A Day in Asheville, NC
If there is one city that has been recommended to us time and time again, it's Asheville, NC. We weren't sure if we'd hit it during this first year of RV travels, but the flexibility of this lifestyle pays off. Asheville ended up being a good half-way point between our Mountain View Campground stay and our RV dealer, and so we booked a nearby campground for a couple of nights, and on a Saturday, took a daytrip into Asheville.
We have one go-to activity when we're spending limited time in a city, and that's a hop-on/hop-off tour. It's a great way to hit all the main areas without needing to worry about navigating the roads, parking, or public transit. We also get to learn about the city while we're roaming from stop to stop. We're not big fans of guided tours, but the hop-on/hop-off style is a perfect blend of expert- and self-guided. We're able to choose what sights are most appealing, and the rest of the time ride around listening to the narrative of our surroundings. This time, we were going into the city with next to no knowledge. We knew it has a lot of art, it's home to the Biltmore Estate...and that's about it! And so it was time to learn.
We picked up the trolley at the Montford Visitor's Center, arriving early so we could visit the gift shop and read some brochures before embarking on our tour. Immediately, our minds were abuzz with facts about Asheville's history, famous residents, and growth into the mecca it is today. Our guide was extremely informative, painting a real picture of the city and not just talking about superficial touristy stuff. We learned about Asheville's struggle in the Great Depression, and how its historic architecture helped to revitalize the area. We learned that it's a hub for forestry regulation. We listened to stories about Asheville's role in treating patients with Tuberculosis and other respiratory illnesses, as well as mental illness. We got to ride through the bustling streets surrounded by galleries, shops, restaurants, and artisan markets - something that was not always the norm for Asheville. In the 1970s when artists began to flock to the region, they contributed their work and helped to grow the city into what it is today. However, with that growth came expenses, and soon most of the artists credited for revitalizing Asheville could no longer live there due to the high cost of living. Even today, Asheville's residents are a much smaller percentage than visitors. Tourism is a main source of income for the city, and it was easy to see why as we traveled through the city streets in our trolley.
Saturday was a good choice because we got to walk through the City Market, held only once a month on Saturdays. By far the best farmer's market we've been to since hitting the road, which is a testament to the artistic nature of the town, whether it's shown through visual art, handmade goods, or food. We bought so much at the market that we had to walk back to our truck to drop everything off! Luckily the city is also walkable, if you don't mind the occasional hilly sidewalk. It is a mountain town, after all.
We didn't stay late enough to witness the nightlife of the city, but we did stop for a couple snacks as we toured downtown. Our first stop was the Gourmet Chip Company, a place where sandwiches are the side and chips are the main dish! You can choose your potato chip and toppings, and they're served to you freshly fried. Think loaded potatoes, except the potatoes are in chip form. We ordered the Parisian, which is regular potato chips topped with cheese, herbs, and truffle oil, as well as the Cajun, which is sweet potato chips topped with a Cajun spice blend and a spicy aioli drizzle.
Deciding that chips were our lunch, we then sought out dessert. We ended up getting a taste of New Orleans in Asheville at Bebettes Coffeehouse. Words can't adequately describe the happiness Anthony feels when he's stuffing beignets into his mouth and getting powdered sugar everywhere, so it's a good thing I took a video!
We spent the rest of the day looking like we were snowed on, but it was worth it for our tasty beignets. We hopped back on the trolley, which took us down to the Riverfront where we walked along the water and popped into a couple of the art galleries.
Though this was just scratching the surface of Asheville, we feel we have a good understanding of its vibe and why so many people encouraged us to go check it out. We enjoy our touristy days, and the trolley tour made us feel nostalgic of our vacations of years' past, when no one was worried about catching viruses, and everyone would just pile into their tour buses and see the main attractions of a place. It felt nice to have a semblance of that again. That being said, we know there are local gems in Asheville that we weren't privy to during our daytrip. We're looking forward to our next visit to the area, where we can start diving deeper into what the city has to offer.