Asheville

Surrounded by beautiful National Parks and Forests, I was here for 10 minutes before some hippies pulled up next to me on the curb and offered me their leftover Chinese food.

Then I spent a week on top of mountain.

<3 this place.

Tip: For great Thai food don’t miss out at Suwana’s Thai Orchid.

Great town with plenty of restaurants and bars. Very close to mountains and obviously The Biltmore. A hub for kayaking and mountain biking enthusiasts!

I wasn’t able to spend a whole lot of time there, as I was trying to get to Winston-Salem as soon as possible to move into my apartment at Wake Forest. However, I was impressed with the quaint-ness and beauty of this little North Carolina mountain town. It’s definitely a place I would like to come back to, to visit and explore a little more. Though I was able to check out the Biltmore, I wasn’t able to explore as much as I would have liked to. Definitely a place worth visiting and taking the time to explore.

It’s technically in Swannanoa… But! I love the mountains, the farms, cute little shops. I loved to eat at Doc Cheys, and the Noodle Shop. Hiking is also great, and every morning is a great opportunity to take photographs of the sun rising over the mountains. The Biltmore Estate is super pricey, so I didn’t go. But I think it’s ok, there’s plenty to do besides that!

Oh! It’s especially great for vegetarians. Many of the restaurants specialize in vegan/veggie food.

Mela is an Indian Restaurant. They have fantastic food, but it can take a while. And it’s usually busy and noisy.

I got a chance to visit Asheville in September 2007 for a writing gathering. It was really fun looking at the Biltmore Estates and hanging out with very cool people :)

Wandered around in and out of shops downtown. It is a sweet little town with many photo ops for tourists and lots of plaques mentioning local lore such as the fact that O Henri lived there for a while as did Elisabeth Blackwell, the first woman awarded a medical degree in the United States (1849).

The architecture is varied and interesting. City Hall has a terra cotta tiled octagonal roof and the Grove Arcade is a once public market, now mini mall with shops and restaurants.

There seems to be a fairly large homeless element. There were also lots of street performers including a troupe of people celebrating May Day a little early with Morris dancing.

Asheville has a stunning downtown. It’s really well-designed and beautiful. Downtown is easy to get around without a car, but in general I think it would be much easier to live here with a car, unless you are an avid cyclist, because many of the things you will need/want to do will not be downtown. I stayed in West Asheville in the hostel and although I had heard it was very walkable I didn’t find it very pedestrian friendly myself. The buses run once an hour and only the poor people take the bus. I liked Asheville but didn’t feel drawn to move there. To me it felt like a rich resort town—-with an interesting mix of wealthy new-agey folks, hippies, and poor people. It’s definitely a mountain community. I think that if you love the outdoors this is probably a great place to live. If you are into bluegrass music and mountain culture you’ll love it. I love that it is gay and lesbian friendly, I’ve heard it has a great music/art scene, and it is definitely eco-friendly. I would love to visit again in the spring and fall. Overall I think it’s a really cool small mountain town although not what I was looking for.

Planning a long weekend trip with a (hopefully) stay at The Biltmore

This place actually reminds me a lot of Austin.

Lots of college kids, lots of hippies, lots of cool independent businesses…such a great vibe!