back to the mountains!

The mountains called and we had to go. 

Saluda had captured our hearts way back on our trip to Asheville, but we only had a few hours to really check it out. We had a free weekend and decided to officially check out the cute mountain town.

We did a little research in advance to see what was around and thought that Pearson's Falls looked like fun. The road that leads to the falls is the standard North Carolina mountain road. Plenty of dips, dives, and all the other D's of dodge-ball. We made the huge decent just to find out that the park is not dog-friendly... Apparently dogs mess up waterfalls. Who knew? So we had to make our way back up to main street.

Main street Saluda is the best main street ever! I'm not even worried about the validity of that claim because it's so great! It has the oldest grocery store in NC and a whole bunch of other cute shops and restaurants. Luna made friends with the old man that ran the local woodworking shop. He was eating a sandwich and was happy to share a little, which pretty much makes him her best friend.

After our downtown adventures, we decided to check out some of the other towns in the area. Back on the road, we found some signs pointing towards Tryon, NC. 

Tryon was just as cute as Saluda. Lots of little shops and mountain views. The real reason we headed to Tryon is because it was lunch time and Google said they had a pizza place... I was a bit preoccupied so we didn't take too many pictures to show off. That just means we have to go back! (and get more pizza...). The pizza place was called Sidestreet pizza and if anyone ever ends up in the area, I highly suggest it. Not dog friendly inside but they didn't seem to mind us eating on the benches outside the door. When it comes to pizza, it doesn't take very long to disappear...

There was adventure, mountain driving and pizza. This is a Camera Couple adventure so there's only one thing left... Beer! Not far from Tryon is Chimney Rock which is a rock formation, that looks like a chimney, that you can drive to the top of and look out over beautiful views. I thought it looked like something else personally...

It also cost $13 per person to go to the top and we just bought a house and a dog... So we took pictures of it from down below.

The area around Chimney Rock was beautiful. It had a river flowing through the middle of the town with a boardwalk that went along the banks. Mountains and rock formations were in every direction. The downside to it being so beautiful was that EVERYONE wants to go there.

It was very touristy. It even had a permanent carnival with spinny rides and cotton candy and loud noises and everything. Down on the riverwalk we got some great pictures while dodging all the other hikers taking pictures (more D's of dodgeball). 

To finish out the day of adventures we stopped at Hickory Nut Gorge Brewing. It was a tiny brewery with lots of people. It sat right on the edge of the river with a huge, multi-level deck to sit on. I snapped these pictures sitting on my bar stool.

The beer was just okay but it was a great spot to sit, listen to the river and wind down before heading home. A successful adventure.