Asheville Trip Report
Oct 4th, 2006, 09:45 AM
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Asheville Trip Report
Just back from Asheville last night. Thanks to all who helped with our plans. We had a great time. What beautiful country!!
Where We Stayed:
We stayed at the Hill House, which was fantastic. The web site does not do it justice.
http://www.hillhousebb.com/
We had the Kress room, which was quite large - we were pleasantly surprised given the price. It had a sitting area with little table, a dressing "room" (little alcove with closet) and a huge bathroom. It was really nicely decorated as was the inn (actually I guess it's a B&B).
Terry and Bill are originally from CA, and have been doing this for the past 3 years. Bill does all the landscaping, which is gorgeous and Terry does the decorating, and cooking which was out of this world.
Each AM they have coffee and tea for the early risers set out at 8am, and then the breakfast is at 9am. It is a spread! We were there just 2 mornings, and had a delicious pecan encrusted french toast the first morning, with a bowl of fresh fruit and yogurt or some topping first, and the 2nd morning had a delicious frittata or omelet which had lots of things in it, with melons and berries to start and english muffins. There were also homemade scones both mornings.
There was also a "bottomless" cookie jar (that was big trouble) and toffee bars or some goody out in the afternoon along with tea and coffee.
We really liked our room since it was on the 2nd floor (the inn has 8 rooms) and the last one at the back, so it was very quiet.
There is a great living area/parlor with board games to play, as well as books/magazines. But what we loved the most was the wrap-around porch with lots of tables and chairs to sit out and rest.
Bill and Terry are wonderful hosts, and go out of their way to make sure everyone is comfortable and having a good time. They gave us some great ideas for places to eat. They also have a darling 4-yr old Golden who is a doll. I fell in love with her at first sight!! Very well behaved, and they don't let her roam free but will bring her around if you request to see her.
The inn is in a perfect location - right on Merrimon Ave., 5 minutes drive from town. I'm glad that we didn't decide to stay in town. This was the best of both worlds - quiet and peaceful, and yet so close to everything.
Where We Ate:
Our first day (Sun) we arrived too early to check in, so we drove from Asheville airport to downtown. We parked the first place we could find (parking on the street is tough!) and walked around a bit. Lots of interesting stores, and great artisan work. I had jotted down just names of places people had mentioned to eat, and when I spotted Tupelo Honey, told my husband "this is it". I thought we'd have no problem getting in since it was early, but it is a popular place. Our wait was just over an hour - but well worth it. We both ended up having breakfast, since the airlines no longer feed you, and it was great!! That and a mimosa hit the spot!
That night we were beat (we had been up since 2:30am), so we drove down the street to a little place called "Catarina Trattoria". It was wonderful. They have a cute outside covered patio, which was still warm enough to eat on. I had Bucatini Carbonara which was perfect, and my husband had Lasagne, which he said was also delicious. The portions are extremely large. Although we were stuffed, we couldn't resist the pumpkin gelato (homemade) which was also delicious!
Monday afternoon we were in Biltmore village, so decided to have lunch at Corner Kitchen. We ate on their patio which is very cute. I had an open face meatloaf sandwich which was different, but very good, and my husband had a lavender-infused chicken salad which was also good. The chicken was very tender. Again - enormous portions!! (Could this be the reason I gained 4 - yes 4 - pounds on this trip??)
That night we were again really tired, so we shamefully headed to the same italian trattoria - we figured why not - the food was great, it's close. This time we split a squash and bean ravioli which was perfect - very light. They make all their own pasta. But of course, again we could not resist another taste of that gelato. As our good luck would have it, our waiter turned out to be from Rome, where we will be going in 3 weeks. He gave us all sorts of tips and places to eat, and friends to say hi to if we saw them. Italians are so passionate - I love it. We can't wait for Rome.
Where We Went:
Because time was short, we concentrated on Asheville, but also want to see some of the nearby area, as we were considering for possible retirement.
Sun - Asheville
Very hip, lots to see and do. Much, much bigger and hillier (of course - this IS mountain country - I don't know what I expected) that I thought. It's definitely a place we will come back to as we only scratched the surface. Seems like there is alot going on. Tons of restaurants.
Sun - Black Mountain
Very cute little town. Lots of antique shops. Very "quaint".
Sun - Weaverville
Adorable, but as someone told us "it's VERY small". Really sweet though.
Mon - Hendersonville and Biltmore Village
We traveled first to Hendersonville, which has a really nice downtown. I was really surprised, though, how very busy it was there, and especially outside of the downtown. Tons of cars, and strip malls, etc. They've done a nice job preserving downtown.
We decided to save Biltmore for another visit so that we could do it justice, but wanted to see the Village. It's very cute - smaller than I thought, but lots of little shops. There's a beautiful church there, which we poked our heads into. On the way out, the bells on the front rang and darn near scared me to death.
Tues - Misc:
We didn't have much time, so drove up to Grove Park Inn to check that out, and then to UNC campus.
We also drove around Montford and some of the neighborhoods bordering Grove Park - pretty spectacular houses.
Overall Impressions:
The mountains are absolutely beautiful - layers and layers of blue and purple.
I really loved the architecture also - I love craftsman and bungalow homes of which there are many. Really special architecture all around, including of course, downtown with the Art Deco buildings.
The one thing that struck us the most, though, as it had when we went to Chapel Hill (our first visit to NC) was just how friendly everyone is. It doesn't seem a false friendliness either, like in some places we have visited, but people were genuinely nice. We have alot to learn here in the Northeast where people look down or the other way when you walk by and don't respond when you say Hello.
Great trip overall, but as always TOO short. Thanks again to all who helped with preparations and suggestions.
Where We Stayed:
We stayed at the Hill House, which was fantastic. The web site does not do it justice.
http://www.hillhousebb.com/
We had the Kress room, which was quite large - we were pleasantly surprised given the price. It had a sitting area with little table, a dressing "room" (little alcove with closet) and a huge bathroom. It was really nicely decorated as was the inn (actually I guess it's a B&B).
Terry and Bill are originally from CA, and have been doing this for the past 3 years. Bill does all the landscaping, which is gorgeous and Terry does the decorating, and cooking which was out of this world.
Each AM they have coffee and tea for the early risers set out at 8am, and then the breakfast is at 9am. It is a spread! We were there just 2 mornings, and had a delicious pecan encrusted french toast the first morning, with a bowl of fresh fruit and yogurt or some topping first, and the 2nd morning had a delicious frittata or omelet which had lots of things in it, with melons and berries to start and english muffins. There were also homemade scones both mornings.
There was also a "bottomless" cookie jar (that was big trouble) and toffee bars or some goody out in the afternoon along with tea and coffee.
We really liked our room since it was on the 2nd floor (the inn has 8 rooms) and the last one at the back, so it was very quiet.
There is a great living area/parlor with board games to play, as well as books/magazines. But what we loved the most was the wrap-around porch with lots of tables and chairs to sit out and rest.
Bill and Terry are wonderful hosts, and go out of their way to make sure everyone is comfortable and having a good time. They gave us some great ideas for places to eat. They also have a darling 4-yr old Golden who is a doll. I fell in love with her at first sight!! Very well behaved, and they don't let her roam free but will bring her around if you request to see her.
The inn is in a perfect location - right on Merrimon Ave., 5 minutes drive from town. I'm glad that we didn't decide to stay in town. This was the best of both worlds - quiet and peaceful, and yet so close to everything.
Where We Ate:
Our first day (Sun) we arrived too early to check in, so we drove from Asheville airport to downtown. We parked the first place we could find (parking on the street is tough!) and walked around a bit. Lots of interesting stores, and great artisan work. I had jotted down just names of places people had mentioned to eat, and when I spotted Tupelo Honey, told my husband "this is it". I thought we'd have no problem getting in since it was early, but it is a popular place. Our wait was just over an hour - but well worth it. We both ended up having breakfast, since the airlines no longer feed you, and it was great!! That and a mimosa hit the spot!
That night we were beat (we had been up since 2:30am), so we drove down the street to a little place called "Catarina Trattoria". It was wonderful. They have a cute outside covered patio, which was still warm enough to eat on. I had Bucatini Carbonara which was perfect, and my husband had Lasagne, which he said was also delicious. The portions are extremely large. Although we were stuffed, we couldn't resist the pumpkin gelato (homemade) which was also delicious!
Monday afternoon we were in Biltmore village, so decided to have lunch at Corner Kitchen. We ate on their patio which is very cute. I had an open face meatloaf sandwich which was different, but very good, and my husband had a lavender-infused chicken salad which was also good. The chicken was very tender. Again - enormous portions!! (Could this be the reason I gained 4 - yes 4 - pounds on this trip??)
That night we were again really tired, so we shamefully headed to the same italian trattoria - we figured why not - the food was great, it's close. This time we split a squash and bean ravioli which was perfect - very light. They make all their own pasta. But of course, again we could not resist another taste of that gelato. As our good luck would have it, our waiter turned out to be from Rome, where we will be going in 3 weeks. He gave us all sorts of tips and places to eat, and friends to say hi to if we saw them. Italians are so passionate - I love it. We can't wait for Rome.
Where We Went:
Because time was short, we concentrated on Asheville, but also want to see some of the nearby area, as we were considering for possible retirement.
Sun - Asheville
Very hip, lots to see and do. Much, much bigger and hillier (of course - this IS mountain country - I don't know what I expected) that I thought. It's definitely a place we will come back to as we only scratched the surface. Seems like there is alot going on. Tons of restaurants.
Sun - Black Mountain
Very cute little town. Lots of antique shops. Very "quaint".
Sun - Weaverville
Adorable, but as someone told us "it's VERY small". Really sweet though.
Mon - Hendersonville and Biltmore Village
We traveled first to Hendersonville, which has a really nice downtown. I was really surprised, though, how very busy it was there, and especially outside of the downtown. Tons of cars, and strip malls, etc. They've done a nice job preserving downtown.
We decided to save Biltmore for another visit so that we could do it justice, but wanted to see the Village. It's very cute - smaller than I thought, but lots of little shops. There's a beautiful church there, which we poked our heads into. On the way out, the bells on the front rang and darn near scared me to death.
Tues - Misc:
We didn't have much time, so drove up to Grove Park Inn to check that out, and then to UNC campus.
We also drove around Montford and some of the neighborhoods bordering Grove Park - pretty spectacular houses.
Overall Impressions:
The mountains are absolutely beautiful - layers and layers of blue and purple.
I really loved the architecture also - I love craftsman and bungalow homes of which there are many. Really special architecture all around, including of course, downtown with the Art Deco buildings.
The one thing that struck us the most, though, as it had when we went to Chapel Hill (our first visit to NC) was just how friendly everyone is. It doesn't seem a false friendliness either, like in some places we have visited, but people were genuinely nice. We have alot to learn here in the Northeast where people look down or the other way when you walk by and don't respond when you say Hello.
Great trip overall, but as always TOO short. Thanks again to all who helped with preparations and suggestions.
Oct 4th, 2006, 10:12 AM
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Thank you, wanderer, for complimenting us Carolinians on the friendliness of people here. I lived away from the South for quite a number of years, and it really struck me, when I came back to live, how much I'd missed the genuine warmth of so many people here.
Oct 4th, 2006, 11:01 AM
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Oh, and I forgot - the weather!
Nice cool mornings and evenings (great for sleeping) and sunny, warm (low 80s) days.
How perfect does that get. I could get used to that. Did we just get lucky (we had the same weather in Chapel Hill), or is your weather just glorious?? (Meanwhile it was pouring rain back home!)
Nice cool mornings and evenings (great for sleeping) and sunny, warm (low 80s) days.
How perfect does that get. I could get used to that. Did we just get lucky (we had the same weather in Chapel Hill), or is your weather just glorious?? (Meanwhile it was pouring rain back home!)
Oct 4th, 2006, 01:40 PM
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As they say in Asheville, "If you don't like the weather, wait a minute."
One of the greatest parts of living in this area is the fact that you can play outdoors almost all year long. Sure, we get winter storms from time to time, but they seem to melt off and vanish quickly.
Glad you enjoyed your visit. The friendliness is truly genuine, and can be found all over these mountains. After moving back here several years ago, I went to visit relatives in New Jersey and accidentally kept saying, "Hello" and waving to strangers....it's kind of become a habit here in the mountains.
I had forgotten how startling this sort of thing can be to folks up north....I think I scared several of them half out of their wits.
Come back and visit again soon.
One of the greatest parts of living in this area is the fact that you can play outdoors almost all year long. Sure, we get winter storms from time to time, but they seem to melt off and vanish quickly.
Glad you enjoyed your visit. The friendliness is truly genuine, and can be found all over these mountains. After moving back here several years ago, I went to visit relatives in New Jersey and accidentally kept saying, "Hello" and waving to strangers....it's kind of become a habit here in the mountains.
I had forgotten how startling this sort of thing can be to folks up north....I think I scared several of them half out of their wits.
Come back and visit again soon.
Oct 4th, 2006, 02:02 PM
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stevebarr - that story cracks me up. Most Northerners think if someone says Hi and smiles at us they must want something - how sad.
I remember a long time ago, I traveled for my job, and one day I was struggling with a suitcase on the escalator. I happened to be in NC at the time, and a nice gentleman came up and started helping me. I was so appreciative, and couldn't believe he was doing it. No one in Boston would have bothered. I kept thanking him over and over, and he just said "things are friendlier in NC". I never fogot that.
I remember a long time ago, I traveled for my job, and one day I was struggling with a suitcase on the escalator. I happened to be in NC at the time, and a nice gentleman came up and started helping me. I was so appreciative, and couldn't believe he was doing it. No one in Boston would have bothered. I kept thanking him over and over, and he just said "things are friendlier in NC". I never fogot that.
Oct 5th, 2006, 02:44 AM
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Forgot to mention - as far as shopping -we just poked around mostly, popping into things here and there, but two places we really liked were Malthorpes ?sp) bookstore, and The Screen Door on Fairview - just around the corner from Biltmore Village. Really unique mix of things - garden accessories, books and antiques/collectibles. Huge warehouse type place.
