Day 17 - Bryson City to Asheville

Monday, May 23, 2022

Weather - Rain, rain, rain, with a high of 64F

Steps - Shaun: 6,550, Shannon: 6,713

Today was a travel day disguised as a shopping day, as we meandered our way east from Bryson City to Marshall, a little town 30 minutes north of Asheville. That's where we ended up choosing to stay because we wanted mountain views more than we cared about direct proximity to Asheville. Our route took us through Dillsboro and Sylva, which we had read about in our travel guide. The former was a bust, with all but one store closed for some reason (even thought the shop we wanted to visit, Dogwood Crafters, said they would be open on their website). Granted, it was raining cats and dogs most of the day, so maybe no one wanted to brave the weather to open their businesses? Anyway, Sylva was much better.

Our first priority in Sylva was to visit a bookstore we had read about called City Lights (but not like City Lights, the iconic bookstore in San Francisco). It was set up on a hill and had a café attached. It was a typical indie store, with a nice used book section in the back, so we were both able to find some goodies to buy. From there, we went to a nice brewery that had an attached restaurant and event space for lunch. The restaurant had a vegan burger for Shaun and tomato soup and grilled cheese for Shannon, so we were both happy campers. 

We wandered around the Sylva a bit, checking out the shops and taking pictures of the pretty cloud formations, before we continued on to Waynesville. Compared to Dillsboro and Sylva, Waynesville is a positive metropolis. We got to check out two very different bookstores, one that was super cool in an old 3-story building with the main stock in the basement, though it didn't feel that way because it was so well-lit and airy, while the other was also in a basement and leaned into that feeling, with lights shaped like old gas lamps and a monastic library kind of vibe. By this time, though, we were feeling a bit shopped out, so we didn't stay long in Waynesville before embarking on the last leg of our journey to Marshall.

The view from the deck of our VRBO. Pretty nice, huh?

Sorry, this picture of the kitchen area is a little askew.

The living room and kitchen from the loft.

The host of the VRBO we chose had warned us that the driveway was a bit treacherous, and indeed, it is a graveled, puddle-filled, narrow, winding drive to get up to the house. It's a good 15 minutes outside of town at the end of the road in the boonies, but it has a spectacular view and is very comfortable for us. 

We spent the rest of the evening unloading and unpacking, getting settled in, and watching movies. We're looking for our Biltmore Estate-filled day tomorrow!