After a couple of meetings in the morning it was time to finally start relaxing for the holidays. Our first order of business was to grab some apples to use in the making of Thanksgiving dinner so it was up the hill to Sky Top Orchard. Unfortunately, apple picking season ended about a week prior to our visit but we still had the opportunity to walk the grounds and pick some apples up in the barn along with some fresh apple cider and apple cider donuts.
Sky Top Orchard
Flat Rock, NC
We took a walk around the grounds prior to picking up our apples and even though the orchard was bare, the views were still amazing.
Back inside, we grabbed our apples and headed back down the hill to drop off our haul, grab the family, and head off to the brewery.
Sierra Nevada Brewing
Mills River, NC
Every time I make the trip to WNC, I have to make a pit stop at my favorite brewery. It's not the beer necessarily, but the fact that the venue is amazing and only a few minutes from the house. Sierra Nevada is tucked just behind the Asheville Regional Airport just off Hwy. 280 on the French Broad River. The place is usually packed, with people out in the parking lot directing traffic and providing flow control, but the day before Thanksgiving was a little more subdued and we had no trouble finding a spot right up front.
Our first stop was the Taproom for a flight and an order of their Duck Fries which were phenomenal and the perfect accompaniment to our brews.
Sierra Nevada Duck Fries
After enjoying our beer flights and stuffing our faces with duck fries, we headed out to enjoy the gardens and walk off some of what we just enjoyed. Sierra Nevada has some great outdoor spaces including fire pits, a stage (not being used on our trip), outdoor tap room and tap truck, food vendors, a garden and walking trails. The ingredients in the garden end up being used in the restaurant located within the taproom. The only thing in the garden that was visible during our trip was giant kale stalks, as everything else was covered up due to the cold.
Sierra Nevada offers to its guests both self guided and guided brewery tours. We opted for the self guided tour and spent some time wandering through the brewery operations. The facility is absolutely massive and while we only got to see parts of it, the operation was impressive.
After our brewery tour was complete it was time for dinner so we headed into downtown Hendersonville for dinner at one of my favorite local places, Never Blue. All of the food is served tapas style and we ordered a variety of food, though the only thing I thought to get a picture of was the pork tostada. We were treated to a great sunset in front of the restaurant as we headed down the street for some sweets at Kilwin's before calling it a night.
