Discover Asheville North Carolina

Urban Farm and Mountain Trails Gourmet Cuisine Public Art Music Heritage and Bohemian Culture

An Urban Trail Asheville has a fascinating past; experience a walking itinerary that commemorates the city’s most significant cultural, educational, social and architecture stories. The “museum without walls” begins and ends at Pack Square Park. The first stops span The Gilded Age, 1880 to 1930, the pre-depression boom time when the arrival of the railroad brought many travelers; the 1827 Buncombe Turnpike was a busy route for stagecoaches and covered wagons filled with animals going to market.

A City with an Outdoor History Museum

Walk down Patton Avenue and the O. Henry plaque, complete with the comb and watch from his famous short story “The Gift of the Magi.” Then read about Elizabeth Blackwell MD, who founded the first four-year medical college for women in the 1850s. Along this section, check out the beautiful art-deco Kress and Woolworth Buildings, former department stores now filled with works of many local artists.

Downtown Asheville has over 150 unique shops, galleries, and cafes, many offering outdoor seating, with lots of opportunity to browse or buy. Interesting architecture, street performers, festivals and independent restaurants.

Food Scene Asheville is a community of culinary talents who believe that every meal is a celebration. 17 local tailgate markets sell farm-fresh produce and artisan goods. Artists, bakers, cheese makers and more converge each week to provide the best in locally made products from small farms that use sustainable practices and grow a wide variety of crops.

The Western North Carolina Cheese Trail covers the hills and dales of the Appalachians and foothills; a great way to soak up some rural mountain beauty and sample some of the best goat and cow milk handmade cheese in the South.

Craft Beers with more breweries per capita than anywhere else in America, Asheville was first named Beer City USA in 2009 and has swept the competition almost every year since.

Experiential Tourism with the Traveler as Protagonist

Experiences designed around multiple interests that ensure unique emotions; the traveler participates alongside local cooks, artists, craftsmen, and expert tour guides in activities:

o   rooted in the territory; it can happen only there, and

o   with uniquely local events, experiments, food and wine tastings

o   specifically modified and tailored to your preferences  

memorable unique and unrepeatable!

Know More About It     Arezza    Knowledge Tourism   travel@arezza.net

Music Heritage Asheville has a long history with music, beginning with traditional songs and tunes brought to the area by Scotch-Irish settlers. Over the years, the legends of what was once called mountain music, people like Jimmie Rodgers and Bill Monroe, Doc Watson and the Steep Canyon Rangers contributed their own work to Asheville's cultural scene. Traditional music is still alive and well in Western North Carolina.

The Appalachian Music Traditions of old time Jam Sessions Soulful Ballads and Bluegrass Jamborees

Art is everywhere in Asheville. Peek around an alleyway to find murals depicting the city’s underground history. The River Arts District of Asheville consists of a vast array of artists and working studios set in an urban scene of old factories and historical buildings. Many studios are open every day, all year round; explore artist studios and watch while they work, or meet the artists and discuss the creative process.

The open studios are scattered throughout 19 historic buildings along the French Broad River. There are artist's demonstrations and hands-on activities.

The Blue Ridge Parkway entertains you during a 469-mile cinematic experience, a masterpiece of the National Park collection, traveling from Shenandoah National Park to Great Smoky Mountains National Park ebbing and flowing with the landscape through protected peaks, wetlands, and trailheads around every corner.

Discovering the Smokies by Trail or Train walking in the 520,000 acre Great Smoky Mountains National Park is to follow in the footsteps of the Cherokee Indians who lived on this land many thousand of years; stand atop Clingman’s Dome, fish for trout in the same clear streams and spot the same spring wildflowers as did the ancient Cherokee people.

Board a Vintage Train in Bryson City and Visit some the Park’s most Scenic Areas

Professional Enrichment Programs focus suburban sprawl, declining water quality, diminishing water supplies, vanishing agricultural land, loss of historic character, wildlife habitat degradation, and threatened biological resources. Learn to:

Protect and conserve land and water, natural, cultural and scenic resources;

Improve site planning and design to support resource conservation;

Enhance awareness and knowledge of conservation approaches.

If you are in local government, are a developer, landowner or in business and are interested in expanding your skills in these areas, please contact us for a no obligation travel and/or training plan.

Cataloochee Valley for Hiking Heritage & Wildlife Appalachian Heritage this gorgeous green valley, 55 miles from Asheville, was once an early settlement of farmers. A visit here is like walking back into the early nineteenth century. Walk into the old school house and see the initials of the students carved into the desks. Picture folks dressed in their Sunday best as they enter Palmer Church in the 1890’s.

Biltmore Estate Explore the wonders of America’s largest home, magnificent gardens and award-winning winery. 8,000 acres with outdoor activities that include fly-fishing, biking and rafting. Seasonal events include Christmas at Biltmore, Festival of Flowers and Biltmore Summer Evening Concerts. Guided specialty tours including Biltmore House Architect’s Tour and Biltmore House Butler’s Tour

Charleston South Carolina and Southern Traditions

Arts Architecture History and Local Seafood 

The City founded in 1670, Charleston is defined by its cobblestone streets, horse-drawn carriages and pastel pre-Civil-War-era houses, particularly in the bustling French Quarter and Battery areas. The Battery promenade and Waterfront Park both overlook Charleston Harbor, while Fort Sumter, a Federal stronghold where the first shots of the Civil War rang out, lies across the water.

The Old City is located on a peninsula at the point where, as Charlestonians are fond of saying, the Ashley and the Cooper Rivers come together to form the Atlantic Ocean. The entire peninsula is very low and frequently floods during heavy rains, storm surges, and unusually high tides. As Charles Towne grew, so did the community's cultural and social opportunities, especially for the elite merchants and planters. The first theatre building in America was built in 1736 on the site of today's Dock Street Theatre.  By the mid-18^thcentury, it had become a bustling trade center, the hub of the Atlantic trade for the southern colonies. Charles Towne was also the wealthiest and largest city south of Philadelphia.

Rainbow Row's 13 houses along East Bay Street were the commercial center from the Colonial era until the early 20^th century.

Southern Trails

Theater Charleston known for its unique culture, which blends traditional Southern, English, French, and West African elements, Charleston and its downtown peninsula are home to America's first theater and is one the country's top 10 cities for the performing arts as well as the Spoleto USA Festival.

Experiential Tourism with the Traveler as Protagonist

Experiences designed around multiple interests that ensure unique emotions; the traveler participates alongside local cooks, artists, craftsmen, and expert tour guides in activities:

o   rooted in the territory; it can happen only there, and

o   with uniquely local events, experiments, food and wine tastings

o   specifically modified and tailored to your preferences  

memorable unique and unrepeatable!

Know More About It

Arezza    Knowledge Tourism

Tourism Shopping Food and Shipping Charleston is a major vacation destination with award-winning restaurants and shopping. Fashion Week is held each spring in Marion Square brings in designers, journalists, and clients from across the nation. Charleston is known for its local seafood, which plays a key role in the city's renowned cuisine that includes gumbo, she-crab soup, fried oysters, deviled crab cakes, red rice, and shrimp and grits. Rice is the staple in many dishes, reflecting the rice culture of the Low Country. The city’s two shipping terminals are part of the fourth-largest container seaport on the East Coast and the thirteenth largest seaport in North America.

The Charleston Digital Corridor is Home to an Increasing Number of High Tech Businesses

A Visit to Savannah Georgia

Architecture Diverse Neighborhoods History and Southern Charm

Savannah was founded in 1733 on the Savannah River, it became the colonial capital and later the first state capital of Georgia. Its port was of strategic importance during both the American Revolution and the Civil War.

Location Savannah lies on the Savannah River, approximately 20 miles -32 km - upriver from the Atlantic Ocean. It is also located near the Intracoastal Waterway. The Ogeechee River flows toward the Atlantic Ocean some 16 miles - 26 km - south of downtown Savannah.

Diverse Neighborhoods over 100 distinct neighborhoods can be identified in six principal areas of the city: Downtown (Landmark Historic District and Victorian District), Midtown, Southside, Eastside, Westside, and Southwest/West Chatham. The city's location offers visitors access to the coastal islands and the Savannah Riverfront, both popular tourist destinations. Other picturesque towns adjacent to Savannah include the shrimping village of Thunderbolt and three residential areas that began as summer resort communities for Savannahians: Beaulieu, Vernonburg, and the Isle of Hope.

The Savannah Historic District is one of largest in the United States

Culture Savannah has a rich and growing performing arts scene, offering cultural events throughout the year, including the Savannah Book Festival held annually on Presidents' Day weekend in the vicinity of historic Telfair and Wright squares, includes free presentations by more than 35 contemporary authors; Museum House Flannery O’Connor dedicated to the work and life of the Savannah born fiction writer; the Savannah Ballet Theatre – established in 1998; Lucas Theatre for the Arts; the Coastal Jazz Association, home of the annual Savannah Jazz Festival; the Savannah Orchestra and Music Festival.

Experiential Tourism with the Traveler as Protagonist

Experiences designed around multiple interests that ensure unique emotions; the traveler participates alongside local cooks, artists, craftsmen, and expert tour guides in activities:

o   rooted in the territory; it can happen only there, and

o   with uniquely local events, experiments, food and wine tastings

o   specifically modified and tailored to your preferences  

memorable unique and unrepeatable!

Know More About It

Arezza    Knowledge Tourism

Lucas Theatre for the Arts is one of several theaters owned by the Savannah College of Art and Design; it hosts the annual Savannah Film Festival.

Southern Trails

Architecture Savannah was named as America's second-best city for Cool Buildings and Architecture, behind Chicago. The historic district has 22 squares that vary in size and character, from the formal fountain and monuments of the largest, Johnson, to the playgrounds of the smallest, Crawford. Elbert, Ellis, and Liberty Squares are classified as the three "lost squares," destroyed in the course of urban development during the 1950s.