Family Friendly Asheville
Have you ever had moments traveling with your little ones where you thought, “why do I even bother?”, because I have! Our last trip to Asheville was different though. Maybe it was all the family friendly establishments, or our Airbnb that catered to kids (more on all this later). Or maybe with the boys at 3 & 5 years old, we have turned a corner into (relative) ease.
I so admire parents traveling with kids. Ambitious trips to Greece, Italy, or even just Florida with the whole family fill my social media newsfeeds. I’m sure there were moments of nervous system overload not shared with Instagram, but still, they’re doing it! I love following @welltraveledchild (based out of Raleigh btw!). They are seeing the world and she even shares cheap international flight deals from RDU and Charlotte.
My kids spent most of their lives in a pandemic with grandmas providing in-house childcare. We just didn't get out a lot, much less travel to Italy. Outings are a parenting muscle that needs to be exercised and flexed to grow. Ours atrophied to mush, where even a restaurant seemed overwhelming by the time it was safe to go out again.
BUT luckily, we live in North Carolina where we can take little vacations to other places in North Carolina. So we have been taking baby steps, to the High Country and Outer Banks namely. My kids love a mountain house and a beach house. In fact, my eldest asks me why we don’t have BOTH (I need to sell a lot more houses, son).
Enter: Asheville. The first key to our success was staying in an Airbnb geared towards kids. All the gear was there (for babies too!)- pack and play, stroller, monitor, high chair, and even a cute, little playroom under the stairs. Unlike many mountain houses that are feats of engineering, this home is on a basically flat, cleared yard. It’s tucked away from the road so we felt fine letting them run around outside.
The other major key to our Asheville success was the fact that the whole town is a kid-friendly vibe. Creekside Taphouse has a playground, a big yard, and a literal creek to play in. The wait staff has no problem bringing food and drink out to the large deck and hollering down to the creek to let you know your beer is there. At Foothills Grange there is a massive dirt pit with construction toys. Whistle Hop is in an old train car, and you can go see the view from upstairs. Sweeten Creek Brewing has a large sandbox (but they had a 21+ event when we tried to go- maybe call ahead to be sure it’s all ages).
Murphy-Oakley Park has a fabulous new playground and its neighbor is Asheville Firestation 9. They saw our boys gawking and gave them a tour of the truck, firehouse and equipment. They were incredibly generous with their time. Obviously that outing is not a guarantee, but we got the impression they enjoy interacting with the public and do it often.
We also attempted a go at WNC Nature Center (a small zoo featuring native animals). To be honest it was nearly 100 degrees and my kids didn’t make it long at all. “Stop telling me to look at things” said the 5 year old. Bring a stroller or wagon! Their favorite part was the gem mining at the very end. A new-found interest! So the next day, we doubled down on that.
Making the drive to Emerald Village, a gem mining attraction, was a gamble but the kids loved panning for “treasures” at the WNC Nature Center so much we went for it. And I’ll tell you- no regrets. This was our favorite outing of the weekend. The cave was beautiful and the entire campus was serene and not crowded Saturday morning. We bought a large bucket of dirt, they supply the tools, and you pan for treasures in the cool running water. The kids LOVED it- it’s basically a giant water table. I loved it too. They stack the deck, so you’re guaranteed to get gems. Now the kids play “mining” and “gem museum” at home. Emerald Village also has an actual gem museum, and you can do a self-guided tour of the cave. This is about an hour east of Asheville, so consider stopping by on your drive in or out. We typically like to tire our kids into a quiet before a long drive, so we hit the (awesome) Kiwanis Park and Splashpad in Hickory on our way out.
We had a lovely long weekend exploring NC and we will definitely be back to all the aforementioned spots. I wish you sanity on your summer vacation journeys this year. Please report back.
