Mountain Getaway

Last weekend we drove over to the mountains to visit the Gambills for a few days. Greer was having lots of her friends up for a mountain vacation and Teresa and Steve were sweet enough to host us as well! Since the kids (12 of them!) were occupying most of the house, they let us stay at their fabulous Kanusati home for the weekend. 

It's the same house we stayed at for our anniversary in April--- it was so nice to be back!!! It's amazing how instantly relaxed we get just by getting up the mountain.  Granted the temp drops about ten degrees so that helps :) The weather was incredible- it was 55-60 in the mornings and then upper 70s/sometimes low 80s in the afternoon.  BEAUTIFUL!

This was my view in the morning- love having coffee on that porch!

Hudson played golf both days with Steve and got to experience some incredible courses! I think the first course he played was Sequoyah National.
Hudson said it was incredible! I think he has some pics from his phone, but for now, here's all I could snag from the website :)

Here's one Hud took

While they played that course, Teresa, Greer, and I hit up Waynesville for the day! We tried a new restaurant in Haywood and it was fabulous! Greer had the most amazing Hummus plate I've ever seen and Teresa's crab cakes were delicious! I opted for the firecracker shrimp--- which were grilled shrimp on top of fried green tomatoes... YUM! We walked downtown and peeked into some of our favorite places.  It was such a pretty day and I loved getting to spend time with these special ladies :)

I know this is tiny, but I tried copying it from FB and this is all i got haha Greer and I chillin' in the parking lot of Ingles :)!

Saturday Hudson played Balsam Mountain Preserve -- that place is incredible! Teresa took me over there to show me around and it is just beautiful. Andy McDowell has a house there! The whole place is just so cool.  The few holes I saw during our drive were amazing--- I think Hudson enjoyed every second on that course!

Here's a couple pics from the website - btw it's an Arnold Palmer course...

After Balsam Teresa & I went to Barber's Apple Orchard.  That place is SOOO good! The first time we went there was in Oct. of 2009 with Mom and Elise- it was the first time I saw an apple tree! Their apples are so crisp and all of their preserves and baked goods are incredible.  Teresa had put some amazing muffins in the house for us - they were spiced apple muffins and I wanted to eat them all at once! She also had one of their apple cakes for dessert one night--- it reminded me of the ones Mema used to make for me.

The rest of the weekend was spent hanging out with the Gambills and watching quite a bit of Pre-Season football! It was so great to watch the Bucs play and Hudson thoroughly enjoyed watching the Panthers game from the comfort of the Movie Room upstairs! Even though it was pre-season, it was still so good to see football again!

We had an incredible time and the whole weekend was blissful! It's so nice to be in such a beautiful place to enjoy with family.  Thank so much Gambills for having us and including us in your fun weekend--- it was just WONDERFUL!

As with any trip to the mountains... the traditional glass of Biltmore Wine on the porch... ahhh.