North Carolina, Asheville + Marshall

The Trip
From June 1st to June 30th, 2022, Alex and I explored the area of Western, North Carolina- specifically, Asheville and Marshall. This was a place I had never been before and was super excited to see (after hearing so many good things), so on June 1st, we took his car, packed up from Wisconsin, then headed down!

The reason for this?
With a growing popularity and reputation for organic, sustainable food and health, body and earth conscious people- we decided to take a portion of our Summer to:
a. Scope out the land and climate- we are looking to buy land in our future, build our own home and begin homesteading, gardening and living closely alongside Mother Nature!
b. To feel and see if it really was somewhere we could see ourselves settling down- land wise, people wise, etc.
​c. To relax, rejuvenate and explore during the warm summer months!

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Overall
Although we ended up walking away from this place, no land purchased- we walked away with a lot of new experiences, met a lot of amazing people, created fun memories and gained a ton of knowledge! Marshall and Asheville is definitely a really warm, cute and quickly growing place to explore and be in and I am so grateful to have experienced a month of exploration and growth here!

All of the trip details, knowledge gained, the food, animals and highlights of this area will be detailed down below. If you ever feel called to explore this part of the country or have ever wondered what North Carolina is like- definitely check out some of the places we stopped at- and let us know how your experience in the comments was too!

What We Learned On This Trip About Buying Raw Land

• Check the road access- sometimes raw land can be difficult to access, inclined, far from the road, and/or have deeded right of ways (meaning you have to share the road with others around you).
• Go to see the property! It may look good on paper, but it can have a totally different feeling in person! Take the time to check and compare.
• How it looks on the map can be very different from the actual location. Sometimes it is a lot more inclined or unkept than it looks on a screen!
• 30 minutes away from one area can be a totally different vibe, mood, and energy- drive around, explore and see which places you like, then look from there!
• Consider the total costs: Septic, road, well.
• Working with realtors- have a realtor represent you. This helps with looking and making sure you have someone on your side!
• Check your neighbors and the neighboring area- if soil health is important to you (if you are growing anything- it should be) consider the history and practices of the people who have lived on the land you are looking at and how they live around you. Ie: you don’t want a neighbor who keeps a lot of junk in their yard.
• Be comfortable with it taking longer than you think- when it’s forever, you want to make sure it’s perfect for you and what you see yourself growing into!

Other Fun/Random Things We Learned

• ​In Marshall, they used to use the streams for the sewer pretty recently up until the 70s.
• The myths of the Blue Ridge mountains- we had 2 kind of strange experiences in the middle of the night, two nights in a row. One night we heard a man scream then a bunch of dogs barking, the 2nd night we heard weird panting grunting noises outside by the bottom of the hill
• Lots of people are flipping homes or making homes in this area for airbnbs- So keep an eye out and plan a peaceful visit and rural stay here!

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Where we Stayed

My boyfriend and I stayed at The Conway Cottage airbnb in Marshall- about an hour drive from Asheville. This airbnb was such a comfortable and quiet landing spot for us to stay in while we explored and relaxed. If you ever stay- mention Alex and Rinka sent you. ;)

The surrounding land is incredibly beautiful. Rolling hills and lots of trees. The drive to the property is surrounded by lots of trees and runs alongside a stream! You even have private access to the stream with this stay, a fire pit and a seating area right by it. From the inside of the house you can hear the stream which helps set a relaxing and rejuvenating mood all night and day. The view from the inside of the house and the porch is absolutely stunning too! You have mountain ranges in view and are able to see wildlife like turkeys, groundhogs, and lots of deer from the porch, kitchen, and living area windows. At night, there are 1000s of fireflies which makes for a light show that is so magical, and unlike anything I have ever seen.

​The Location
Downtown Marshall itself is only 30 minutes away and is a fun and cute little town to explore. There is a nice natural foods grocer within it, a tasty local breakfast place, a book store, an AMAZING crystal store (my favorite yet), and a fun studio which features classes like yoga, and Wu Dang Qi Gong. Asheville is also only 50 minutes away, and the North Tailgate Farmers Market is highly recommended. The people here, and the owners of the airbnb itself are very warm, nice and welcoming, as is the entire neighborhood (we would talk to them on their daily walks with their dogs), and we would highly recommend anyone looking to stay in the area, or seeking some time away from the city to choose here to rest, relax and vacation! I have traveled quite a bit, around the country, and this has been one of my favorite airbnb stays ever- with such beautiful privacy and space around you- I cannot rave about this place enough and hope you have the opportunity to explore here too!

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local Food

In Asheville, there are so many farmers market, almost everyday of the week if you really want to go! The one we chose and stayed loyal to for the month of June, was the North Tailgate Farmers Market. It is hands down one of the best farmers markets Alex and I have ever been to (and we’ve been to quite a few around the country- San Diego, Arizona, Wisconsin to name a few)! There’s a lot of amazing products and vendors to shop from and we had so much fun going every Saturday for our groceries!

Some of our favorites were Dry Ridge Farms (their eggs and meat are delicious), Well Seasoned Table (a woman owned, organic, wild sourced spice business), The Wild Way Farm (such tasty quail) and Grassroots (who we picked up really tasty yogurt, feta, up wool sponges from).

French Broad Food Co-Op (Asheville), The Chop Shop Butcher (Asheville) & Madison Natural Foods (Marshall) is where Alex and I got the rest of our groceries. It felt really good to be able to try new foods, while also supporting small business and local community (that aligns with our visions and values) the entire month we were here. Overall, we felt very welcomed. Everyone is friendly + this place is also an amazing spot for people watching (lots of families, babies, dogs, and university students).

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Hiking Craggy Gardens

While we were in the area we did one hike! The Craggy Gardens hike which gives you a gorgeous view of the Blue Ridge Mountains! The drive itself from Asheville is also incredibly beautiful, and not as scary as you would think climbing up so high. It’s wide and gives you a vast view of the landscapes down below you.
The actual trail itself is very easy to do- and so stunning. Mostly shaded and lined with ferns, rhododendrons, moss and more- it is fairy central.

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Animals + Wildlife in the Area

Rita was the airbnb owner’s dog! She is a super super sweet Jack Russell terrier and is such a shining bonus to staying here. When Mary would do any sort of landscaping or mowing, Rita would come to the door to hang out with us. Every time was such a cute and welcome surprise and we loved having her around!

Other Animals We Saw:

• Turkey vultures (so HUGE!!)
• Mules (The airbnb owners own 2)
• Sheep
• Deer (and their babies!!)
• Marmots (Groundhogs and their babies)
• Blue Jays
• We didn’t see any bears this trip but we did see its berry poop on a walk.

• ​Cows
• Eastern Box Turtle
• Donkeys
• Bunnies
• Spiders
• Millipedee
• Butterflies
• Hummingbirds

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Flowers

There were so many flowers in this area during the month of June. On our many walks during our stay, I made a bouquet of wild flowers I found. Alex also bought me flowers at the farmers market where I learned what chamomile, echinacea, and yarrow flowers looked like! This is the first place I’ve seen so many day lilies bloom too! I was so happy to see them all (clearly). I also found out that they bloom for a few days, and often have many flowers or bulbs that rotate (makes sense thinking about it, considering it gives them more time to be pollinated).

The pink and maroon flowers I actually found by the trash when Alex and I were in town grocery shopping. One man’s trash is definitely another man’s treasure hehe. The town of Marshall has a mermaid parade every June (we didn’t go) but I still got to enjoy the leftover “waste” or treasures of the parade floats.

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With a heart full of love and gratitude,

​Elysian on Earth