It’s hard to believe that just earlier this year, Tyler and I were ambitious enough to book a 3-week trip to South America for December. While 2020 may have cancelled or postponed many of our travel plans, we weren’t about to let it ruin our last chance to get away, just the two of us. We figured out over the summer how to take a road trip while pregnant, so once again, we decided to hit the road with our two dogs in tow. Our first stop? Asheville, North Carolina, by way of Atlanta, Georgia.
Atlanta, Georgia
Tallulah Gorge 
Piedmont Park 
Tallulah Gorge
Since the first leg of our trip was going to take approximately double the time it took us to get to Savannah, Georgia, earlier this year, we planned to stop in Atlanta as our “midway” point on our way to Asheville. We spent just one night in the city, and since we were beat after driving all day, we ordered delivery and crashed while watching the hotel TV.
The next morning, we treated the pups to a visit to Piedmont Park, since they have an amazing dog park, before we hit the road again. On our drive, we stopped at Tallulah Gorge State Park, which was beautiful, but crowded when we went, and The Clayton Cafe and Market before we arrived at our Asheville Airbnb.
Asheville, North Carolina
Bull Mountain 
Airbnb 
Craven Gap
We were initially a little worried about staying in an attached apartment, but our pet-friendly Asheville Airbnb was delightful – I would absolutely recommend staying here, especially if you’re traveling with dogs like we were! We stayed for four nights and could easily drive into downtown or to different hiking trails.
Since both Tyler and I have been to Asheville before, we took the opportunity to revisit some of our favorite food spots, like Biscuit Head, Wicked Weed, and Vortex Doughnuts. We also got to sample some new-to-us restaurants, including Luella’s BBQ, Juicy Lucy’s, and 12 Bones. Ty also accidentally bought way more beer to-go from Green Man Brewery than he had initially intended, so we carried that with us throughout the rest of the trip.
Of course, we also spent a lot of time outside! One day of snowy weather kept us cozied up on the couch, but we still managed to show the dogs the joys of hiking. We focused on fairly easy trails for this pregnant Floridian, but we still really enjoyed the Craven Gap trail – which the Obamas hiked when they visited Asheville in 2010 – as well as the hike from the Folk Art Center to Bull Mountain. We also explored the French Broad River Park with the pups, which is a great green space close to downtown.
After squeezing in our last hike, we drove about three hours to our cabin in Blue Ridge, Georgia.
Blue Ridge, Georgia
Mercier Orchards 
Mercier Orchards 
Bear Claw Winery
Since Megan shared the wonders of Ellijay, Georgia earlier this year, I knew I wanted to visit. Blue Ridge is only ~15 miles from Ellijay, so we were able to take some of her recommendations for must-dos, including visiting Bear Claw Winery – we bought a bottle of Confetti to drink come February – and exploring Mercier Orchards!
We also had the chance to visit downtown Blue Ridge, which has tons of cute shops. Don’t make the mistake of going early in the morning like we did, as many of the stores open a bit later. That being said, we were still able to snag some Three Sisters Fudge, which made for the perfect snack at home.
We stayed in a huge Airbnb cabin, and our hiking plans were rained out, so we spent a lot of this part of the trip snuggled up by the fireplace and admiring the creek from the porch. After three nights in Blue Ridge, we started the trek home, with a planned stop in Valdosta, Georgia.
Valdosta, Georgia
For a city I hadn’t heard of prior to booking our travel for this trip, Valdosta actually has a lot to see and do. I wish I could say we’d done more than pick up Cook Out – their milkshakes are incredible – and watch TV in our hotel until we fell asleep, then finished the drive home the next morning. Since Valdosta is just over a three hour drive from Tampa, we will definitely be making a trip back in the future to explore!