Western Carolinah is oh so Finah!

Had a long travel day going from the Great Smokies over to Asheville, NC where we met up with sister Holly and her husband Glen for 3 nites. The trip over went thru the most beautiful countryside of western NC on very, and I mean very, narrow country lanes...so narrow in fact, thought I was going to take out a dozen or so mailboxes with the LD! It was all in all a very pretty ride but a bit stressful at times and pushing 8 hours which is an extremely long road day for us. We try to keep it to 2-4 hours max.

We settled in at the Bear Creek RV Resort with Holly and Glen, a nice place just a few miles west of downtown Asheville, would recommend it if you ever get to these here parts.

Found Ashville to be a very cool town with a high slant towards tourism. So you see all the touristy trappies that you can imagine but it also has an underlying artsy/folksy scene which is pretty well done, even appealed to this old fart who usually scoffs at these types of places. They have converted their old (like Civil War era old) industrial buildings along the French Broad River into art and music studios, restaurants, bars, Appalachian crafts shops, etc. It is very well done and we strolled around for an afternoon taking it all in. Took a break and had lunch, I ordered the Hogzilla sando, yeh buddy! Sausage, pulled pork, brisket, hog back bacon doused in Carolina BBQ sauce on a fresh roll with a side of slaw and a lemonade...good stuff.

Now here in AVL the big, big tourist draw is this rich guys house called the Biltmore. It was built in the 1890's by George Vanderbilt on 8000 acres and yes, when we visited, the lawn mowers were going big time! George made his bucks as a railroad magnate and from the looks of things it appears he did OK. 

So the four of us ramble up in the filthy, road hardened Honda Fit and ask the entry guard gate...'hey, mind if we snoop around a bit?'. To which he responds, sure but you gotta buy a ticket first. OK, we head over to the ticket office...$70 per person! Per person, not a car load! So I'm sure for some folks this would be a good deal as the house, I hear, is absolutely stunning with priceless works of art, furnishings and immaculate gardens but spending $70 to see a rich dudes house is kinda weird to me. Besides it involved lots of walking which Debbie's new knee isn't really up for so we said thanks, maybe next time.

Asheville was a needed 3 day stop for us. We were able to clean things up a bit, got laundry done, grocery shopped and got caught up on our Covid shots so if Canada opens up we will be able to visit Deb's paternal ancestral roots in Quebec. At this time it's not looking good but we remain hopeful.

Our next destination is my alma later Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA to visit for the first time since I graduated in 1980, wowser, 40 years ago, man how the time flies! But first a slight detour to Boone, NC for the nite and a little sightseeing.

Boone is located near the Blue Ridge Parkway which follows the nearly 500 mile long mountain ridgeline north to south from Cherokee, NC to Front Royal, VA. A spectacular drive if you get the chance. I had to check out the Linn Cove Viaduct which is a beautiful bridge structure hugging the side of Grandfather Mountain spanning about 1400 feet. Since pedestrians aren't allowed on the bridgedeck I rode my bicycle along it to give it all a proper look see.

All in all a very pleasant town and provided a great stopover for us...on to Blacksburg...

Peace out

Deb and Howard