While visiting Antler Village and Winery on the Biltmore Estate we had to try the ice cream from the creamery. Of course being the spoiled pup that he is, Oshie had a cup of vanilla all to himself.
We enjoyed it on the grass while live music played from the gazebo in front of us. It was an awesome and relaxing evening.
I am still going through all the photos I captured on the trip and will be posting more of the edited keepers soon. Thanks for stopping by and have an excellent weekend!
As I mentioned in the post I made yesterday, we stayed at the Asheville Green Cottage for 3 nights during our Memorial Day weekend trip to Asheville. We ended up staying here because we waited way too long to book a hotel for the trip and by the time we decided we should probably find one, all the hotels had raised prices to 400 dollars a night. The hotels we were looking at were nice and were dog friendly, but we did not think they were worth 400 a night and at that price we would have obliterated our trip budget.
With hotel prices going through the roof for the holiday weekend I decided to take a look at Airbnb and as fate would have it I found the Green Cottage. It ended up being the absolute perfect place for us to stay during the trip. The cottage is dog friendly and even more exciting was the fact that the owners, Vicki and Neeraj, actually had a two Golden Retreivers of their own. After a quick phone call the room was booked and we were ready for our trip. During that phone call I also found out that one of their Goldens had just had a litter of puppies. Talk about the perfect place to go stay.
The cottage is a beautiful old stone home that was built in the 1920’s. I overheard Vicki telling one of the other guests that Italian stone masons were brought in to help build the Biltmore Estate and how they had an influence in many of the granite block homes found in the area. The picture above is a view from the street of the front of the cottage. The neighborhood was very quiet and beautiful and even though there were houses all around, the cottage was set further back from the road and felt more secluded. The driveway to guest parking wound around the back of the house and down a small hill which helped hide guest vehicles from street view.
The stone work of the home was beautiful and there were also gardens and vegetation all over the property that really gave the cottage that mountain/secluded feel.
Off to the right of the guest entrance and down a small grass hill was a side yard that Oshie had a blast sniffing around.
The cottage has four themed rooms with individual full baths. Located on the second floor are the African and Indian themed rooms and down stairs are a Zen Garden and Mediterranean themed rooms. Due to our procrastination in planning this trip, we ended up in the Mediterranean room which was the smallest of the four. It was still an excellent room and plenty big enough for the three of us. It was probably best that we were on the first floor because Oshie gets restless at night sometimes and I wouldn’t want to hear someone walking around above me while I was trying to sleep.
The cottage also had a large sitting room/library with board games and books for guests to use. Across from this was the dining area where a delicious vegetarian breakfast was served. Each morning we received a big bowl of freshly chopped fruits, homemade bread/muffins, delicious scrambled eggs, coffee and a warm greeting from out hosts. Vicki had plenty of information about the area and I am sure she would have been able to answer almost any question we had.
Our 3 night stay meant that we didn’t spend much time at the cottage during the day. We wanted to make the most of our time in Asheville and explore. Thankfully the cottage was close to everything we wanted to see. It is less than a mile from the Biltmore Estate entrance and Biltmore Village, five minutes from downtown Asheville and only a short car drive off the Blue Ridge Parkway.
The time that we did spend at Asheville Green Cottage was comfortable and fun and I would recommend it to anyone planning a trip to Asheville North Carolina with and without pets. Thanks to Vicki and Neeraj for providing such a lovely little place for us to stay!
Our trip to Asheville took place over the Memorial Day weekend. We decided to hit the road as early as possible Friday afternoon knowing that it was going to take us over five hours to arrive at our destination. The goal was to hit the road between 1 and 1:30pm. Naturally we didn’t hit the road until closer to 2:30pm.
The weather for the drive was perfect and we weren’t anticipating any traffic for our 400 mile journey. Of course that didn’t work out either and we ended up in stop and go traffic for about an hour. We made a few pit stops for food and gas and so Oshie could do his business and stretch his legs. He loves being in the car but he gets a little restless on longer trips. I did the driving so I didn’t take many photos but I did manage to get a few at one of the rest areas we pulled into. There was a nice open field with some cows in it and the sun was beginning to set. It made for the perfect backdrop. Admittedly my sunset photos still need a little practice, or I just need to work on editing the bright/blown-out areas a little more. I think they came out nice though.
The road trip ended with us reaching our destination just before 10:00pm. We stayed at the Asheville Green Cottage. It was an awesome little B&B that I found on Airbnb. We knew we had to stay there when we saw that the owners had two Golden Retrievers and one had just had a litter of puppies. Unfortunately the last leg of the trip was pretty dark so we missed some of the mountain views we would have seen during better light. As soon as we got in we crashed in order to get plenty of rest for the next day.
I am still trying to decide what the best method for posting all the pictures from the trip will be. I think I will stick with this format to prevent myself from posting too many at once and causing loading issues with the page. It will also give me an opportunity to write a little in each post about the photos. I hope you enjoy.
Photos were taken with my Canon 7d Mk2 and a rented Tamron 15-30mm f/2.8 Di VC lens rented from LensRentals.com.
Oshie has managed to injure himself. While Nancy was in Norway I noticed that Oshie had a bit of a limp and was hesitant to jump up on the couch. A week or two later when Nancy was back we went to the Vet for a 6 month checkup and voiced our concern about his leg. The Doctor thoroughly checked Oshie’s legs and joints and didn’t find an issue. Also at this point in time he didn’t appear to be limping at all.
Fast forward about a month and the limp returned. Two Fridays ago ( I know I have been lazy with posting again) we took Oshie for an evening walk. It was about two miles in length and at a very reasonable pace. During the walk Oshie appeared to be fine and was acting like his usual self. Later that evening we were all in the living room watching a movie and relaxing and Oshie got up and let out a little whimper. He promptly laid back down and we didn’t think anything of it.
When it was time for bed, Oshie was a bit slow going up the stairs and he didn’t want to jump up on the bed. When he finally did get up there he was whimpering again. I decided I should check his leg. I began feeling around his back right leg and immediately knew he was in some pain because he turned and nipped at my hand which he never does. I left him alone and decided that we would see how he was doing in the morning. When morning came the results of the feel test were the same and we decided we needed to visit the Vet.
We arrived at the Vet hoping to be seen as a walk in appointment but there were five people already there for walk-ins and we were told to come back around 2:00pm. So we headed home and relaxed for a few hours. The second trip was successful and Oshie was seen. The Doctor examined his back right leg and Oshie was clearly in some pain. He even cried a few times while she felt around his leg. The Vet thought that he might have an issue with his ACL but nothing that would require surgery at this point (possible slight tear is what she said). She also suggested X-rays which we quickly said yes to.
Oshie was left at the office and we went to waste some time while they took the X-rays . About 2 hours later we received the call that he was ready to be picked up and that the X-rays didn’t show any damage to the knee-joint or ACL but the doctor wanted a second opinion from an orthopedic specialist because she thought she saw something with the meniscus. We took Oshie home with some pain meds and a prescription for some rest and relaxation. We gave him the meds throughout the week and he appeared to be doing much better and I would even say back to his old self.
This past Sunday we went for a follow-up appointment. We saw a different doctor this time around and she re-examined his leg. This time he didn’t appear to be in any pain and she said she didn’t feel anything that concerned her. She also checked the X-rays again and said that she did not see any problems there either. Her best guess was that it was a soft tissue injury like a pulled muscle or strained/tweaked tendon. This is what I was thinking and hoping it was from the beginning based on how he reacted when I touched the muscle on that leg.
We left the office with the instructions to let him rest some more and only give him pain meds if he needs them. We are going to Asheville North Carolina for the Memorial day weekend to visit the Biltmore Estate and enjoy the mountains and would have been sad if Oshie could not experience it with us. Thankfully the Doctor said he could go but we would have to do short easy hikes and keep an eye on his leg. We are so happy that it wasn’t a serious injury and are looking forward to a fun long weekend.
Keep any eye on your furry friends. They can’t speak to us and tell us what hurts. It is up to us tonotice if something is not right. Our responsibility as pet parents to make sure our animals taken care of. If you think your pet is sick or hurt don’t hesitate to take them to the Vet!
A few more pictures from visits to the Doc.
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