Advertisement
Published: March 26th 2007
Edit Blog Post
Asheville, North Carolina
The Mountaineer Inn - best neon sign seen on trip so far! We were surprised to read that the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was the most visited national park in the country. Seems the term “mountains” is relative. What people east of the Mississippi call “mountains,” we in the west consider mere hills or bumps in the landscape. The highest point in the eastern U.S. is Mount Mitchell (6,684 ft) in North Carolina. Ok, so at one time, it was part of a real mountain range but that was so billions of years ago. We’ve been scoffing at what are called mountains, what with our native states being California (me) and Washington (Cathy). Not to mention that C’s father is a world-famous mountain climber who is climbing a mountain in Chile as I write this.
Asheville, North Carolina gets my vote for most interesting community visited on this trip so far. Set amid the Great Smoky Mountains, Asheville has a downtown with an excellent collection of mostly early twentieth century buildings of varying styles. It’s a really walkable city with a pretty vibrant business district. There are some amazing historic residential districts as well. It’s a college town with a good vibe to it and is known for its arts
Asheville, North Carolina
The Mountaineer Inn - classic motor court from 1939 and culture. We drive up to the Arts and Crafts style Grove Park Inn which was built in 1913 in the manner of the grand old railway hotels of the West. Unfortunately, it has a bad 1970s or early 1980s addition which really overwhelms the original building unless you’re looking at it from certain angles. There’s a great big stone fireplace in the lobby—a required feature of any old lodge. Asheville is perhaps most famous for the Biltmore, the country’s largest private residence which is open for tours. The property really requires at least half a day for touring the gardens and mansion. We didn’t have the time nor did we want to spend the outrageous $38 entry fee (and that didn’t even include the tour, just access to the grounds).
Hillbilly Retro We had much more fun poking around town. The highlight was taking photos of the Mountaineer Inn’s super cool neon sign of a barefooted hillbilly with a shotgun and backward letters. The motel was built in 1939 with some later additions. It is so retro without trying to be. Paneled walls, floral bedspreads, and “modern” conveniences. Owned by the same person since the mid-1960s, we poked
Asheville, North Carolina
MINI Me with the neon hillbilly. our heads into the office to ask about the motel. A cute old man greets us and asks if we need a room. Unfortunately, we’re heading out of town so we don’t need one. He told us a brief history and I could tell he was really proud of the place. He gave us a brochure that looks like it hasn’t changed since the late 1960s or early 1970s. A couple quotes (I kid you not):
“Here is one of the rooms in the original part of the Inn…all of them have just been redecorated featuring cedar paneling. They are rustic and roomy and all are air conditioned.” I love this description because of the cedar paneling being featured so proudly—how very Brady.
“The bridal suite is roomy and spacious. This beautiful room will make that joyous occasion an even more memorable event.” No comment—it speaks for itself.
Good eats are to be had in Asheville—there are lots of restaurants from which to choose. Tried fried green tomatoes for the first time at Early Girl Eatery, a casual granola-y sorta place. Filo is a fabulous bakery in an old stone American Legion Hall—delish pastries, cake, and coffee
and free wi-fi.
We leave Asheville and continue east to Greensboro and High Point, NC to visit a friend. We stay in Benjamin’s lovingly restored home (first built in 1842 by his great-great-great grandfather with later additions in the mid-1800s). He has done a massive amount of work on the house to make it livable after years of vacancy. It sits on just under fifty acres and is surrounded by subdivisions. Am sure developers’ mouths are watering. His house is a model for sensitive rehab—he has kept as much historic fabric as possible while bringing it into the twenty-first century. However, he still calls it “Le Shaque.” Cathy visited Benjamin over ten years ago and saw the place when it was about to fall apart so it was shocking to her to see the transformation. What amazed me what that it’s still in the family and how much local history is tied to the place. Benj is a great steward of the property and his family’s history. He is also a walking encyclopedia of North Carolina history and architecture.
Next day, we drive down to Charleston, South Carolina. The late start meant less time in Charleston. It’s a
Asheville, North Carolina
Mountaineer Inn brochure - so retro! beautiful city and a historic preservationist’s dream but we just have dinner there. Figured it’s worth a separate visit on its own some time. SC has the palmetto on its license plate (which makes sense) but also an outline of “mountains.” The state claims mountains that are actually in North Carolina but it’s their view I guess. How bizarre. We get into Savannah around 9:30 at night.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.14s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 15; qc: 62; dbt: 0.0799s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Debbi Custer
non-member comment
What a hoot!
Great blog, terrific pix. I am so jealous of your big adventure. I am also amazed that the NW seems to be the Mini capital---who knew?