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In the early 20th century,
writer and naturalist Horace Kephart turned up zip in his
research on the Southern Appalachians. “Had I wanted
information on Timbuctu, I would have had it aplenty. But
about this rooftop of Eastern America, the libraries were
strangely silent.” Not so today. National bestsellers
like Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain and Robert Morgan’s
Gap Creek are evidence that, suddenly, the Appalachians are
cool. Actually, they always have been.
When Kephart finally entered this
rippled realm, he discovered that “people at these heights
sleep under blankets even in mid-summer.” That climate
drew the first tourists in the late 1800s. Summers are gentle
(80 is record heat at the loftiest elevations), spring sparkles
(Aaron Copland had ample inspiration for Appalachian
Spring), and autumn glows neon.
The seasons, and activities that
go with them, are the main draw, but these mist-filled valleys
and evergreen summits also beckon because they occupy an eddy
in time: Hidden away in the hollows, the music of the settlers
and the lilt of local speech have survived. So has a handicraft
heritage. Three perfect days in Asheville will bring you up-to-date
with a place that’s still in touch with the past.
DAY ONE
/ For lodging, follow the example set by poet Sydney Lanier,
among Asheville’s first tourists. He camped right on
Richmond Hill, but you’ll stay at the 
Richmond Hill Inn. Book the Garden Pavilion suite, named for
the oasis below its private porch, and awake to the sound
of a waterfall.
Head downtown for breakfast.
Amble east from the Wall Street parking garage to  Early
Girl Eatery, named for a type of cool-climate tomato. The
fare reflects the city’s support for local growers.
The fried green tomato sandwich with bacon is a standout.
A nip in the air? Try the vegetarian version of biscuits and
gravy seasoned with fresh organic herbs. Grab the “Urban
Trail” brochure as you exit for a downtown walking tour.
Second only to Miami Beach as the South’s biggest concentration
of art deco buildings, Asheville owes its cityscape to a 50-year
struggle to erase Depression-era debt.
Head back toward the car
park (check out Paul Taylor Custom Sandals en route), and
turn right up the steps to Battery Park Avenue. Take the Urban
Trail’s crosswalk to trail stop 10—the  Grove
Arcade neo-Gothic public market, an architect’s vision
in etched glass. With a fortune made hawking Grove’s
Tasteless Chill Tonic, Dr. E.W. Grove commissioned the arcade
in the late 1920s. The newly restored, resplendent structure
re-opens this fall after 50 years as a federal data storage
site. Peruse the arcade’s hand-carved gargoyles and
griffins; then venture inside a landmark returned to what
it was meant to be.
Two Urban Trail stops later,
the  Saint
Lawrence Basilica illustrates how downtown got its distinctive
start: In the 1890s, artisans worldwide were lured here by
the building of the Vanderbilt family’s Biltmore Estate,
still the United States’ largest private home. Spanish-born
architect Rafael Guastavino settled here and built a Catholic
church with North America’s largest freestanding elliptical
dome. Survey the elaborately interlocking tiles.
On the way down Haywood,
cross over to check out 
Ariel, an art gallery owned by a cooperative of mountain artists
who take turns running the shop. Nearby is Malaprop’s,
named by Publishers’
Weekly the nation’s bookseller
of the year in 2000. Veer left on funky Lexington Avenue for
lunch at  Heiwa
Shokudo, a hip sushi restaurant with a granola approach to
inspired dishes.
The Urban Trail’s
markers change by district: The angels represent the neighborhood
of Look Homeward, Angel
author Thomas Wolfe. One of the book’s settings—his
mother’s real-life boardinghouse—is currently
closed while fire damage is repaired, but the
Thomas Wolfe Memorial Visitor Center wonderfully interprets
the man who for a while actually couldn’t
go home again after parodying his hometown’s provinciality.
Continuing, admire City Hall, a deco icon by Douglas Ellington,
and the Jackson Building’s gargoyles.
Go south for a few blocks
(from trail stop 30) on Biltmore Avenue and take in the diverse
arts and crafts at the 
Blue Spiral 1 Gallery and, farther down, American Folk Art.
Cross the street to Laurey’s Catering and Gourmet-to-go
and select a picnic; it’ll be delivered to the Richmond
Hill Inn for tomorrow’s drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Then peek into Mast General Store, one of a chain of historic
mercantile shops, just up the street.
You’re approaching
Pack Square, the city’s heart. The Asheville Art Museum,
pride of the Pack Place cultural center, is worth a look.
(A painting by Zelda Fitzgerald hangs there.) Grab a seat
outside at  Salsa’s
for Mexican-Caribbean cuisine prepared by Puerto Rican transplant
Hector Diaz. The chips and salsa sampler will give you a taste
of why he’s achieved national acclaim. Pair that with
a local Highland Brewing Co. Gaelic Ale.
The 
Kress Emporium on the opposite corner is a crafts bonanza.
Pause at the corner of College and Haywood to marvel at another
of Ellington’s deco masterpieces, the 1929 S&W Cafeteria
building. Turn left on Battery Park Avenue and head back to
your car. It’s late afternoon; Richmond Hill and relaxation
beckon.
When you’ve had a
breather, drive to Rezaz, the newest Mediterranean dining
hotspot. Arrive an hour before dinner to explore the streets
of Historic Biltmore Village, once a neighborhood for Biltmore
Estate employees but now an exclusive collection of shops.
Don’t miss 
New Morning Gallery and its rich array of high-quality mountain
crafts. At 
Rezaz, start with the “Reza Mezze,” assorted dips,
marinated olives, and feta with warm pita. You’re in
for a treat.
After dinner, drive to the
Wall Street parking deck again and stroll into 
Jack of the Wood, a British Isles–style pub with an
Appalachian twist. Have a Green Man Ale and enjoy house pickers
Sons of Ralph or whatever Celtic or mountain musicians are
on tap.
DAY TWO
/ Asheville calls itself The Land of the Sky, and there’s
no better way to see why than to head for the Blue Ridge Parkway—“America’s
most scenic highway” and most-visited national park.
After breakfast at the Richmond Hill Inn, start early and
plan on easy strolls to eye-popping views, or just hit the
road and save time for a challenging hike on Grandfather Mountain.
With the picnic
lunch from Laurey’s, drive north, pausing at the parkway’s
impressive
Folk Art Center craft gallery, home to Allanstand, the nation’s
first craft shop. Higher up the parkway, the sunny warmth
of Asheville yields to shade and a chill breeze. Summits and
clouds coalesce. You’re bound for the East’s highest
mountains. At the small 
Craggy Gardens Visitor Center, take the nature trail through
a rhododendron tunnel to emerge amid the waving grasses and
all-encompassing views of a mountaintop meadow.
If the Great
Craggy Mountains remind you of Scotland, the towering evergreen
forests near 
Mount Mitchell will evoke the Pacific Northwest. At milepost
355, turn left to the summit and stroll to the East’s
highest view tower at 6,684 feet. More snow falls here annually
than on Buffalo, New York.
An hour north,
the rocky prow of Grandfather Mountain bulks above you. The
Linn Cove Viaduct, a world-renowned span that arcs across
the cliff-slashed mountainside, was opened in 1987 to complete
the parkway. The Tanawha Trail takes hikers under the bridge.
Three overlooks north, walk to an inspiring view at  Rough
Ridge. The greatest drop of the Blue Ridge plunges almost
a vertical mile from Grandfather’s peaks to the foothills
below. Go left at the U.S. 221 exit (milepost 298.6), and
then turn right for a dirt-road meander through pastoral national
parklands. Where the Tanawha Trail crosses the road (1 mile
from the parkway), stroll in either direction and picnic in
a meadow with a stunning view.
Motor on through
colorful woods, and then go right at the next stop sign to
N.C. 105 and the heart of the High Country. Turn left on 105
to 
Antonaccio Fine Art. Florence-trained Italian painter Egidio
Antonaccio startlingly captures the grandeur of the local
mountains.
Stay south on 105 and go left
in Linville on U.S. 221 to 
Grandfather Mountain, a natural area with a global reputation.
Drive to the dramatic first peak, but pause along the way
at environmental habitats for deer, bears, eagles, otters,
and cougars and at one of North Carolina’s best nature
museums. Drive to the summit and cross the Mile-High Swinging
Bridge—immortalized in millions of tourist photos. More
ambitious? Hike over MacRae Peak, where ladders climb cliffs,
and you’ll understand why early botanist/explorer André
Michaux ended his own hike in 1794 certain that this was “the
highest peak in all North America.”
Back in Linville, it’s only
90 minutes to Asheville via U.S. 221 and I-40. At Richmond
Hill, hit the Jacuzzi, and then follow the tumbling stream
to the main inn for dinner at one of the city’s brightest
culinary gems—
Gabrielle’s. Indulge in Gabrielle’s Grande, a
five-course menu of fresh local ingredients and inspiring
flavors.
DAY THREE
/ Rise early, and when you head out take along a change of
clothes for dinner. From your now-favorite parking garage
on Wall Street, walk to breakfast at
Tupelo Honey. The wait staff is Asheville personified; the
food is Southern-special. Try the shrimp and grits, and then
head to  Biltmore
Estate. You can’t miss George Vanderbilt’s “summer
cottage.”
Wind your way to the main house,
a 250-room, 16th century–style chateau. Take the house
tour—three floors showcase priceless works of art. You’ll
recognize the settings of many movies, including Peter Sellers’
last film, Being There. Wander
the adjoining garden before a winery lunch at  The
Bistro. Try the pecan-encrusted, estate-raised trout, and
look out the window at the luxurious new 250-room Inn on Biltmore
Estate.
For some serious pampering, you’ve
saved the Grove Park Inn for last. First, stop at  Grovewood
Gallery, near the inn, for fine art and crafts. There is no
better place in Asheville to shop for a souvenir that’ll
last generations. The furniture is astounding. The
Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa is a majestic stone structure
akin to the great national park lodges of the West. From the
valet parking area, look up at F. Scott Fitzgerald’s
room above the porch—chosen so he could ogle the female
guests as they arrived. Make your own eye-catching arrival.
If the high mountains and artsy
ambiance haven’t put you in touch with why Asheville
is a center of New Age spirituality, the new spa at the Grove
Park Inn will. The spa’s long cavelike stone entry corridor—with
its otherworldly music and water trickling over rocks—stunningly
sets the stage. Settle beside a fireplace in one of the luxurious
lounges and let serenity soak in. Have a massage; then make
a circuit through the diverse pools of the spa’s subterranean-like
waterscape, or laze outside in the sun with a snack from the
spa’s café.
When you’re recharged, change
into your eveningwear and emerge upstairs in Horizons for
a four-course, four-diamond meal with a five-star view. Start
with “a study of mushrooms,” locally grown, of
course. Then have the prime fillet à la Toscana with
125-year-old aceto balsamico.
Savor the “forest through the trees” chocolate
dessert while the sun sets, the city sparkles, and alpenglow
bathes an encircling skyline of summits. Afterward, retire
to the lobby bar for a nightcap to sip on the porch. For years,
Fitzgerald nightly wandered upstairs to his room from here.
Tip a glass to him and to artsy Asheville. Now you understand
why so many people are making these mountains a place they
come home to again and again.
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