Asheville is Full of Surprises at Every Bend in the Road
By Grace Palsgrove, Editor
The AAA Touch
(Be sure to see the photo gallery at the end of this article.)

The draw to Asheville, N.C., is a mystical magnet. The more you’re there, the more you feel you belong there. The scenery is breathtaking, the people run the gamut from gentile to earthy, and the sites - from nature to fine crafts to biker chicks to the Biltmore Estate - are fascinating.

A great way to get an overview of the artsy city of Asheville is to stop at the Asheville Visitors Center, www.exploreasheville.com or www.ashevillechamber.org, and then head out on an Asheville Historic Trolley Tour, www.ashevilletrolleytours.com. A schedule allows visitors to get off and back on a trolley to explore different sections of the city. The knowledgeable driver offers a historic view of the city and explains the sites along the way, including lots of bed and breakfasts (Asheville has the most B&Bs in the southeast United States), the Highland Park Sanitarium, where James Taylor wrote "Fire and Rain," the Botanical Gardens, golf courses, the Grove Park Inn and Grove Arcade (one of the first indoor malls in the country).

Grove Arcade is a work of art itself. Made of concrete and wrought iron, it is decorated with gargoyles and other intricate designs on the outside. Inside this mall in downtown Asheville are all locally owned and operated stores and the Arts and Heritage Gallery, a non-profit organization that features products of local and regional artists and the Cherokee Indians. One fun store was Bath Junkie, where you mix your own flavors of bubble baths, shower gels and other skin care items. Stores also included an old-fashioned deli and a wine shop as well as many fine handcrafted item venues. www.grovearcade.com.

A beautiful, peaceful day can be spent at the North Carolina Arboretum. This 434-acre public garden features areas including a quilt garden that can be viewed from above on a bridge. The plants are changed every season and the quilt pattern is changed every two years. In all there are 65 acres of cultivated gardens and 10 miles of forested hiking and biking trails. Here is also home to the finest exclusive collection of bonsai featuring southern Appalachian plants. The new Baker Exhibit Center, which opened in the spring, houses a visitor center and greenhouse and relates to the local environment and plants. Walkways take visitors on a windy adventure on a flagstone path past flowers, sculptures, pond and waterfalls. Contact the arboretum in advance with special needs. Segways are available to tour for an additional fee, for those who prefer. www.ncarboretum.org

Asheville’s streets are more urban than we might expect. Artists and musicans perform on the corners with their instrument cases open waiting for a tip from appreciative passers-by, very similar to New York City. Also in the downtown, find fine restaurants like the Bistro 1896, www.bistro1896.com, where American cuisine and a nice bottle of wine can be enjoyed indoors or al fresco. When you’re ready to walk off your meal, consider a Haunted Asheville Ghost Tour, www.hauntedasheville.com, where participants will hear the lore and gore of the city, from the antics of outlaws to brave deeds of soldiers to the scandalous trysts of clergymen.

A visit to the Biltmore is almost like being a child and playing dress up. Everything will have you awestruck. The sheer size of the 175,000-square-foot, 250-room mansion, the primary residence of George Vanderbilt, and the largest privately owned house in America, will have some swooning. The fact that it was complete in the late 1800s makes it even more fascinating. At the gate, you still have to drive 3 miles to get to the mansion. Once a 125,000-acre estate, 87,000 acres have been sold to the federal government and is the Pisgah National Forest.

The mansion’s décor is stunning, stately and of course, all of the pieces have stories. Self-guided tours are held daily. The audio tour is very helpful so you do not miss the details. Bike and hike trails as well as exquisite gardens await on 250 of the 8,000-acre estate. A winery, restaurant, five gift shops and the Four-Diamond rated Biltmore Estate Inn are also on the premises. The winery offers tastings and, of course, a store to purchase the many quality wines with the Biltmore label. The restaurant serves a fantastic, fresh buffet for lunch in beautiful garden surroundings. Festival of Flowers is held in April, evening concerts in the summer, Harvest Home Celebration and the Winery’s Jazz Harvest weekends in September and October. The Christmas season starts Nov. 4.

Asheville has many art galleries and the Asheville Art Museum, www.ashevilleart.org, offers changing exhibits, screenings, artists’ talks and concerts.

A fascinating motorcycle collection that enthusiasts don’t want to miss is the Wheels Through Time Transportation Museum. www.wttthetimemachine.com or www.wheelsthroughtime.com. This 40,000-square-foot exhibition hall is packed to the rafters with rare pieces that mark history - a 1917 Harley ridden by Jimmy Stewart and owned by Steve McQueen, a 70-year-old dirt-track racing motorcycle, a one-of-a-kind 1918 Henderson made by Schwinn, military bikes, period modified machines and racing bikes. Names like Traub, Harley, India and Excelsior can be found on display. “The Girls,” a photographic history of women in motorcycling is also featured. Everything on display is American made and all are in working order. In fact, you may just hear the owner, Dale Walksler, starting an engine or two. These items are old, so you might smell them, too!

A history of travel in Western North Carolina greets guests in the foyer and is free. Admission of $12 for adults, $10 for seniors 65+ and $6 for children 5-12, will gain entrance to the rest of the museum. Take a train adventure on the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad. www.gsmr.com. 1-800-872-4681. Offering eight excursions and many special events, the trains offer a variety of seating and tables. Cars are climate controlled and restrooms are available in each car. Take a fun mystery theatre dinner train and figure out whodunit. Or try a picnic lunch excursion with the children.

An amusement park with a railroad theme, Tweetsie Railroad, northeast of Asheville in Blowing Rock, N.C., offers a step back in time with a ride behind a historic locomotive to a place where cowboys tamed the outlaws. With some rides, an arcade and a show on stage, the park offers wholesome family entertainment. www.tweetsie.com. 1-800-526-5740.

For another way to take your breath away, visit Grandfather Mountain, northeast of Asheville. This 5,000-acre property has a nature museum, restaurant and habitat area at the base. Take a ride to the top of a twisting road and then walk across a mile-high swinging steel bridge to the top of the mountain, the highest peak in the Blue Ridge Mountains. This is not as frightening as it sounds and even those professed to have fear of heights made it across the bridge and were rewarded with a beautiful sight. On a clear day, you can see downtown Charlotte, 90 miles away. Best views are in the winter but any time will offer stunning views of the area and many take advantage of this point during the fall foliage season (weekdays are suggested for visits to avoid the throngs). Grandfather Mountain is open every day except Christmas and Thanksgiving and the peak is closed when there’s ice on the road. The environmental habitat area is open from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. and is home to Mildred the bear, owls, whitetail deer, otters, cougars and more. www.grandfather.com. 1-800-468-7325.

Another park offering stunning vistas is Chimney Rock Park, 25 miles southeast of Asheville. Recently purchased from private owners by North Carolina to avoid development, this is now the centerpiece of a new state park in Hickory Nut Gorge, slated to open in 2008. The state parks system has acquired 2,264 acres on both sides of the rugged gorge, considered a premier state park site. The present 994-acre park is home to a 315-foot spire overlooking Lake Lure. It has a stairway to the rock’s summit, a tunnel and elevator to the summit, a visitor center, nature center, hiking trails and the 404-foot Hickory Nut Falls. www.chimneyrockpark.com. 1-800-277-9611.

Of course views are aplenty along the Blue Ridge Parkway, which loops and flows from the Shenandoah National Park to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. While you’re traveling it in Asheville, make a stop at the Southern Highland Craft Guild’s Folk Craft Center. The country’s second-oldest (to oldest Boston) such center offers galleries with displays and the Allanstand Craft Shop featuring fine arts and practical pieces, iron works and glassblowing and other demonstrations from March to December. The Southern Appalachian Culture Heritage Weekend is celebrated in September. www.craftguild.org

For those who want to go out and play - head to the rivers. Wildwater Ltd., www.wildwaterrafting.com, And Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC), www.noc.com, have everything you’ll need to brave the rapids and some not-so-rapids on the Nantahala, Ocoee, Pigeon and Chattooga rivers. These outfitters offer white water, floats, overnights, guided tours with meals and more. Wildwater offers lodging and Yurt cabins packages, as well as rapids and rails packages, Jeep tours, family excursions and more. NOC has an adventure resort with lodging that runs from camping to the Nantahala Inn and cabin rentals. It features stores to fulfill all of your outdoor activities, four restaurants, including Relia’s Garden, a fine dining experience with a lovely view of gardens, to Tote and Tarry coffee shop. NOC also offers paddling school, ropes course/alpine tower climb, biking, hiking and fly-fishing, kayaking and more.

The bed and breakfasts are available as well as most of the popular chains - Hampton Inn, Courtyard by Marriott, Holiday Inn Express, Homewood Suites, Ramada Plaza and Crowne Plaza, to name a few. The Grove Park Inn Resort and Spa, a AAA Four-Diamond property, features a 40,000-square-foot spa that offers everything from an indoor pool and a massage to an “aura imaging.” The Donald Ross golf course has the Blue Ridge Mountains as a backdrop. The inn’s Horizon’s restaurant also has a Four-Diamond rating. Also featured are many room styles, a sports complex, children’s programs and business services. www.groveparkinn.com or 1-800-438-5800.

Answer the call to Asheville. You will find something fascinating along every twist in the road! Call 1-800-VISIT NC or go to VisitNC.com for more information.

Photo Gallery
"The Girls" is a history of women and motorcycling at the Wheels Through Time museum.		The Stage Show at the Tweetsie Railroad offers great family entertainment.
The Tweetsie Railroad Engine 12 is ready for an adventure with cowboys, Indians and outlaws.		A street performer entertains passers-by in downtown Asheville.
Shoppers peruse the locally made items sold at the Grove Arcade, one of the nation's oldest indoor malls.		Filling an order for some sweet-smelling bath products at the Bath Junkie in Grove Arcade in downtown Asheville.
Erin Walker, a resident metal artist at the Heritage Gallery in Grove Arcade, makes ornaments out of leaves during a demonstration of her art.		The Allanstand Craft Shop at the Folk Art Center offers fine art and practical items created by local artisans.
People enjoy al fresco dining at the Bistro 1896 in downtown Asheville.		A bear poses for guests at the Natural Habitat area of Grandfather Mountain.
Visitors cross the mile-high bridge at the top of Grandfather Mountain.		Visitors cross back and forth on the bridge for the best bird's-eye view of the valley below Grandfather Mountain.
Visitors follow a boardwalk path to view the many bonsai specimens at the North Carolina Arboretum.		The bonsai at the North Carolina Arboretum are from trees native to the area.
The Biltmore Mansion has 250 rooms and is open for tours year-round.		The entrance to Deerpark Restaurant on the Biltmore Estate leads patrons across a courtyard into the dining room.
One of the countless detailed gargoyles that grace the outside of the Biltmore Mansion, which was built in the 1890s.		A stately lion welcomes guests to the Biltmore home.