The Health Adventure, Asheville, NC

A Children’s Science Museum

by Nancy Hayes | July 19, 2010

The Health Adventure, located in downtown Asheville’s Pack Square, is a children’s science museum so there’s an emphasis on education. But, it’s an interactive, hands-on experience so your children may not realize just how educational it is.

There are two blockbuster traveling must-see exhibits this summer:  Eyes on Earth and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Eyes on Earth focuses on satellites and space technology.  The Wizard of Oz invites you to step into …

Lake Lure, Asheville, NC

"Dirty Dancing" Lives On

by Nancy Hayes | July 12, 2010

Lake Lure Inn and Spa  is the beautiful old inn featured in the cult classic film, “Dirty Dancing” which, if you didn’t see it, featured Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey and music the world can’t seem to forget. You can even stay in one of the cabins featured in the film.

The inn, built in 1927 and carefully restored, sits proudly on lovely Lake Lure, with its 27 miles of shoreline.

…

The Biltmore Estate, Asheville, NC

The One and Only

by Nancy Hayes | June 28, 2010

The Biltmore Estate took 6 years to construct and it will take you almost as long as that to visit it. With over 250 rooms, (not all opened to the public) and 8,000 acres to explore by bike, horseback, Segway, canoe, Land Rover or carriage ride, you’d better come to the big house early.

Start with the gardens. Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted of Central Park NYC fame, they feature two distinct styles – …

July 4, 2010 Celebration, Asheville, NC

Asheville Celebrations Always Include Music

by Nancy Hayes | June 16, 2010

Pack Square Park, the heart of downtown Asheville, hosts the city’s 4th of July celebration. The festivities start at 4:00 p.m. with lots of family activities, a variety of food vendors and -- this is Asheville -- music. 

The fireworks display, considered the biggest and best in the area, begin at 9:30 p.m.

Contact Information

Sandra Travis, Program Supervisor - Festivals

Email:stravis@ashevillenc.gov

The Crest Center and Pavilion

The Place for An Elegant Mountain Wedding

by Nancy Hayes | June 04, 2010

The Crest Center and Pavillion is a beautiful and diverse wedding venue located on top of Crest Mountain, a mere 4 miles from downtown Asheville.The mountain views are awe-inspiring with many choices for a wedding ceremony and reception, both indoors and out.

The Center has two gi-normous banquet halls and a massive overlook deck featuring a stone patio with fireplace and grill. It’s a wonderful outdoor venue with a great back-up plan!

The Orange Peel, Asheville, NC

Voted Top 5 Music Venues in U.S.

by Nancy Hayes | May 21, 2010

The Orange Peel Social Aid and Pleasure Club, known locally as simply “The Peel,” has a long and varied history that began with roller skating, morphed into a succession of R&B and soul clubs with a brief stint as an auto parts warehouse before it became vacant. Thanks to Julian Price’s downtown redevelopment company, Public Interest Projects, the Orange Peel was reborn in 2002. 

During these past eight years, the Peel has …

The Spa at Old Edwards Inn, Highlands, NC

Condé Nast Traveler’s #1 Hotel Spa 2010

by Nancy Hayes | May 06, 2010

Old Edwards Inn stands like a grande dame overlooking Main Street in bucolic Highlands, NC, 52 miles from Asheville, approximately 150 miles from Atlanta. The scene could pass for a movie set depicting an upscale kind of mountain town catering to wealthy second-homers with the Old Edwards Inn as the European villa from Brideshead Revisited. There’s that kind of lovely unreal quality to the Inn; a feeling of stepping into a very old, but …

12 Bones, Asheville, NC

Traditional BBQ with a New Twist

by Nancy Hayes | April 26, 2010

While there is something so comforting about traditional BBQ houses—that same porky smell for years and years that permeates the age-old vinyl covering the booths, the too-sweet iced tea, the hush puppies, it’s a refreshing experience to go to a place like 12 Bones.

The smoking of the meat, (pork, beef, turkey and chicken, too), slow and lingering, is in the time-honored tradition of what we call barbecue here in Western North …

Lake Eden Arts Festival, Black Mountain, NC

A Family-Friendly Multi-Arts Festival, May 6–9

by Nancy Hayes | April 19, 2010

In Black Mountain, a short 10-minute drive on I-40 from Asheville, lies Camp Rockmont, primarily a Christian summer camp for boys. But, twice a year, before camp starts for the season and after it ends, the Lake Eden Arts Festival takes over the space.  To say that LEAF is “a multi-cultural, global line-up of high quality surprising performing arts and dance” is to understate it.

There will be music! From …

Hotel Indigo, Asheville, NC

Stay Downtown in Style

by Nancy Hayes | April 12, 2010

Hotel Indigo, the newest boutique hotel in Asheville, was deliberately designed to reflect both the natural settings and urban feel of downtown Asheville. If you enjoy a contemporary yet peaceful vibe—you won’t find any techno music playing in the lobby at Hotel Indigo—you’ll find a home away from home here.

The hotel has been deliberately designed as “an oasis for travelers” who want all the traditional amenities of a fine hotel such …

The North Carolina Arboretum, Asheville, NC

Flowers, Bonsai, Biking/Hiking Trails

by Nancy Hayes | April 06, 2010

If you think going to look at flowers growing in a formal garden sounds like something only your Great Aunt Bessie could enjoy, you haven’t visited the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville.

Everyone needs some nature in their lives. We all know it and yearn for it although we do have varied ways of experiencing it. The Arboretum, with its 434 acres, seems to have found a way to offer it all.

Bikers and …

St. Lawrence Basilica, Asheville, NC

An Architectural Treasure

by Nancy Hayes | March 30, 2010

Downtown Asheville is a treasure trove of architectural wonders, but none are more breathtaking than the Roman Catholic Basilica of St. Lawrence.

Built in 1902 by the architects of the Biltmore House, Richard Sharpe and Rafael Guastavino, the Basilica features the largest freestanding elliptical dome in the United States. Guastavino patented "The Tile Arch System,” a technique for constructing self-supporting arches using interlocking terra cotta tiles and thin mortar, in 1885. You …

French Broad Chocolate Lounge, Asheville, NC

Think chocolate house instead of coffee house

by Nancy Hayes | March 23, 2010

Never really liked drinking all that Starbucks but enjoyed the laid-back atmosphere and late hours of a coffeehouse? French Broad Chocolate Lounge offers all that you have loved at your favorite café from comfy chairs and mellow music to free wifi, but with CHOCOLATE.

The lounge is filled with chocolate in so many guises—you can drink it, eat it, or sit around and inhale it. 

Owners Dan and Jael Rattigan hand-craft …

LaZoom Comedy Tours, Asheville, NC

Purple bus tours Asheville with laughs

by Nancy Hayes | March 17, 2010

Voted one of western North Carolina’s most unique things to do, LaZoom's purple comedy bus is a fun way to get a 90-minute overview of Asheville’s historic sites and neighborhoods – definitely not your grandmother’s tour, but she would enjoy it, too. There’s a knowledgeable tour guide, albeit one dressed like a daffy auntie, filled with slapstick jokes about Asheville’s history and famous sons. Along the by ways, you’ll see some “local characters” …

2010 French Broad River Festival, Hot Springs, NC

Outdoor adventure and family fun April 30 through May 2

by Nancy Hayes | March 16, 2010

Hot Springs, a little town a mere 40 miles from downtown Asheville, is where the Appalachian Trail meets the French Broad River, where the Blue Ridge Mountains and Pisgah National Forest combine to create a scene of breathtaking beauty. Hot Springs is renowned for its….hot springs. Native Americans were the first to discover the 100-plus degree mineral water here, often touted to "cure what ails" you.

This is also where the 13th …

Jack Of The Wood, Asheville, NC

A Celtic St. Patrick's Day

by Nancy Hayes | March 10, 2010

St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, is mildly celebrated in Asheville, but if you’re looking for some good ole Irish blarney, walk yourself to Jack of the Wood, nestle in with the other patrons around the black walnut bar, close your eyes and imagine yourself in the Celtic Isles.

The bar opens at noon on St. Paddy’s Day and offers live Celtic music all day and into the evening.  The Red Wellies start …

The University of North Carolina at Asheville, NC

"A Private School Experience at a Public School Cost"

by Nancy Hayes | March 05, 2010

That's what the Princeton Review said when it named UNC Asheville to its top 100 "Best Value" choices for 2010.  It noted the University's numerous academic options, small class size and strong focus on the liberal arts as well as UNC Asheville's accessible faculty and diverse offering of student activities both on and off campus.

Kiplinger's Personal Finance ranked UNC Asheville 44th in the nation as a best value for in-state students …

Travel Guide to Asheville, NC

Why You Should Visit Asheville

by Nancy Hayes | February 25, 2010

When Ashevillians talk about their town, they’re likely to mention the creative spirit first and the natural beauty second.  There’s that, for sure, but how does that translate to a great place for you to visit?

There’s the Biltmore House, of course, the largest single-family residence in America.  Gardens galore and biking and horseback riding trails and great restaurants.  Many come to see “the big house” but end up staying for:

…

Wolf Ridge Ski Lodge Near Asheville, NC

Ski, Tube, Snowboard - Only 25 Miles From Asheville

by Nancy Hayes | February 16, 2010

Thirty minutes from Asheville, near the town of Mars Hill, is the Wolf Ridge Ski Lodge and Resort.  With 82 acres of ski terrain, there’s a slope for beginner to expert.  It’s a family kind of place with a snow sports school for kids five to adult.  It's open for day and night skiing and offers 2 double lifts, 2 quads, a surface lift and a magic carpet lift (a flat …

Asia Bed and Spa, Asheville, NC

The Most Romantic Bed and Breakfast in Asheville

by Nancy Hayes | February 12, 2010

While every couple has its own idea about what constitutes an atmosphere conducive to romance—some find hiking across Patagonia the most romantic way to be together while others yearn for the traditional red roses and champagne—there are clearly some factors that promote romance.

A sense of privacy, of intimacy, of serenity, of being removed from the day to day routine, a place where for a brief moment it is possible to believe that only the two …

Ed Boudreaux Bayou Bar-B-Que, Asheville, NC

Mardi Gras Event in Downtown Asheville

by Nancy Hayes | February 09, 2010

$1 PBR, $6 Hurricanes (3 kinds of rum, orange and pineapple juice) and the live bayou blues of Ghost Mountain, a local group, make Ed Broudreaux’s on Biltmore Avenue the place to be on Fat Tuesday. Throw in some beads and you got a PARTY goin’ on.

If Hurricanes don’t slake it for you, Boudreaux’s regulars say they have the best Bloody Mary’s in town and 9 beers on tap.

Oh, and you’re hungry? …

The Bier Garden, Asheville, NC

This popular downtown venue makes a big event of the Super Bowl

by Nancy Hayes | February 03, 2010

Some people like to concentrate on the game; some people are all about the party.  No matter which category you or your friends fall into, the Bier Garden in Asheville is the place you want to be when the Colts and Saints go head to head on Sunday, February 7th.

The Bier Garden offers more than 200 beers from around the world and microbrews from down the street.  Not into beer?  There’s …