A few weeks ago I decided to intersperse some random days off into my fall/winter work schedule, and one of the days was 10/07, which really snuck up on me. I had wanted to make a weekend trip of going to Asheville with the husb, but due to a combination of all the good hotel rooms being booked/him not wanting to miss a day of his class, and me just not wanting to wait anymore, I decided to take off for a full day tour of Asheville on my own. Being raised an only lonely child, I am used to being by myself and forging my own path, so it isn't as sad as it sounds. It suits me quite nice to travel alone, and the driving time is great for sorting through the thousands of thoughts that go crashing through my head each week. My A-ville plan was to first go up to Hot Springs, NC which is about 30 minutes north of Asheville, and about 10 minutes away from where we went earlier this year to stay with friends so I definitely recognized and felt comfortable in the area.
I was a little concerned with getting motion sickness from whipping along the twisty mountain roads, but apparently I can handle it well as long as I am the driver. After going up a mountain and back down, I ended up in Hot Springs, NC, a little touristy mountain town famous for it's (what else) hot springs. I wasn't really 100% sure what to expect other than soothing hot water, but what I found was way better than what I could have imagined. There are a bunch of private hut type structures enclosing hot tubs along the French Broad River. They are regular hot tubs, but instead of nasty chemical water in them, it's just 100% clean, naturally hot mountain spring water! There are jets in the tub too, and good God almighty, it is RELAXING.
Beyond the edge of the tub, this was my view:
For $13, I got an hour here, and let me tell you, it was worth every cent. I let the jets pummel my shoulders, upper back, sides, and tops of my feet, which were a little sore from a Thursday hard run. I was a little sore after the hour was up, but more in a just-got-massaged way rather than in a life-beat-me-down way. But really, even without the jets, I couldn't have felt bad with this view to my left:
I was looking around the Hot Springs Resorts website and saw where they have luxury suites with private hot tubs in the rooms, and get this... the tubs are in the shape of a heart! It's so hokey, I love it, and want to come up here for a weekend trip and stay in one of those suites, because who doesn't love a good 70s era throwback?
And with that fantastic thought, I'll be back throughout the week with more of my Asheville daytrip!