what should I do while I'm in Asheville?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

So I’m going to visit my brother in Asheville, NC for about a week. I’ve got two kid and a wife with me (kids are 17 and 12). We’re already going white water rafting, since my brother is a guide for a living, but I’m curious what else there is to do?

(Please don’t mention Biltmore…I’m looking for something that isn’t the first thing mentioned on every tourist website. I’m sure it’s fantastic, but it’s crazy expensive for a family of four).

Really more interested in low key day trips—historic sites or other things to see in the area that won’t break the budget in one day. It’s not really a “vacation”, just a visit with family for a few days, but just looking for somewhere to go if we get bored on our visit.

2

Joey’s Pancake House in Maggie Valley. Get there early, there’s usually a line and they only serve breakfast (closed by noon).

3

Hmmm… guess the kids won’t be too much into poetry slams, new age temples or microbrewerys, unless the 17-yr old is becoming a hipster.

You can take them to the the WNC Nature Center if they’re into animals.

There’s also a pinball museum.
Pack Square Park is an ongoing festival thing.

For go-karts, climbing, arcade games and such, the Fun Depot.

4

If you have a car and don’t mind driving a bit, there are u-pick apple orchards up in the mountains between Asheville and SC. Very nice for a picnic and some cheap outdoor fun. If you go to Sky Top they have apple cider doughnuts that are freaking unreal when they’re fresh and hot.

5

We drove out to Gem Mountain (90 minutes-ish) for a day of panning buckets of rocks for gemstones. Pounds and pounds of garnets, rubies, tourmaline, among others. You can stay sheltered and pan through mine tailings on site, or they do short day trips direct to some of the mines.

6

I had to recover my password just to chime in here :smiley: My wife and I are frequent visitors to Asheville.

I’m sure your brother will have you covered for food and restaurants, but a couple of recommendations just in case. I recommend Early Girl Eatery for breakfast. They have something for everybody, but I always go with the early girl benny. For dinner, you can’t go wrong with Tupelo Honey, but you’ll have to get there early to get a seat. We always pay a visit to Mayfel’s and really enjoy the food. Frankly there are so many excellent restaurants around Asheville it’s almost impossible to go wrong.

In terms of entertainment, Chimney Rock is a good outing not too far outside of town. You’ll have to do some hiking to get to the top but you get a beautiful view in exchange, and I believe it’s free.

We always spend a day walking around the arts district, and really one day isn’t enough. Also check out Malaprops book store if you or the kids like books.

The Omni Grove Park Inn is also an impressive place to check out on the cheap.

7

Someone told me recently that the best barbeque they ever tasted was a place in Asheville, obviously it wasn’t a chain, but I don’t think they told me the name of the place either. Anyone have an idea?

8

Chimney Rock has an elevator, carved through the rock, from the parking lot to the level just below the Chimney. A couple dozen steps and you’re on top. I took my dog up there and got some great pix, “Burpo Conquers Chimney Rock.” No, you can’t take dogs on the elevator, had to hike up the side of the mountain for that.

“Last of the Mohicans (1992),” was filmed there; you can hike around to the waterfall.

9

Many years ago when my kids were little I thought it would make sense to take the elevator up and walk down. Turns out lactic acid builds up in your knees going down stairs… it was killing me by the end. Next time I may hike up and ride down.

Who am I kidding… at this age I’ll probably ride both ways… but I do recommend it.

10

NEWS FLASH

The elevator at Chimney Rock was closed in August 2015 due to power issues, but they’re hoping to get it working soon.

FWIW, new stairs were put in back in 2008-ish, so you don’t have to crawl over the rocky trails that go to the top level. Doesn’t help those “lactic acid knees,” though, sorry to say (at least now I have the proper term to use for when my knees give up the ghost).

11

Drive the section of the Blue Ridge Parkway from south of Asheville to Cherokee NC them turn north to see the Smokies. Come back east on I-40. Some amazing views and drop-offs, especially in early morning.

12

Don’t ask about a tapas restaurant… Thanks to regional accents, I got a stern lecture about not frequenting places where women were topless.

13

snicker

14

Drive to the top of Mount Mitchell, highest peak east of the Mississippi.

15

The 360 degree view from the top of Craggy Pinnacle is an easy access and very short walk from the Blue Ridge Parkway just north of Asheville. My parents loved this view so much they had their ashes scattered there.

A much less well known but equally compelling view can be found from the top of Blue Ridge Pinnacle. This walk is a bit more challenging (though my 55 year old sister made the mile hike just a few months after major back surgery), but the reward is worth it AND you get to walk through some almost surreal enchanted forestry to get there. Start from a Parkway pullover on the right (heading north) just past the Mt Mitchell exit. Watch for elves.

16

12 Bones Restaurant is famous for their BBQ and has received repeat business from the Obamas.

17

1 hour from Asheville is Graveyard Fields. The best time to visit it is in late August, when it’s dripping with wild blueberries; but even now it’s a gorgeous place to hike. Go to the lower falls for some great views, and if you walk along the tiny river’s bank, you’ll come to a couple of great swimming holes. Go further for fewer people

The Nature Center is a small zoo of local animals, but they’re kept under very good conditions, and all the animals are rescues. We go there all the time. Definitely worth a visit if you like that sort of thing.

Linville Caverns are about an hour away, and they’re about fifteen minutes from Linville Gorge, with its own waterfalls.

You can go to Zen Tubing to rent inner tubes. Float down the river and end up at The Bywater, a bar with a huge lawn next to the river. Check on memberships first–NC has weird liquor laws that require you to get a membership at bars that don’t serve food.

Want something artsy and slightly goth and slightly retro? Crow and Quill is a cool but hard-to-find bar on Broadway.

There are a ton of excellent restaurants and brewpubs in this town. What kind of food would you like?

The NC Arboretum isn’t too far away–maybe 15 minutes from downtown–and is a great botanical garden with lots of hiking trails, a bonsai exhibit, etc. On your way back you can stop at Papas and Beer, a pretty good-to-great Mexicali joint.

Asheville Treetops Adventures and Navitat both offer up-in-the-trees ropes courses. I’ve been to the former (with 40 third graders), and it was a lot of fun, and I’ve heard good things about the latter.

Malaprop’s is a pretty cozy little independent bookstore downtown, has won awards for its quality.

Just walking around downtown can be fun. There are always buskers looking for your tourist dollars; flip them some!

18

You can also park at the ranger station at the bottom and hike up. I wouldn’t try this unless you are in pretty good shape.

Be prepared though especially if you go on a day that happens to be record high temps. You will get to the top, out of breath, and your shirt soaked in sweat. Then all of the people who walked the 20 yards from the parking lot will look at you funny. I really wished I had a sign that said… “No, I hiked up here.”

19

Oh! A tourist thing I’ve never done, but know people who’ve enjoyed, is the LaZoom Comedy Bus. They’re pretty Vaudevilleish from what I hear, so if you need your humor to be subtle and refined, they’re not gonna be your bag. But if you can go for tacky and cornball, it could be fun.

My wife recommends the Asheville Art Museum: “a small but good collection of 20th Century American Art.”

The French Broad Chocolate Lounge has really, really good chocolate in a lot of varieties, from truffles to “liquid chocolate” (think a cross between hot chocolate and just a melted chocolate bar). And there’s a place downtown called Old Europe that has killer pastries in some sort of Central European style–Hungarian? Lots of marzipan, lots of creamy custards.

20

'Sides, you don’t need to ask–that’s what you’ve got me for!

Keep in mind it’s been a few years since I’ve been to Zambra’s, but it’s one of the restaurants owned by Mad Genius Hector, a guy responsible for other delicious places in town like Salsa’s and Chorizo’s. Zambra’s specialized (as of a few years ago) in very creative and delicious tapas, such as mussels in a lavender-scented broth, which worked surprisingly well.

The other tapas joint in town is Curate, but the one time I tried to go there was the one time I found out that you pretty much need to have a reservation to get in. I’ve heard they’re good.

A couple other interesting restaurants:
-Lexington Avenue Brewery, or LAB, has some pretty good brews and good food.
-I’d avoid the Wicked Weed, to be honest; of the breweries in town, they’re the most self-consciously hip, and for my money they emphasize being cool over making beer that’s actually tasty.
-Chai Pani makes Indian “street food”–lighter than the typical Indian-American food.
-Jack of the Wood is another great brewpub. Their prices went up recently, so that a burger is like $12, but good stuff.
-Upstairs from them is a world-famous vegetarian restaurant, The Laughing Seed. If that’s your scene, check them out–they’re very good.

And one more recommendation: if you have any interest in taking in a play, everything I’ve seen at NC Stage Company has been top-notch. It’s a small theater, maybe 100 seats, but they really emphasize professional-quality productions, whereas most other theater groups in town are more community-theater oriented.