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!
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.
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
