Hey, y’all! I thought I would do a little recap of our trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains. I have all of my Instagram stories saved to a highlight, but I wanted a permanent place for it all on my blog too, for our family to look back on or for anyone else who may be planning a trip!

We rented a car from Jacksonville and stopped in Columbia, South Carolina to split up the drive, so we spent the morning walking around the USC campus. We tried out some of their traditions and Dolly taught their mascot, Cocky, how to Gig’em!

We stopped for some peaches at Hyder’s Peach Country  —  if you’re ever in the area, they are the BEST.

We made our way to the cute mountain town of Waynesville, North Carolina, and stayed at an Airbnb for the week. Waynesville is located right off of Blue Ridge Parkway, so it was a quick (and winding) drive each day to the trails, rivers and waterfalls of Pisgah National Forest.

We had to stop at Dolly’s Dairy Bar in the town of Brevard for some ice cream!

Did some more hiking & exploring, then made our way to Sliding Rock. Dolly LOVED it! It was a little touristy with a railing for the line and a viewing area, but we got there pretty early and it wasn’t too busy.

Moore Cove Falls was a cute little hidden waterfall. There wasn’t much to do there, but the hike was nice and the waterfall was pretty!

Looking Glass Waterfall was another one we stopped at, but Dolly was getting worn out that day, so we took a photo and ate a picnic in the car.

Graveyard Fields & Falls was probably my favorite. The hike to the falls wasn’t far (or much of a hike at all), and the view was beautiful. This one seemed to be more popular, and for good reason! We played in the river and hiked along one of the trails. I can only imagine how colorful it must be during the fall.

The drive down Blue Ridge Parkway is also beautiful! This is where the photo at the beginning of the post was taken. There are plenty of overlooks to stop at.

Soco Falls was another fun favorite! I probably wouldn’t recommend it with little ones, though. The dirt path down to the falls was steep with only a rope to hang onto, and Mason and I both took a little tumble (while trying to hold Dolly). It was really pretty and fun to play at the bottom of the waterfall though.

Cherokee, North Carolina was more fun than I expected. There were plenty of “touristy” knick-knack shops, but we spent the majority of our shopping in Southern Charm, which was the cutest southern-style boutique. I wish I had packed Dolly’s swimsuit for this day, because the Oconaluftee Island Park looked fun.

Oh boy, Dollywood was a blast! Dolly LOVED riding all the rides. Her favorite was the teacups, and they had a little section in the enchanted forest part of the park with a few rides just for little ones! She was such a champ throughout the day  —  especially since it was so hot and we skipped her nap.

Asheville, NC was our last stop, since our flight was EARLY the next morning. It wasn’t my favorite town, but we had fun exploring!

Then we flew to Texarkana for a wedding. It was so much fun to see all of our friends again to celebrate and dance together. Dolly was also a huge champ through the weekend and stayed up with us like the party animal she is! She had fun hanging out with all her little friends too.

The flight back was just as peachy as the rest of the trip. I’m so proud of Dolly and how well she did on every drive, flight, late night, early morning, and skipped nap. I feel like now is a good time to reference the blog post I wrote earlier this year with travel toy ideas for busy babies. Dolly still plays with almost all of those toys, and we usually have them with us in the car! I’ve come to the conclusion that A) all of the traveling we’ve done since she was 6 weeks old has paid off, B) 2-years old is the perfect age for traveling, or C) maybe Dolly’s just the best toddler ever. I’d say all three! 😉

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