Vacation in Asheville, NC

Back from vacation and what an amazing time we had. Nick and I headed up to Asheville, NC last weekend to celebrate my moms big birthday. It was to be the first time that the six of us (Mom, Dad, bro Jeff, new sister-in-law Kathleen, Nick and me) vacationed together and I was so excited. We managed to do so much in a short amount of time and still it felt so relaxing. There's something so great about a break in routine and the view - well, that was one of the best parts.

We rented a house in the mountains which was perfect for our size group. It was so comfortable and the extras were amazing. Hot tub and a hammock overlooking the mountains, a huge flatscreen tv in the living room and combination tv/dvd/vcr's in every bedroom. This was our view from the deck just outside the living room. I shot this just before a storm hit so the haze really illuminates the distance and ridges. How great would it be to have breakfast every morning looking out onto this view?


On Tuesday, we headed out to find some waterfalls and learned that there are hundreds in this area around the Blue Ridge Parkway. So beautiful...


Jeff and Kathleen. Yay, their one year anniversary!


Mom and Dad enjoying the waterfall from a small distance. I think that finger in the airs means "I see you taking a picture of us!" :)


And this is how I got down to the water. Notice the death-grip on my camera. :)


As we headed out the park, we stopped at the visitor center and saw these hummingbirds chowing down on nectar. Where did that saying, eating like a bird come from anyway? Every bird that I've watched at a bird feeder is eating like it hasn't eaten in a week! It's so fascinating to watch hummingbirds stop in midair and then change direction. Hard to capture with the short lens I had, but you can still see the speed of their flapping wings. There's a second perched on the feeder in the front.


We got back to town on Saturday and got up at 6am on Sunday to get to the Atlanta Jewish Festival at the MJCCA Zaban Park. It was the best festival yet! So many nice people and for the first time, they moved us out of the smoldering tent outside into the air conditioned gym. So much better, especially when they had to force everyone inside when the weather service announced a thunderstorm warning.