Back in May, right as my busy season was kicking off, I read an article about a resort in Highlands, NC that was supposed to have one of the best spas in all of the United States. Since Danny and I had been talking about taking a trip to the mountains all year, we decided to go ahead and plan to take a long weekend in August (after my busy season was over).
When I booked our two nights at the resort in Highlands, I was required to pay a 50% deposit, which was refundable as long as we cancelled within two weeks of our trip. When we got the bad news about Gracie’s ACL, it was three days AFTER the cancellation window and we stood to lose quite a bit of money if we opted out of going. After wrestling with the decision and getting a second opinion – we decided to go ahead and move forward with our trip. The surgeon’s schedule was full until the week after we got back (and we figured that it is going to be a super long couple of months as we deal with the recovery period and maybe getting away for a few days wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world). None of this, however, stopped me from feeling like the world’s biggest asshole when we dropped Gracie off at the vet to be boarded last Tuesday morning.
This is not the face of a dog who was impressed upon learning that she would be spending the next 6 days boarded at the vet.
After spending a night visiting my Aunt in Burlington, we hit the road towards the mountains. Approximately 4ish hours later we rolled into Highlands and made our way to the resort.
As far as rooms go, this was a pretty nice one. It came equipped with a fireplace and a heated bathroom floor. Yes, I did use both of these amenities even though it was approximately 85 degrees outside.
Our first evening, we hit up a local pub for dinner. It was around this time that I realized that we did not really fit into the demographic that the town of Highlands (and the resort we were staying at) is targeting. More on that later.
The next morning we both had spa appointments to get a 90 minute hot stone massage. We both enjoyed our treatments, but, if I am being honest, it wasn’t life changing like the hot stone massage that I got last year in Anguilla.
After lunch, we decided to drive around and see a bit more of the surrounding area. The first stop was Dry Falls, a really neat waterfall that you can walk behind.
It was a bit crowded, but still super neat. Danny amused himself by taking pictures of me as I got my photo nerd on.
Wanting a bit more of a challenge, next we drove to Glen Falls and headed out for what the internet described as a “moderate to strenuous hike.” We didn’t make it far before I started hearing the rumble of thunder. Because getting stuck in the woods during a thunderstorm was not high on my priority list, we didn’t really get to see all that much.
We pulled over on the way back to the hotel and I snapped this quick shot of Whiteside Mountain. Next time I would like to try doing this hike – it was beautiful just from the road.
Our final night we had a dinner reservation at Madison’s, which is the signature restaurant of the Old Edwards Inn. It was an outstanding meal, but, again we just didn’t really fit in.
As we were heading out of town the next morning, we made a quick stop at Bridal Veil Falls. This one was right off of the road and we saw a lot of people driving their cars/motorcycles under it to pose for pictures.
While I enjoyed my time in Highlands, I wasn’t all that sad to be leaving for Asheville. The town seems to be targeting a higher end, older crowd. Everywhere we went, people were dressed in business casual attire and I would say that the average age was about 20+ years older than us. It was beautiful and I am glad that we visited, but, next time we might try a different mountain town.
Up next – my beloved Asheville, NC!
