Highlands, NC Weekend Getaway

Our working situation is pretty unique and allows for a LOT of family time. That is definitely a blessing we don’t take for granted and allows us to make sure Jase gets lots of uninterrupted time with us. Meal times are especially sacred, and either one or the other of us is always with him during the day if the other is busy working the business. But, we also don’t take a whole lot of time to completely “unplug.”

This past weekend (Mar 5-8) we decided to take a last minute trip to the Highlands, NC and decided we would totally unplug for the weekend. We went with my parents. They have been pretty stressed out & my poor Daddy has been working way too hard. They have super full plates right now and really needed some time to relax & unwind, so we decided to make it happen. Mom & I debated about where to go because we all really like going to the mountains in TN, but we didn’t want to drive quite that far for this trip.  Highlands is an awesome place to visit, and if you’ve never been, I highly recommend it. I feel like it’s a little more of an adult friendly place, but Jase had a blast & it was an awesome, much needed getaway.

We headed out Thursday evening & thankfully it’s only about an hour and half drive from our house. We all rode together and mom & dad brought their 4 little dogs with them too. Not going to lie- I had a little bit of anxiety riding on those super curvy mountain roads while it was dark, so I tried not to pay too much attention. About halfway there I completely lost service on my phone and didn’t get it back until we were halfway home- 3 days later! I really think that was God’s way of shutting me down because He knew I would be tempted to not 100% avoid my phone the way we planned. I was the only one of the four of us to have NO service the whole time.

Having the little dogs meant we had to stay at a pet friendly place, and sometimes those can be kinda junky. We ended up staying at The Park on Main and it was GORGEOUS. Our suite was pretty big and had a whole separate living room where Jase slept in his pack n play. He loved playing in the courtyard, walking the dogs, and visiting my parents in their suite next door. He also enjoyed running around our room and playing in the bathroom.

The rooms were really fresh & classic, so the only thing we didn’t like about the hotel was their continental breakfast. It was little weak. Mostly pastries and carbs, so Jon & I had shakes I brought from home. Jase had raisin toast with yogurt and a banana or cereal. I don’t like giving him dairy when we are away from home because it’s not usually organic and I’m pretty picky about our dairy, but a few days won’t hurt, right? I also made homemade protein bars and chocolate protein bites for us and my parents as snacks, and mom brought some sliced fruit and raw veggies. We were pretty set with snacks.

When we arrived in town we checked in our hotel and headed to dinner at a local pizza place. (I brought Carb-Ease and FiboTrim for everyone else.) We headed back to the room and it was Jase’s bedtime, so after we put him down me and Jon watched some t.v. together before bed.

We spent the majority of the weekend walking around town & exploring. The shops are adorable, and our FAVORITE place was the little grocery store in town. They have a pizza place, coffee shop, grill, bakery, olive oil/vinegar bar, and lots of the organic stuff we buy at home. They even had homemade almond butter, local honey, homemade soap, etc.  We ate lunch at the grill one day and it was really good, but our favorite part was the homemade doughnuts. TOTALLY worth the splurge!

It ended up being prettttty cold. WAY colder than we were prepared for, so we let Jase wear pj pants under his jeans and bought him a Carhartt hat at Ace Hardware. I think it’s actually a women’s hat, so I’ll gladly wear that bad boy.

Jase had a blast playing on the playground at a local park. Of course he had to let Granddaddy hold onto his rocks for him.

We also fed the ducks (which got a littttttle scary- those guys can be ferocious).

We did drive to a few nearby places to check out some waterfalls & small towns. Franklin had a kids arcade place called “The Factory” and we spent a while playing in there before dinner. We used our tickets to get some little cars and dinosaurs for Jase, and those ended up being life savers during the weekend.

They entertained him when we ate at Wolfgang’s our last night, which was a higher end restaurant. Probably one of our favorite places we ate other than a small café for brunch on the way home. No idea the name of it though. Just a hole-in-the-wall place with seriously yummy breakfast food.

We were originally planning on staying Thursday-Saturday and coming home Saturday afternoon, but decided to stay another night since we got such a good rate and were having such a relaxing time. We headed home Sunday after we woke up and made it back just in time for Jase’s nap.

Great weekend and lots of sweet memories with my parents! So thankful for a much needed “unplugged” getaway and time of rest! Can’t wait to head back to the Highlands during warmer weather.