I went on my first Blogger Conference a few weeks ago. Monkey Girl and I made a weekend of it. We drove from Virginia Beach to Ashville North Carolina. Well, let me clarify, she drove. I sat in the passenger seat and critiqued her the whole way.
Yup, sure did.
She did it flawlessly. She drove all 6 1/2 hours both ways without skipping a beat. The hubster did not come. He was working.
We arrived around 4 pm and decided we would explore the hotel. They were setting up for our cocktail party/meet and greet. I must admit I was a bit nervous about this part of my journey. Coupled with the fact that I am an introvert, all of these people I speak to on line. I never actually met in person. Needless to say everything turned out fine. The theme for the cocktail party was Moonshine Madness. I knew tomorrow would be a long day, I stuck with one drink. I made two wonderful friends at the cocktail party and couldn’t be happier! Dee Dee from Miss Foodie Fab and Morgan over at Glamour Girl Gourmet are now my BFBF (Best Food Blogger Friends) . Morgan was so kind she offered to take me to Biltmore the next morning so Monkey Girl could go exploring. I took her up on it. I headed back to my room with both swag bags in tow.
They suggested that we leave 45 minutes early for the Food Blog Forum Conference to beat the traffic. Morgan and I did, but we got there uber early and decided to do some exploring of our own. It was really early and kind of over cast. It rained on and off most of the night. It was kind of a drizzly sort of rain.
I took this photo and the one above it while driving around Biltmore before we began the conference. The conference was wonderful and I learned so much. I particularly loved how to take better pictures. They had other segment such as working with publications and how to create your Tribe. Then we had a wonderful lunch. I am not sure why, but I discovered that I only took pictures of our desserts. All three were awesome! The afternoon consisted of a round table discussion and then a Culinary tour of Biltmore and a Evening Reception.
Boy was the food delicious! By now I was tired, my feet hurt and I was ready to go back to the hotel so I could relax and rest.
Later the next morning, we hopped on a bus for the Meet the Foodtopians. The first stop was for a Taste and Sip at Highland Brewing. I took a tour of the brewery. I must admit this was awesome! They had so many different vendors to choose from. I felt very pampered. I must admit I loved the ribs, collard greens and corn pudding from 12 Bones. In fact I went back for seconds. I purchased a t-shirt for the hubster and we were on our way to the Beyond Farms Tour.
We arrived at Looking Glass Creamery where they had several Cheese trays waiting for us. We walked around and was introduced to how they make their cheeses. I think my favorite was the Chocolate Lab. It was so delicious. We also saw a lot of farm animals. This goat was such a ham for the camera. I couldn’t resist taking a photo of him.
I thought I would artistically take a photo of this antique bike sitting there against a tree. It beckoned me to take its photograph. I truly felt compelled. Plus I thought it might look a bit artsy for the post.
Soon we were off to Hickory Nut Gap Farm where we also had a tour of the farm. It was truly remarkable to get a up close understanding of the farm to table movement.
I would like to extend a special thanks to Dodie Stephens , Cat Kessler and Landis Taylor over at Explore Ashville. They put this thing together and it was so awesome. I will always remember my trip to Ashville very fondly.
Peace be with you,
Veronica
