Charlottesville, VA to Asheville, TN

We woke up the next day with hopes to grab coffees and walk around the UVA campus. Unfortunately with temperatures in the 20s and a stiff freezing breeze we decided instead to go for a short drive to take in the highlights and then continue on to Asheville, TN. 

On the way we stopped at the Rotary Dog Park in Salem, VA where our faces froze off but Merlin did a little running around with a couple beagles! He seemed pretty content once we were back in the car. 

We made our way through the beautiful smokies approaching Asheville, TN.  We were excited to check out this town which we've heard so many great things about. We drove through the Riverside Arts District on our way to our final dog park of they day and made plans to explore it the next morning. 

At the French Broad River Dog Park we chatted with a bunch of nice locals and Merlin ran around amid the beautiful old trees next to the river. 

Our adorable pet-friendly AirBnB called the Mermaid Cottage exemplified the artistic, handcrafted, creative reputation that Asheville is famous for! We loved the cute cottage at first sight, and had to convince ourselves to leave for dinner as the temperatures dipped at sunset.

For dinner we treated ourselves to my first real meal since coming down with the flu at well-reviewed The Admiral restaurant.  This spot was only a few blocks from where we stayed. The food was delicious, the beer was fresh, and the service was great.  We intended to visit one of the dive bars across the street but decided to linger at the restaurant a little longer before heading home for the night.