It’s officially summertime here in Asheville, but metaphorically speaking, it still feels like summer hasn’t officially let the dogs out. It’s been warm and hot adjacent, but no real scorchers where you either have a fervent need to spend every waking minute outside or be huddled out of the sun in only the most frigid of air conditioning. It’s been rainy too, which hasn’t helped, and I reminded myself recently that often—and this isn’t new or even a global warming thing—it’s much hotter July through October than it is June through August—I still believe that a proper summer is coming.
Still, I’ve been enjoying the long days, trying to take advantage of my apartment complex pool, and really relishing my summer Sundays. Sundays have long been my favorite day of the week. At some point, “Sunday scaries” became an annoying concept popularized by the same 36-year-olds who regularly say “adulting” and post “cryptic” I-did-a-thing posts on Instagram, but answer me this: how can Sunday be scary if you’re taking full advantage of the absolute laziest (and best) day of the week?
I rarely go out on Fridays and am obviously down for a Saturday (but truthfully, also get a lot of writing done Saturday mornings), but Sunday is my day to wake up and have the day fully be about nothing but enjoying time. While I truly cherish my Sundays year-round (Sunday is my favorite day in the fall and winter to either truly do nothing or explore all the great WNC small towns like Black Mountain, Brevard, or Hot Springs), you can’t beat a summer Sunday in WNC wasting the day outdoors in glorious weather.
In this debut July blog series, I’ll be detailing my favorite ways to spend Asheville summer Sundays (though, spoiler alert: two take place in Lake Lure and one in Fairview), starting with the Sunday French-Broad kayak River Arts Float.
I love kayaking the French Broad. When I first moved to Asheville, I acquired an inflatable SUP and was looking into purchasing a kayak, but honestly, unless you’re going to do the river multiple times a week (and maybe I would if I lived closer), to me, the easiest, and most fun way to do it is through French Broad Outfitters, especially if you’re looking to have some beverages during your float (you can Uber to the outfitters RAD location, and don’t have to worry about putting boats back in your car once you’re done or leaving a vehicle at one end you inevitably have to go back for).
French Broad Outfitters offers two trip options: Biltmore and RAD, but I prefer RAD because you get to float through town, and there are plenty of opportunities for pulling out: Pleb Urban Winery, both RAD Wedge locations, HiWire RAD (ostensibly, I don’t know where you’d park the kayaks to do this), and New Belgium. There’s no more delightful or relaxing way to spend a day on the water.
Historically, for me, a Sunday float starts at Taco Billy’s for a nice breakfast base (and maybe a Tecate or two) before moving on to French Broad Outfitters. I prefer doing an earlier float—11 or 12—so that you can spend some time at Hominy Creek before departing and typically do a mid-paddle stop at either the Wedge or Bottle Riot (they’re in the same building) to break up the trip.
You need to have the kayaks back to French Broad Outfitters by 5, which forces you to keep the Sunday carnage relatively tame, although I’ve been known to walk down the train tracks to The Getaway to extend the merrymaking.
Obviously, you don’t have to follow my lead, but since I’m in full influencer mode right now, I’ve found the very best way to end your Sunday after departing French Broad Outfitters or your chosen post-kayak watering hole is either with an order of Chinese takeout (small sweet and sour chicken on the patio for me) or an entire Thin and Crispy® pizza hut pie.
Next up: Summer Sundays Dipping in the Creek at Turgua Brewing
AshevilleExplorer 
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