juices for us to try ranging from beet to carrot to green juices as well as two nut “mylks”. This was going to be breakfast and lunch for us today as we were leaving town to head into the mountains for the forging class. Everything was delicious and I enjoyed the vibe of this side of the city.
We searched All Trails for a short walk near where the forging class was going to be and didn’t find much. There was a sort .9 mile walk in Marshall so we headed there.
Forging with Jeremy
We arrived at the Quiver Full Farm a tad too early so we sat in a church donated park across the street and had our lunch. Jason is going to write about the experience forging with Jeremy in a separate post. It was about a 4 hour experience and there were 3 other people there too working on their own “knife chopper”. You’ll see the finished product in the photos. I had a few work phone calls I had to make and I caught up on blogging so the pups and I waited in the car and walked around the 60 acre farm while Jason forged. Jeremy had a Braveheart quote written on his wall, so you know I had to like him!
We drove back to the campsite and got changed so we could head back into the city one more time. We wanted to get to two spots- Asheville Brewing Company and Wicked Weed’s Funkatorium. Both vegan and dog friendly with outdoor seating 😊
I loved Asheville Brewing for several reasons, but one was Richard who took our order. I noticed they were on the phone dealing with an issue before it was my time to order. They handled it so well but with all the sass that you need to have to stay sane in the restaurant business. They had gotten off the phone when it was my turn and was very interactive with me when I told them I was vegan and to help guide me to the best pizza. Apparently there were two vegan pizzas but they weren’t listed on the current menu so they recommended I try the Grateful Veg. They rattled off the ingredients but I got internally distracted so I just said “Sure! I’ll go with it!” and went back to sit down with Jason who was very confused yet proud that I had no idea what pizza would be coming out. This is very much not like me but I decided it was bread, vegan cheese, and veggies- how could it go wrong? Jason then reminded me that it could be covered in olives and I remained somewhat nervous for the next 15 minutes until our pizza arrived. There were dogs everywhere and Jason had struck up a conversation with the people sitting next to us. Bear was basically sitting at this guys foot but he didn’t mind and kept giving Bear little pets which he didn’t mind. They ended up being from Boston! Go figure! They were down here for a wedding and had left their pups at home so they appreciated the love our pups we’re giving them.
Our pizza came and much to my happiness it had artichokes and grilled onions on it so I was content. Phew! Just missed what could’ve been an olive disaster. We grabbed another round and Jason bought me a T-shirt that says “Love is Love” and Asheville Brewing on it and he got himself one that said “Normal Beers Scare Me” haha. My smart boyfriend knew he likely wouldn’t be able to guess my shirt size so he prepaid and had me go up and find a size that fit. Love it.
We walked around the city for a little bit and then headed to the Funkatorium. They specialize in sour and dank beers. Sour beers we love! Dank… well to me they taste as it sounds..like your grandma’s basement. We grabbed two sampler flights and…. Boiled peanuts! I’ve wanted to try these for some time, mostly because I thought it would be something I could bond with Tim Farley over since I’m the vegan that goes to his BBQs. Jason was shocked I ordered them but I figured this was my chance!
I sent a message to Jen Farley right away with the happy results! I definitely like boiled peanuts, Sam-I-Am! The thing I love about traveling is that even though you are far away from friends and family (and friends who are family 💜) you can get closer to them through shared experiences. We drove the 8 minutes back to the campsite and found our campsite for our next stop- Nashville, TN.
Vegan On the Rhode 