North Carolina
Between 8th October and 16th October 2007, James and I travelled to North Carolina, USA to attend the wedding of Kourtney and Eric, now Mr and Mrs Katanich.
We set off on Sunday 7th October and stayed the night at Dudley’s flat in Ealing. It’s conveniently close to the Heathrow Connect trainline which got us to Heathrow nice and early on Monday morning, having set the alarm for 5:30am! We met up with Rosie and Norm at the airport and flew to Chicago and then on to Atlanta, Georgia. There, we rented a car and drove for about three and a half hours to Hendersonville, North Carolina (passing through South Carolina on the way). We didn’t arrive at The Apple Inn until really quite late - 11pm local time, making it about 4am UK time…almost 24 hours after setting off!
The cottage was small and quite quirky. It felt as if both the bathrooms had been added as an after-thought. Perhaps they were! I’m not sure how old the cottage was. It took us a while to find the switch for the water heater - it turned out that all the circuit breakers for the electricity were in the master-bedroom’s en-suite bathroom!! This added to the impression that it hadn’t always been a bathroom!
On the Tuesday we met up with the lovely Kourtney who took us for the most delicious pizza I have ever tasted at The Wrinkled Chicken Egg and then on to look around Hendersonville.
Kourtney took us up to see the Katanich family home which had a really beautiful view.
In the evening we went for some lovely food at the Irish style pub in the centre of Hendersonville.
On the Wednesday we went to The Grove Park Inn Spa. This was a super surprise that James and Norm had plotted with Kourtney for Rosie and me. It was such a lovely site and we had the greatest time. Rosie and I had full-body massages. Heavenly!
On the Thursday, James, Duds and I went for an explore around the countryside. We went to a museum about forestry which I think was the Cradle Of Forestry (lost the leaflet) and then drove along the amazing Blue Ridge Parkway - such an amazing route. Check out the Sat Nav pic below! We ended up at a place called Chimney Rock but we were quite knackered by the time we got there and we had to head back to get ready for the party in the evening.
In the evening we had a lovely time at the engagement party BBQ and then the Hen/Stag Party on the Party Bus! Below is a pic of the BBQ and poor Kourtney being led astray by her two sisters, being plied with tequila slammers! I stayed well away. Poor Kourtney. hehe.
The next day was wedding rehearsal day! Also the wedding rehearsal dinner afterward. Pinebrook Manor was beautiful! Rosie and I stayed over there with Kourtney and her sisters the night before the wedding!
The Saturday was the wedding day and it was totally splendid. The weather was glorious and the party very fun. Sometimes weddings can be a drag, but not this one. It was just right. They had a cake in the shape of a car! Everything was really special.
On the Sunday we got together for breakfast at Dixie’s Diner with all the family and headed home on the Monday. A wonderful time was had by all!
More pics of the holiday here.