Maisy goes mountain climbing...sort of

This weekend, we headed to the beautiful North Carolina mountains to visit Jake & Lauren. Of course, Maisy tagged along.

We started at Linville Caverns, a cave inside of Humpback Mountain. The girls thought it was really cool. You should go if you have the chance - it's definitely worth the experience.

Mountaineers found it in the late 1800s, after seeing trout swim "under" the rocks outside the mountain. There are still fish there, although they are completely blind.
The tour lets you experience total darkness by turning off the lights in one of the "rooms". Let's just say that was not the girls' favorite part & I could feel their grasp get tighter as the darkness enveloped us for a few minutes.


Our next adventure led us to Mount Mitchell, the highest peak on the eastern seaboard at 6,684 feet. We were a bit bummed that we couldn't hike all the way to the top as I had done when I was 13 so we had to settle to be standing at 6,578 feet. It was so cool to see everything from the top of the mountain back then. Now, they are renovating the observation deck to make it more easily accessible for everyone & we weren't allowed up there. But we still saw some great views.
We ate lunch in Burnsville, a picturesque little town on our way to Asheville. The kiddos were so good, that we treated them to some play time at the Fun Depot in Asheville. They had a blast climbing, running & playing. The big kids (Chad & Jake) had a lot of fun playing the arcades.We had a late dinner of some of the best pizza I've ever eaten at My Father's Pizza of Black Mountain - try it when you're there!!! And I also highly recommend the Apricot Ale.

Here are a few shots while we were waiting for a table. The girls enjoyed watching the koi in a pond at a nearby business. And we enjoyed being able to sit & relax for a bit. It was a great trip - full of wonderful things to do, great food, awesome friends & treasured memories.
So today was back to our normal routine - sort of. We ran some errands, then headed to the pool for a few hours. The girls already want to go back to the mountains - and we've promised that the next time we return, there will be snow to play in!