Wednesday 24th May - Exploring Asheville

The weather predictions were for tornados and rain of biblical proportions. Although we had some very heavy showers it wasn’t too bad really and the tornados must have got stuck in the Blue Ridge Mountains for we never saw any. Today was spent exploring Ashville. It’s a really gorgeous town, very arts and crafts and art deco buildings with 1920’s style clapperboard houses. We purchased tickets for the hop on hop off trolley bus tour of the town and learnt so much about the history of it as well as sightseeing around the various districts. It wasn’t expensive, only $52 for the two of us. When the guide found out we were from London (everyone has heard of London so we always say that, no-one has heard of Wilstone) he asked us to say aluminium which he pronounced aloominon. We have found that the Americans find our accent very attractive and like to hear us speak. We decided to give the Biltmore Estate a miss partly due to the weather and partly due to it being very expensive £95 each! It would be just like looking around a National Trust stately home but much pricier. Asheville has a number of interesting shops including a Christmas Shop which I couldn’t resist visiting and where I bought some gifts for the family and a very old general store called Mast. It was like stepping back in time. There were wooden counters, wooden floors and vintage windows and displays. There are several more branches, all very original and old. The oldest dates back to the mid-19th Century. The town of Asheville was created in late 19th and early 20th Century by the grandson of a far sighted wealthy industrialist who made his money in shipping and railways - Mr Vanderbilt. He started the Staten Island Ferry and took over lots of shipping and railway lines. The grandson inherited his grandfather’s wealth bought a lot of land in Asheville and started building – to very strict guidelines. Anyone else who built had to adhere to these guidelines too, hence creating the typical buildings of the town. Biltmore village on the edge of the Biltmore Estate – where Mr Vandebilt lived was built by him for his workers and has one of the grandest McDonalds you will ever see. All the buildings are of a style and very beautiful.

Most of the residential streets are lined with big mature trees giving them an old world peaceful atmosphere. Once again we logged onto the late hotel bookings websites and I spotted a fabulous looking B&B hotel – The Princess Anne Hotel. It turned out to be a real gem – our best place so far and the measure for all future B&B’s to reach. Everyday between 16:30-18:00 complimentary hors d’oeuvres - wine and cheese, is served in the lounge and the price includes a full breakfast. Our room has a separate lounge, bedroom, bathroom with walk-in shower, kitchenette with a hob, fridge, sink, wall and base units and we got it for a third of the price! Very lucky! The hors d’oeuvres time is an opportunity to socialise with the other guests and we chatted to a couple in their 40’s who had driven 18hours to get to the Blue Mountains from Maine and were cycling around – 30-40miles per day! They are obviously serious cyclists and recanted when they had cycled up the Alps. Another couple also from Maine were snowbirds – people who go south for the Winter, they were on their way back home having spent 6 months in Florida.

If you get the chance do make time to visit Asheville, it is well worth it.Read more