For the first time EVER, Mr. Dorinda and I will be doing Christmas with just the two of us (and our dogs). To stave off any homesickness that might afflict us (read: me) when we’re away from the hustle and bustle of Full Family Christmas, we’d like to help make our first Us-mas a little special by spending it somewhere cute, quaint, homey, Christmasy, and not too far of a drive from our house. Where should we go?! We’re thinking of taking 3 or 4 nights over Christmas to snuggle up somewhere and enjoy our quiet, private holiday. We will be going the AirBnB/VRBO route since we’ll be bringing the dogs. Ideally, we’ll find some sort of cabin/farmhouse/guesthouse with a fenced yard where they can play (in the snow?!). But before we look for the perfect AirBnB, we need to decide on the perfect town/area! That’s where you come in!!

I’m picturing a very Hallmark movie-esque sort of vibe: think Stars Hollow, or cabin in the snowy woods, or Victorian carrollers, or things like that. Cheesy! Comforting! Cozy!
Here’s what we’d like our Christmas cave to have:
- driving distance (like, maybe 5 hours max? But could be persuaded to go farther) from Durham, NC
- snow potential would be nice!
- close to nice hiking opportunities
- close-ish to some sort of quaint, charming small-ish town where we can get groceries and maybe a good (and vegan-friendly) restaurant meal or two
- good Christmas/holiday/winter festival vibes (I don’t really know what I mean by this...so interpret as you like!)
- maybe a cute local/regional theatre in town where we can see a festive play

On our list of places we’re considering so far (chosen mostly at random!) are:
- Staunton, VA (only drawback here is we’ve been a lot, so it’s not new to us)
- Asheville, NC (same as above)
- Gatlinburg, TN
- Charleston, SC

Where else should we be looking? Tell us your favorite festive holiday place in the southeast US!!