This weekend me and my grandma took a long over due trip, we went to the mountains of North Carolina. We stayed in Lenoir, Friday and Saturday night, had dinner in Boone, spent the day in Asheville, and explored Boone a bit more before heading home. This is a prime time to visit the Appalachian mountains because of the beautiful leaves and the cool weather, but it is always great because of the endless things to do.

We took a tour hour drive from Boone to Asheville on the Blue Ridge Parkway, the drive was breathtaking and so were the views. North Carolina has mountains on one side and the ocean on the other, I am a mountain girl, because to see the beauty and the rolling colorful mountains is such a site to see, I could never get tired of it.

The first thing we did upon arriving to Asheville was explore the Kress Emporium, and place filled with locally made items from glass to soap and to local authors. The treasures were endless, and my pockets far to bare. However, I did end up leaving with some handmade soap that smelled like mango salsa, and this snazzy picture of the handmade glass.

After wandering a bit more we came to a pretty busy area with a nice gentleman with some pretty cool signs. The diversity and openness in Asheville was pretty impressive and this guy was very blatant in showing his opinions off to everyone who walked by. Needless to say, I got a pretty good laugh out of it, and was definitely appreciative.

With only a little bit of time left to spare before dinner we wandered around a bit more. One of the beauty's of Asheville wasn't the mountains, but the amount of street performers. There were two young brothers singing and playing guitar, two older men with drum sets who were singing classics, many solo guitarists, and specifically three guys singing popular songs, who were phenomenal. The amount of talent throughout the city was remarkable. The band, Run With It, was there from Kansas City and were preforming and just trying to spread their name. Every time we passed by there was quite the crowd from toddlers to older couples. The talent in the city was endless.

After dinner we took our final stroll around the city. When we got back to the town square there was a young boy juggling fire, more music, a poet for hire, dressed in a suite with a type writer, a guy blowing giant bubbles, and a group of young people peacefully protesting for all humans rights. The amount of diversity I saw in a mere afternoon in Asheville was far more than I have ever experienced in my 18 years in North Carolina, and it was just a bit more than two hours away from home.

I urge everyone to take adventures and explore what's around them. I fell in love with a new city this weekend that was filled with new experiences, diverse minds, good food, quality people, and a positive energy. It was all within my state too, somewhere I hope to visit many more times. A great city in a beautiful part of our country. Take chances and explore, see what is around you, you more than likely won't be disappointed.