Travel In Style To Highlands, NC

I am so excited to share me and Joshua’s most recent weekend getaway {Athens doesn’t count anymore, it’s like a second home}. Two weekend’s ago Joshua and I headed up to Highlands, NC. Somewhere both of us had never been before. Thanks to our Toyota Corolla our drive was incredibly smooth and easy! We left late Friday evening and with all of the crazy bends and turns up the mountains we were extremely grateful for the lane departure alert. I had never before experienced that feature. I’m pretty sure everyone needs this! So helpful. Who would have liked this when they first learned to drive? {Me}. Another great feature for late night driving, satellite radio. No commercials and constant music means endless entertainment! Also no scanning necessary which is extremely helpful when traveling in the mountains and there’s only one or two stations that actually work. For three to five minutes each. Oh praise you satellite radio! 

Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC (“Toyota”) provided me with compensation and use of a VEHICLE for a short period of time. The opinions I have shared about this vehicle are my own.

Travel Guide, Highlands North Carolina, Visit North Carolina, Toyota, Local Toyota Dealership

Travel Guide, Highlands North Carolina, Visit North Carolina, Toyota, Local Toyota Dealership

c/o floral weekender // c/o blue travel bag // corduroys // loafers 

photos edited by amanda moss // back seat photography 

Once we arrived, we checked into our sweet little room at The Main Street Inn. Located right in the heart of Highlands. Friday evening we lounged in the room, going through all the icebreakers I use in my training classes. We had such a blast, laughing the night away at each other’s answers. P.S. if y’all want me to do a post on all of these let me know! They’re hilarious and a great way to get to know each other even more! 

Travel Guide, Highlands North Carolina, Visit North Carolina, Toyota, Local Toyota Dealership, Things to do in Highlands North Carolina, Old Edwards Inn

Travel Guide, Highlands North Carolina, Visit North Carolina, Toyota, Local Toyota Dealership, Things to do in Highlands North Carolina, Old Edwards Inn

Come morning, we walked down Main Street to Madison’s at The Old Edwards Inn for breakfast. I may or mat not have had the best eggs benedict ever. Okay, I totally did! Incredible. Joshua chose the blueberry pancakes which came with volcanic salt butter. He was obsessed. Once we were fat, dumb, and happy we hopped into our Toyota Corolla for a little exploring! 

Travel Guide, Highlands North Carolina, Visit North Carolina, Toyota, Local Toyota Dealership, Things to do in Highlands North Carolina

Travel Guide, Highlands North Carolina, Visit North Carolina, Toyota, Local Toyota Dealership, Things to do in Highlands North Carolina

coat // denim // booties // c/o handbag // earrings // hair bow 

We cruised up and down Main Street scanning the shops, restaurants, and inns. Once we decided where we wanted to start Joshua parked the car using the rearview camera. Ummm…can I have this in my life stat?! I am hands down the worst parallel parker. With this feature I’m pretty sure I could make it happen on a regular basis. Seriously though, where was this feature for my driving test? Back to Main Street, they have the cutest shops. So many home decor, clothing, and unique gift shops. We had a blast going in and out picking up a couple gifts here and there. 

Travel Guide, Highlands North Carolina, Visit North Carolina, Toyota, Local Toyota Dealership, Things to do in Highlands North Carolina

Travel Guide, Highlands North Carolina, Visit North Carolina, Toyota, Local Toyota Dealership, Things to do in Highlands North Carolina

Louella Reese Highlands Travel Guide

Louella Reese Highlands Travel Guide

coat // denim // c/o handbag // boots 

After Joshua had enough shopping we stopped into The Sports Page for sandwiches. After filling up again we were off exploring again. We headed over to Bridal Veil Falls. It’s the only waterfall in North Carolina you can drive under. Sadly, with how cold it was that weekend (14 degrees in the am, only up to 42) there wasn’t much water flowing BUT if you go in the spring, summer, or early fall you absolutely have to stop by. The photos of it during that time are incredible. From there we ventured over to Half Mile Farm. Which was under construction so we couldn’t explore as much as we wanted but could easily tell this was one beautiful piece of property!  

Travel Guide, Highlands North Carolina, Visit North Carolina, Toyota, Local Toyota Dealership, Things to do in Highlands North Carolina

Travel Guide, Highlands North Carolina, Visit North Carolina, Toyota, Local Toyota Dealership, Things to do in Highlands North Carolina

Travel Guide, Highlands North Carolina, Visit North Carolina, Toyota, Local Toyota Dealership, Things to do in Highlands North Carolina

The sun started to go down so it was back to town for us. With a quick stop at our Inn to layer up for a little walking we made our way down Main Street again. Food was needed {notice a theme here, we like to eat}. Cypress came with several recommendations so that’s where we settled. Y’all this restaurant is incredible! A wide variety of food. I’m talking Asian, American, Italian, Africa, and so many others. We decided to sit at the chef’s table to view what was cooking. I decided to spice things up with pad thai noodles, Joshua stayed true to his typical menu with grouper. Both were beyond tasty! I was stuffed but could not stop eating. We then of course had to get dessert. A must if you go there! Very unique and delicious. You receive three mini desserts with each option. Mine include dark chocolate cake, salted dark chocolate ice cream, and chocolate chip mint basil ice cream. YUM! 

Travel Guide, Highlands North Carolina, Visit North Carolina, Toyota, Local Toyota Dealership, Things to do in Highlands North Carolina

Travel Guide, Highlands North Carolina, Visit North Carolina, Toyota, Local Toyota Dealership, Things to do in Highlands North Carolina

Travel Guide, Highlands North Carolina, Visit North Carolina, Toyota, Local Toyota Dealership, Things to do in Highlands North Carolina

Travel Guide, Highlands North Carolina, Visit North Carolina, Toyota, Local Toyota Dealership, Things to do in Highlands North Carolina

jacket // denim // c/o handbag // earrings // loafers // c/o floral weekender // c/o blue travel bag

Sunday, we hopped back into our Toyota Corolla to some surrounding neighborhoods. One of my favorite things to do when traveling is checking out homes. I’ve loved “house hunting” since I was a little gal. If anything I only love it more every year. Especially now being married, imaging one of these beautiful homes being ours puts a pretty big smile on my face! Now these neighborhoods included a lot of steep and curvy roads. The Toyota Corolla handled it like a champ! I really could not get over how smooth this car drove. 

After house hunting it was back to eating with a final breakfast at Buck’s Coffee Cafe. With it being only 14 degrees that morning hot chocolate was definitely necessary. We spent a little time after breakfast walking around down town a bit more. Soaking in the sweet little town. When we couldn’t handle the cold anymore we found comfort in our Toyota Corolla. Did I mention this car was incredibly comfortable? Lots of space and the perfect amount of leg room. The journey home was spent blogging while Joshua took us back to Charlotte. The Corolla offered a great space for working while still being comfortable. Oh and the piping in the car was blue. How fitting is that? haha. 

Louella Reese Highlands Travel Guide

Louella Reese Highlands Travel Guide

Overall, we had an awesome time with a great vehicle for exploring a new city! We will definitely find our way back to the Highlands. Just maybe when it’s a little warmer!!

Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC (“Toyota”) provided me with compensation and use of a VEHICLE for a short period of time. The opinions I have shared about this vehicle are my own.

 

6 Comments

  1. Elizabeth wrote:

    So fun! What a great getaway! It looked like a blast!

    Posted 11.29.16
  2. molly wrote:

    Looks like such a fun trip!

    Xx
    Molly
    http://www.trendychickadee.com

    Posted 11.29.16
  3. Kendra wrote:

    Sounds like a fun trip! And those pancakes look delicious.

    Kendra
    http://closetconfections.com

    Posted 11.29.16

Comments are closed.