Barkwells: The Sequel Part 1

We took our now annual trip to Barkwells. This is a very pic-intensive post, so it will be broken into two parts.

Our luggage and doggie supplies are stuffed in the rear footwells, and four full-size dog beds await the 7 hour drive.
Parker is lucky and gets his own bolstered bed sitting in passenger seat.
When we were passed by this ‘Sweetwater’ Scion, we took this as a good omen for our vacation.
Getting pretty good at the one-handed over shoulder blind shot. Why is it that there are three greyhounds in the front part, and one crabby old lady in the back?
That’s right Beth. Everyone is scared to touch Ol’ Grouchy Pants.
Parker: Is that Asheville? Are we there yet?
FInally, we’re here.
Our cabin, Diva, is on the left. The Snickers cabin, on the right, is where we stayed last year.
Everyone was so tired from the long ride, they immediately plopped down for a nap.
We hit Jack of the Wood brewpub for dinner, and Kris had her very first Scotch Egg. It’s a hard-boiled egg, wrapped in sausage, breaded, then fried. Yummy. Washed it down with a Green Man Porter.
We enjoyed the beer while listening to local Bluegrass musicians.
We crossed the street to the Thirsty Monk. I can live by this Mantra: Peace, Love & Beer.
It was free glass night, so we grabbed a few bottles and headed back to the cabin.
It was quite chilly at night in the mountains, so we started the gas fireplace. Since we don’t have one at home, Stella wasn’t sure what to make of it.
A morning view from the deck down to the pond.
Three greys are on rabbit patrol, while Parker begs mommy for breakfast.
Stella is on ‘froggy’ patrol.
We decided to wear the kids out, so we could go to beer tasting with a clean conscience while the kids napped. Pisgah National Forest is very close and has several waterfalls. Hours of practicing synchronized walking finally pay off on this long set of steep steps.
Group shot. I carried Beth down the stairs, so she could be in the picture. Parker is ADHD, and Jaime is resting her head on Stanley, as she is tired of waiting for Parker to get his act together.
We decided to leave Beth in the car, while the younger seniors hit the real trails. Parker and Stella were like mountain goats.  Astro and Zephyr wannabees.
One of the coolest tasting rooms we went to was at Highland Brewing. It appears to be an old converted loading dock. Great beers too.
On the patio at Asheville Brewing Co., people were playing that all-time fun drinking game, Jenga.
The next day, we took the kids on a little nature hike at the NC Arboretum, so they would be in nap mode while mommy and daddy went beer-hopping again. The trail is 0.6 miles total, and that was about all Beth could handle. The speed limit says 8 mph, but we never reached it.
Another downtown brewpub is Lexington Avenue Brewery. They have great food and beer, and a really cool serpentine bar that wraps all the way around.
After relaxing with the kids, we headed back downtown for dinner. Every Friday night, they have a Drum Circle at Pritchard park downtown. There is drumming, and dancing, and everyone is invited.
For dinner we ate at the Lobster Trap, which has its own nanobrewery, Oyster House Brewing, in the basement. We had to try their Oyster Porter (5 lbs of real oysters per 12 gallon batch) with a sampling of raw oysters.
As you may have guessed, Asheville is very dog and beer friendly. Just our style.