Asheville, North Carolina
November 29–
December 2, 2021
November 29–
December 2, 2021
I’ve been wanting to visit Asheville literally for years. People talk about it as if it’s some magical wonderland. When I first arrived, I didn’t understand the fuss. I had landed in a dreary RV park on an unfortunately grungy stretch of the banks of the French Broad River, just behind the noisy freeway, and nothing felt magical. The neighborhood nearby was industrial but not in that interesting, reclaimed artist space way. Honestly, I felt a little depressed.
The next day, I visited the Black Mountain College Museum + Art Center, which was featuring a show of work by or inspired by John Cage. I later took the dogs on a stroll on the French Broad River Greenway through Carrier Park, and then that evening I drove to the North Carolina Arboretum to see the Winter Lights show. It was fantastic, and there’s nothing quite like wandering solo around an arboretum designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, with a beer purchased from what was pitched as a cocoa stand, marveling at the lights and music while ecstatic children whizz by in all directions.
On our final full day in Asheville, the dogs and I hiked the Rattlesnake Lodge section of the Mountains to Sea Trail just off the Blue Ridge Parkway. One spectacular view, the ruins of the old Rattlesnake Lodge (an early 20th-century rich dude’s summer home, apparently with a living room ceiling entirely papered in actual rattlesnake skins—WTF, rich people), and thick stands of mountain laurel and rhododendron all around the trail were the high points. That night, I had a delicious dinner and cocktails at Buxton Hall BBQ and started feeling like Asheville just might be magic, after all.
When I drove away toward Tennessee on Thursday, I knew I’d only scratched the surface and that I intend to come back many more times in the future.
The next day, I visited the Black Mountain College Museum + Art Center, which was featuring a show of work by or inspired by John Cage. I later took the dogs on a stroll on the French Broad River Greenway through Carrier Park, and then that evening I drove to the North Carolina Arboretum to see the Winter Lights show. It was fantastic, and there’s nothing quite like wandering solo around an arboretum designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, with a beer purchased from what was pitched as a cocoa stand, marveling at the lights and music while ecstatic children whizz by in all directions.
On our final full day in Asheville, the dogs and I hiked the Rattlesnake Lodge section of the Mountains to Sea Trail just off the Blue Ridge Parkway. One spectacular view, the ruins of the old Rattlesnake Lodge (an early 20th-century rich dude’s summer home, apparently with a living room ceiling entirely papered in actual rattlesnake skins—WTF, rich people), and thick stands of mountain laurel and rhododendron all around the trail were the high points. That night, I had a delicious dinner and cocktails at Buxton Hall BBQ and started feeling like Asheville just might be magic, after all.
When I drove away toward Tennessee on Thursday, I knew I’d only scratched the surface and that I intend to come back many more times in the future.
