A Hygge Weekend: Asheville, North Carolina

One awesome paradigm shift we’ve noticed, especially this past year, is how supportive we all are of each other taking breaks and setting boundaries.  I think we collectively got to a place of exhaustion and burnout, and we hope that this is a turning point towards a new trend. 

Our favorite self-care activity is simply to take time away from your phone and do as the Japanese call, forest bathing (shinrin-yoku). When we posted that we were headed to the mountains for the weekend, and asked for suggestions for Asheville, North Carolina, ya’ll showed up big time.

So, we compiled the highlights of this funky mountain town just under five hours from Savannah. Drop us a note in the comments section if there’s a “must-see or do” that we might have missed!

Hygge Highlights

Sovereign Remedies
29 N. Market Street
@sovereignremedies

Holy deliciousness, this place was a true 5-star for us! Any of the cocktails paired with seasonal appetizers will make your taste buds scream for joy. For some indoor/outdoor ambiance, bites and cocktails, this was our top spot.

What we loved: Betty Davis Eyes, No. 27 and Apparently Sour cocktails paired with the brussel sprouts and a cheese board.

West Asheville

201 Haywood Road
@tacobillyasheville

 
428 B Haywood Road
@floraasheville 

428 C Haywood Road
@bagatellebooks 

373 Haywood Road
@tigerbaycafe

Oh, how we love your underdog vibe and sweet little shops, West Asheville. You surprised us! We spent a lovely morning with a cup of coffee from the somewhat elusive BattleCat Coffee Bar with locally sourced PennyCup Coffee, plant shopping at Flora & Forage and picking up some unique books of poetry, new and old classics next door at Bagatelle Books.

For dinner, we stopped by the “backyard” of Taco Billy for a post-hike beer and a Ranch Water (Texas vibes anyone?).  Big fans of the “Little Sister” and “San Cris” tacos.

And how could we forget possibly our favorite surprise spot, Tiger Bay Cafe? This spot is somewhat confusingly connected to BattleCat Coffee Bar, but when you see a pit-boss in the back, you know you’ve come to the right place.

What we loved: “The Granny” and “Chicken Avocado Panini” with a side of vegetarian chili and kettle chips.

Ware Asheville
51 College Street
@ware.avl 

This shop is Hygge’s mountain (wo)man cousin, and we would be underestimating if we said Cristina loves this shop.  We love to see sustainable shops in different cities, and this one includes a mini-refillery as well.  Our highlight was meeting Maxine, who hand wrote us a recommendations list (featured below), in cute handwriting no less.  We included her recs in the full list below--thanks Maxine!

What we loved: Beeswax wrapped and dipped candles, bamboo pot-scrapers for those hard to clean crusties from cooking, big beautiful baskets for carrying your farmer’s market goodies or to elevate your home decor, and beautiful bronze hair pins.  Ware sells a canvas bag with a drawing of the shop on the outside. Should Hygge do something like this?  I think so.

Full Recommendation List

Eats

French Broad Food Co-Op
90 Biltmore Avenue
@frenchbroadfoodcoop

White Duck Taco Shop
388 Riverside Drive & multiple regional locations
@whiteducktacoavl

Pulp & Sprout Juice Bar + Vegan Cafe
233 South Liberty Street
Note: was recommended to us as @elementsrealfood, but looks like it’s been rebranded.

Green Sage Cafe
4 Asheville locations
@greensagecafe

Plant Vegan Restaurant
165 Merrimon Avenue
@plantisfood

Sunny Point Cafe
626 Haywood Road
@sunnypointcafe

All Day Darling Asheville
102 Montford Avenue
@alldaydarlingasheville

Curate Tapas Bar
13 Biltmore Avenue
@curatetapasbar

Drinks, Etc.

If you look up Asheville breweries, the list is massive. To save space here, we’ll let Google and the craft beer fans handle that one for us.

Sierra Nevada Brewery 
Mills River, North Carolina
@sierranevada

Garden Party 
315 Haywood Road, Suite 113
@gardenpartyavl
Note: Hemp & CBD products

Coffee, Tea & Desserts

In the world of hygge, this deserves its own section.

Trade and Lore Coffee
37 Wall Street
@tradeandlorecoffee 
What we loved: Their seasonal house-made syrups to add to your latte. 

Farewell
11 Southside Avenue
@farewellcoffee

Citizen Vinyl 
14 O’Henry Avenue
@citizenvinyl 
What we loved: Records and coffee--it’s a whole vibe.

French Broad Chocolate
10 S Park Square
@frenchbroadchocolate (voted twice!)

Hole Doughnuts
168 Haywood Road
@holedoughnuts

High Five Coffee
190 Broadway Street
@highfivecoffee

Dobra Tea
78 N Lexington Avenue
@dobrateanc

OWL Bakery
295 Haywood Road
@oldworldlevain

The Hop West Ice Cream Cafe
640 Merrimon Avenue
@hopwest

High Climate Tea Company
12 S. Lexington Avenue
@high_climate_tea

Well-Bred Bakery & Cafe
26 North Main Street, Weaverville + 2 other locations
@weavervillebakeryandcafe
What we loved: Best eclair, as recommended by my cousin, who considers himself a dessert connoisseur

Shops

Antique Tobacco Barn
75 Swannanoa River Road
@antiquetobaccobarn
Note: No tobacco (that’s not hygge), but all the antiques.

East Fork
15 West Walnut Street
@eastforkasheville
What we loved: Cozy, beautifully-crafted wall of mugs - YES, please.

732 Haywood Road
@reciprocityasheville

Embellish Asheville
59 Broadway Street
@embellishasheville 

Activities

The DryGoods Studios
474 Haywood Road
@thedrygoodsstudios

Hiking

We love hiking! And in fairness, we can only recommend the one trail we did. But, we can’t wait to get back to explore again soon. Send us a note in the comments section below with your favorite trails and we can start updating this section.  For now, here’s a great place to start.

Turkey Pen Gap Trail
Pisgah National Forest
Mills River

What we loved: Suspension bridges, wild reishi mushrooms growing on the trees, spotting the rare Pink Lady Slipper flower (photographed below), the sound of running water during almost the entire trail, and very light human traffic.

Be prepared for: Print out or set your phone on cellular for AllTrails because the trails aren’t super clearly marked, and to do the full loop, you’re not only on Turkey Pen the entire time. I almost don’t even want to tell you about the bear sanctuary area. As they say, ignorance is bliss. There are steep sections of the trail on the second half (depending which part of the loop you start at).

Pro-tip: Double check that your phone maps are taking you to the correct location (we learned this the hard way from AllTrails).