Top Reasons to Visit Brookside Mountain Mist Inn

• The homey bed and breakfast is a short drive from downtown Asheville, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and the Biltmore Estate, George Vanderbilt’s expansive mansion.
• You can see the misty Blue Ridge Mountains from the oversized picture windows in the living and dining rooms.
• A three-course gourmet breakfast is served in the dining room. In addition to scones, biscuits, or guava-cream-cheese danishes, there are main entrees such as Belgian waffles, a house favorite, or orange-pecan french toast.
• The guest rooms are individually decorated; each has a fireplace, a private bathroom, and a 32-inch LED TV with a DVD player.
• Overstuffed leather furnishings surround the fireplace in the living room. You can relax here with a book or a game.
• There’s a rainy-day closet overflowing with games, books, DVDs, and playing cards.

Waynesville, North Carolina: Gateway to Great Smoky Mountains and Blue Ridge Parkway

Waynesville is nestled between the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains, 30 miles west of Asheville. The 469-mile Blue Ridge Parkway, one of the country’s most popular scenic drives, meanders through mountain valleys and loops around Waynesville en route to Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park. The picturesque thoroughfare branches out to more than 100 hiking trails, ranging from short footpaths to the Appalachian Trail, which stretches from Georgia to Maine.

Waynesville is a charming, old-fashioned town, with a Main Street lined with pretty trees and brick sidewalks. There are also many quaint storefronts, including a general store, a candy store, and antique shops housed in old buildings. But anyone visiting Waynesville should also spend at least a day exploring Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The park covers cascading waterfalls, more than 1,500 types of wildflowers, and dozens of historical mills and barns. While you’re exploring, keep an eye out for elk, black-bear cubs, eastern box turtles, and white-tailed deer.