Asheville, NC
“My home's across the Blue Ridge mountains
My home's across the Blue Ridge Mountains
My home's across the Blue Ridge Mountains
For I never expect to see you anymore
Oh, how I hate to leave you
Oh, how I hate to leave you
Oh, how I hate to leave you
For I never expect to see you anymore”
- Carter Family, “My home’s across the Blue Ridge Mountains”
This tune has been going through my head the past couple of weeks as our old home is in MN across the mountains, and we we’ve made our new “home” in this area between Virginia, and now Asheville, North Carolina. We’ve been told that Asheville is a great place to visit (Tom has been before, many years ago), and it does not disappoint. I think there’s a little bit of something for everyone - the great outdoors, with all the amazing hiking trails and the Appalachian Trail of course, the music and arts scene in Asheville, great food everywhere, and history - the Biltmore Estate was on our bucket list for this trip.
We are booked at Mama Gertie’s Hideaway Campground, which is an RV and camping park carved into the side of a mountain. The further up you go, the better your views get. Ten minutes from downtown Asheville, it’s super convenient to everything yet you feel like you’re in the middle of the woods. We had the best news when my parents informed us that they were going to make a trip down to Asheville to see us for the week! We both arrived on a Monday, about the same time. They flew into the Asheville airport in the Cessna Cardinal and we pulled into Asheville just in time to pick them up. Got set up in camp, and took it easy that evening, making pork chops on the Blackstone and enjoying the cool mountain evening. Parents are staying at the Tru by Hilton, just 5 minutes from our campsite.
On Tuesday, we decided to drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway, but did not get very far as with the impending weather from Hurricane Ida, the national forest crew was taking preemptive measures to make sure everyone was off the mountain, in case it got nasty (which it never did). So that prevented us from taking the scenic route to Burnsville, where my father had scheduled a tour of Mountain Air - basically a resort with an air strip! If anything, my father (a pilot for over 50 years), finds these very interesting and unheard of locations for us to check out. Beautiful area up in the mountains, and looked like a great spot for a vacation. We ventured into the town of Burnsville and found a great spot for lunch at Hog Hollow Pizza. Fun and historic downtown area to walk around - lots of shops, restaurants and historical points of interest.
My parents celebrated 53 years of wedded bliss - at the Tru hotel with a cheese tray and overpriced champagne from the hotel bar! We were all too full and too tired to venture out, but it ended up being a lot of fun. There was a pool table in the lobby and we all took turns getting beat by Tom. Owen seems to have picked up a passion for the game as well.
Wednesday’s weather looked gloomy so we used it as an opportunity to explore the River Arts district (well, Mom and I did). Asheville has a vibrant arts scene and we spent the morning popping in and out of a handful of galleries full of pottery, paintings, jewelry and more. Dad, Tom and Owen drove the Blue Ridge Parkway (southbound) and met us in town afterwards. We headed to the historic S&W market (food hall), which was one of the country’s original. Great Thai food at Bun Intended! We also stopped by the refurbished Woolworth store, which hosts various artwork from local artists and an old-fashioned soda shop. We popped into the The Chocolate Fetish shop that has a very interesting display of shells and sand, all made out of chocolate. There’s only one “real” shell in the whole bunch, which you’re encouraged to find (we did). Headed back to the hotel for more pool, and the swimming pool.
We had made reservations for Thursday to visit the Biltmore Estate. The skies cleared and we had gorgeous weather. Built by George Vanderbilt (grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt) in the late 1800s, this 8,000 acre estate is simply breathtaking. We took in the gardens first, and could’ve spent half a day at least here. There is also a bass pond and old boathouse nearby, accessed by a nice walk through the woods to get there. We toured the house, complete with an audio tour, which provides good context for the visit. My commentary and photos won’t do it justice, so check the website if you’re interested in learning more. This is the largest privately owned residence in existence in the US today. We enjoyed spending time up in the farm area, where there are live crafting demonstrations from artisans. We were able to learn about broommaking from a very engaging broommaker, and oddly enough he makes a small cast iron scrubbing “broom”, which I’ve needed on this trip! Owen liked watching how he did this, and we all learned a lot in the process. There was also a blacksmith at work, and the estate employs a couple of blacksmiths fulltime, as when things break in and around the estate, they fix them like they would’ve back in the late 1800s and early 1900s. There used to be a dairy barn and creamery onsite, and they would supply these goods to residents around the area. Back in the 80s, it was turned into the Biltmore Winery where they now do tastings as part of your admission fee. Make your reservation early - it fills up! As a final stop, we went to the onsite museum, which has more history about the family and their time at the residence. Once again, I found out another interesting Titanic connection. The family (George, his wife Edith and their daughter Cornelia), had planned to take the Titanic back to America but didn’t want to wait for its departure as they were anxious to get back to the US. They booked passage on another ship a few days before the Titanic was due to set out. While most of the women and children from first class (where they were certain to travel) survived the Titanic sinking, it is interesting to wonder what could have happened to this family and their legacy had this happened.
There are many trails that you can hike and bike around the property during your visit, you can fly-fish, and even take an off-road driving course through the mountains. Of course, many opportunities exist to shop and eat on property but if you can, take as much time as you can to enjoy all the different areas and views.
More photos of our trip to the Biltmore and other pictures from our trip can be found here.
Owen stayed 3 of the nights at my parents hotel, which they all loved. Owen particularly liked the 6 am - 10 am breakfasts, with the automatic pancake machines! That made mornings easy for all of us. On Friday morning, we took them to the airport at 7 am. After their departure (insert tears here), we came back to the campsite for some much-needed time spent against school work and work-work. Owen and Tom escaped to the Arcade and Pinball Museum in the afternoon, and that evening we had our traditional pizza night (Friday night).
We also found some time to sneak away into the mountains, and Tom and hiked up to Catawba Falls earlier in the week. Moderately challenging but quick hike, it was worth the time!
Catawba Falls
On our last full day in the area, we got up at the crack of dawn for —- the Waffle House! Certainly something one must do in the south, we introduced Owen to his first Waffle House. Not sure how or when this became a thing, but it just is for us I guess.
Actually, we really did get up early to head out onto the Blue Ridge Parkway. Now that it’s Labor Day weekend, we knew it would fill up quickly. We were offered up some gorgeous views. We also drove up to the highest point east of the Mississippi - Mount Mitchell. While only 6600+ feet, I started having an incredible headache, which is odd for me. Knowing that altitude can cause headaches, I thought this might be the case - but I’ve climbed multiple mountains for multiple days from 14k - 19K feet, with no issues at all. Sure enough, came down a few thousand feet and my headache went away. Kind of had to laugh about it, but also realized I’m probably dehydrated, which exacerbated the issue.