Erik and Heidi Come to NC!

 Andrew really only keeps in touch with one friend from his childhood and that's his best friend, Erik. They call each other on their birthdays and that's pretty much the extent of their friendship, talking twice a year. Well, when they talked this spring Erik told Andrew that he and his wife, Heidi, were thinking about taking a trip to the east coast and would love to spend some time with us in NC. We were THRILLED! 

Erik and Heidi haven't been married very long and we'd only met Heidi once before, but we had a great time visiting with her so looked forward to spending more time with both of them. We had a BLAST together and hope we can spend time together again sometime.

Andrew and I put together a tentative plan of places we could visit, including the Biltmore Estate in Asheville. Little did we know that Heidi's family are HUGE fans of an 80's show called Private Eyes that takes place at the Biltmore. She was ECSTATIC to see several places from the movie in real life.

Isn't that a pretty view, with the Biltmore behind us 

and reflecting in the water?

Andrew and I had never been to this part of the state.

We loved this view. While we were standing by the

water, we kept hearing some critter/creature splashing

nearby. It freaked us out, but we never figured out what it was.

I'm pretty sure it was a big a fish. Maybe.

This was a cool willow-branch artwork structure.

We enjoyed walking around some of the gardens.

Erik and Heidi have a koi pond, so they liked this part.

The conservatory is pretty spectacular.

They had a whole room full of succulents.

They had a special exhibit going on with trains

and re-creations of some of the buildings on the estate.

Mid-September was a nice time to be there.

Not super hot,

but lots of things were still in bloom.

The inside of the house was amazing, as always.

They used to have tour guides take you through.

Covid protocols now have everyone wearing headsets

and listening to pre-recorded explanations.

The indoor pool is one of my favorite parts.

This Halloween room in the basement is crazy.

These tapestries were amazing.

The Vanderbilts had an amazing view from their back porch.

The dining room is a show-stopper.

So happy we could share this gem with Erik and Heidi.

It was so fun laughing in the van while we drove there and back, too.

Another night we took them around Greensboro.

Made a fun stop at Boxcar arcade.

It was fun watching Erik and Andrew compete on pop-a-shot.

Space Invaders!

We ate at a YUMMY restaurant that was new to us called Blue Denim.

The food was delicious and the dessert was even better.

I'm still dreaming about that amazing creme brulee banana pudding.

In fact, I've tried to go back TWICE just to get that pudding

and have been thwarted both times...

We took them to the Guilford Courthouse Battleground.

There were some cute not-so-shy deer.

We walked around some of the trails.

They both enjoy history, so it was fun to share a piece

of our town's story with them.

We spent some time at Old Salem,

which all of us enjoyed.

The night before, Erik had told us this HILARIOUS story about him and Andrew trying to make a kiln in Andrew's backyard and almost burning down the house.

So I made them pose by this brick oven to remember it. :)

People were shorter in the days of Old Salem...

We loved all the stained glass in the Moravian church and

enjoyed listening to a little about the history of the church 

and the settlement.

And the last stop in our whirlwind tour of NC was at Hanging Rock.

We went on the cute little hike to Lower Cascades.

And also showed them Tory's Den,

a Revolutionary war hideout.

It was so fun exploring NC with Erik and Heidi. But the best part was actually just talking and talking and talking with them. Erik has turned into a talker. Andrew remembers him being more of the shy, quiet type when they were growing up. I LOVED laughing together over the crazy stories they would share from their childhood together. Building booby traps, designing catapults, Erik defending Andrew when bullies were around. I'm grateful for lifelong friendships and hope we can do this again sometime.