labo(u)r day weekend

I had a pretty filled weekend! It's the busiest I've been since camp was over, really. Chandler and his band, The Decour had a show Thursday night in Boone which was a couple hours drive away. Our friend, Alexis Worthington opened up first, then the boys, then Jonas Sees In Color.

It was a really good night.

After everything was packed up we went out to eat at Boone Bagelry and enjoyed some good breakfast and hung out. We stayed overnight at our friend's houses who go to college there; Chandler with Hodge, me with Alexis. In the morning we met up again, joined by Marc Gmuca and ate at Our Daily Bread, a really relaxed spot downtown with great soups and sandwiches.

We said our goodbyes then drove another few hours to meet up with the rest of Chandler's family in Cherokee where we stayed at for the whole weekend. It was a hotel and casino, and it was loud and sparkly. haha.

The night we got there was the grand opening of the new music venue right next to (and part of) the hotel. Hank Williams Jr was the feature and as he played I recognized some songs.

I liked how he put on different hat for every song and when he got up and rocked the piano.

We watched the show from a VIP booth and were served some fancy h'ordeuvres. Anyway me, Chandler and his mom didn't stay for the whole show.

We went down to the casino got some burgers to eat (cause we were so hungry after those strange appetizers), and his mom showed us around. I can definitely see why it's addictive, the buttons are fun to push, but I also saw just how fast people can lose their money.

Saturday morning the men went golfing and the ladies to a little town not too far away called Dillsboro. It in its own way reminded me a bit of Newfoundland with it's small homes made with wood, sitting close together on the roads. It was filled with little shops and things in a one block radius.

 Later we got cleaned up and met at the venue for appetizers in the VIP box. They were much better this time with big chicken wings and egg rolls, so we didn't go hungry.

Then we saw Lady Antebellum!

I liked their music a bit before, and they were SO good live! I'm a fan now, for sure! We all had a good time at this show, especially all the ladies in the group.

This concert was definitely for the ladies. Chandler's mom kept talking about how cute Charles was from Lady Antebellum. After the show we went back to our room and watched Get Him to the Greek and finally went to bed since we had a big adventure to go on in the morning!

Sunday was like the "Sons + Their Girlfriends' trip. Chandler and I, Jordan (his bro) and his gf, Kristin, then Brandon (his cousin) and his wife, Ashley, met up at 10:30 to go white water rafting on the Nantahala!

It was such a blast and I couldn't have asked for a more entertaining group of people to go with.

Those boys say the most ridiculous stuff in the most hilarious ways, so when you put them all together you know it's going to be a good time. We didn't have time for breakfast before the trip, but after we registered at the rafting place, the only food available was an overpriced hotdog shop. We ate it anyway!

Rafting took about two hours, the water was very cold (not Atlantic cold though, thankfully!) and Brandon managed to fall into the river about 4 minutes into the trip!!

Luckily no one else fell in after that, though there were a couple of close calls. It probably wasn't a smart move to bring my digital camera, but everything was okay!  We kept getting stuck on rocks and spinning around but it was funny.

At one point another group of people got pushed towards us and as they bumped our raft, some weird red headed chick smiled at and flirtily touched Chandler on the shoulder. Everyone joked that I should have taken her out with my paddle! haha.

By the time we got back there was just enough time to shower before we piled in vans to go out for supper. We went back to Dillsboro to a place called the Jarrett House that was full of antiques and had traditional southern food. (I had me some chicken and dumplin's, comfort food at it's finest.) It was a house built in the 1800s that I wouldn't want to spend the night in. I could see it being haunted. :P

Monday we all packed up by 11, met up and went to the buffet in the hotel for breakfast. After that we packed up the cars and went our separate ways. Some went back to the little stores in Dillsboro.

Chandler and I drove to Asheville, however, and walked around a pretty place called Grove Park Inn before heading back to Charlotte.

 The inn had some pretty important guests stay there, like Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and Eleanor Roosevelt.

We walked around on the terrace and took in the view of the Smokey Mountains. There were rocking chairs everywhere and the majority of the population was over the age of 60, but we did see a few people our age wandering around too. I took pictures for a group of girls who had offered to take a picture of us.

On the inside of the main entrance there were some huge windows that were open like shutters and showed off the view of the mountains. There was a huge stone fireplace that you could pretty much stand in. Felt like Harry Potter. I was wondering where my Floo powder was!

I would honestly love to live up there near the mountains, or a least visit a ton. The view is gorgeous; the contant breeze is so refreshing. And I'm fairly certain that there's something magical in the water in Cherokee because my cold improved by the second day of the trip and my skin was clearing up fast.

It is an indian reserve, maybe there's healing powers in it? Wouldn't be surprised. I felt the difference because ever since we got back to Charlotte I've been all stuffed up again! I already miss being surrounded by the glories of nature and that fresh mountain air.