Experiencing your place
One of the benefits of being a part-time resident again in Asheville is the inspiration to appreciate its special places -- be a tourist in your home-town!
We had a nice walk around Antler Hill Village in Biltmore Estate late this afternoon (sans Woody- he was tired from yesterday's walk, apparently, so didn't want to go), so we could visit a newly installed exhibit about the Vanderbilts at Home. It was very well done and evoked the family legacy; regardless of what you think about the Gilded Age or the current flow of folks into Biltmore, I think the family has done a good job maintaining the estate. It can't be easy. It's a great place to visit as a pass-holder year-round.
I love this winter view towards Mt. Pisgah from the terrace of Biltmore House.
I need to get over to see the tulips in the walled garden soon! This post from 3 years ago reminded me of that.
It's also reminding me as we start our second month back home in spring, that visiting places that tourists appreciate as well as special places that only locals know (walking around Beaver Lake or looping up on a walk to the Grove Park Inn), is why we love being in Asheville, too, even as we get ready to return to Quebec for the summer.
I'll be walking downtown tomorrow to The Block, for a writer's get-together, in what's (in the distant past) a historically black neighborhood downtown. It's a privilege to be able to walk downtown and experience walking through the center of it on my way to Eagle St.
I often walk downtown now to the YMCA in the mornings, but my gardening companion and I have walked downtown for years now-- we bought our house here with the screen of being within walking distance.
Downtown Asheville is a changing place; it's a vibrant place full of restaurants, shops, etc., but with an increasing influx of tourists, which are the lifeblood of Asheville, after all, it also may overwhelm the resources here.
We had a nice walk around Antler Hill Village in Biltmore Estate late this afternoon (sans Woody- he was tired from yesterday's walk, apparently, so didn't want to go), so we could visit a newly installed exhibit about the Vanderbilts at Home. It was very well done and evoked the family legacy; regardless of what you think about the Gilded Age or the current flow of folks into Biltmore, I think the family has done a good job maintaining the estate. It can't be easy. It's a great place to visit as a pass-holder year-round.
I love this winter view towards Mt. Pisgah from the terrace of Biltmore House.
I need to get over to see the tulips in the walled garden soon! This post from 3 years ago reminded me of that.
It's also reminding me as we start our second month back home in spring, that visiting places that tourists appreciate as well as special places that only locals know (walking around Beaver Lake or looping up on a walk to the Grove Park Inn), is why we love being in Asheville, too, even as we get ready to return to Quebec for the summer.
I'll be walking downtown tomorrow to The Block, for a writer's get-together, in what's (in the distant past) a historically black neighborhood downtown. It's a privilege to be able to walk downtown and experience walking through the center of it on my way to Eagle St.
I often walk downtown now to the YMCA in the mornings, but my gardening companion and I have walked downtown for years now-- we bought our house here with the screen of being within walking distance.
Downtown Asheville is a changing place; it's a vibrant place full of restaurants, shops, etc., but with an increasing influx of tourists, which are the lifeblood of Asheville, after all, it also may overwhelm the resources here.
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