Spend last night in Asheville and walked around a bit. Had a great burger and a couple of IPA's at Wicked Weed. Being Halloween I enjoyed seeing some interesting costumes and if I'd stayed out later, who knows?

Enjoyed a great tour of the Biltmore Estate this morning. The inside was already decorated for Christmas and it looked beautiful! It was a gray and rainy day, but still a great take of a fine piece of history.

I’ve been seeing ads on DirecTV for just such a trip.
We will be coming into some money in the next 6-9 months and may need a GTFO Dodge vacation.

Lived in Asheville from 2002-2006; it was a freaky town then- not much has changed I imagine…

In 2018 we did Christmas at Biltmore. 3 days and stayed at the Biltmore Inn. Its a pricey package but well worth it. I also got a guide for a private tour. You will get to see everything including the areas off limits to the public. We enjoyed Biltmore more than any cruse.

My only experience with it is trying to drive through it. The two major and one auxiliary interstate (26, 40, 240) are poorly designed and perpetually under construction trying to fix it. But the area is very scenic.

Police defunded, ultra left wing political control, people are moving out, woke leaders spent $millions on electric buses that do not work and are sitting idle, Asheville is the laughing stock of the rest of NC. California on the East Coast.

^^^^^^^^^^
"freaky" = batshit leftist crazy.

Reminds of the old "Keep Austin Weird" campaign, similar to Berkeley's self imposed PR image, Venice Beach, etc.

Everything is accurate so far…

One interesting but if i remember correctly, Asheville was in such dire financial straits in the 1900s thanks to the Biltmore debacle that they were not able to afford to tear stuff down and build modern buildings in the place of their historic ones. Resulting in one of few areas with surviving history compared to other towns/cities that built shiny pretty buildings.

I visited back in the mid 90’s before it got all the way on the crazy train. It was nice. I thought about going back several times, but definitely not now.

'Berkley of the Appalachia'
Nice area, interesting shops but, surrounding politcs is as far-Left as you'll find throughout the Southeast that's not an urban haven.

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:
Lived in Asheville from 2002-2006; it was a freaky town then- not much has changed I imagine…

I won’t rip on the town because I’ve never been but everyone I know that vacationed there for years no longer goes so it’s quite a bit different.

Fond memory of taking the love of my life (or so I thought) there in 1986, for the candlelight tour of the mansion.

I still think of her.

We toured Biltmore when our eldest was a babe in arms and then again when she was in high school with a French exchange student. Lovely trip both times, but hard to believe that’s been so long ago now.

We also toured The Breakers in Newport, RI, a few years ago when the “Another Period” TV show was running. The Breakers is another Vanderbilt family home and that tour was also very good. We had a blast comparing the two mansions and the takeoff on Gilded Age life as portrayed in the TV show.

Asheville, AKA San Francisco of the east or Granola City (home of fruits, flakes and nuts)

My wife and I spent our first wedding anniversary there, 1999.

Asheville was a fine place to visit then, but all the hippie and ANTIFA trash has overrun it these days and you couldn't get me there at gunpoint.

French Broad Chocolate in downtown is truly obscene. I'm not a chocolate person, but it's a decadent treat to try for sure. The hot chocolate, especially with some nice fall weather and not blazing summer heat, will really hit.

quote:

Originally posted by stiab:
Police defunded,.

I’ll say this and likely it will be unpopular. I spent quite a bit of time in Asheville over the years. APD is the modern TikTok police force driven by “Community Engagement” instead of real police work. Buncombe County Sheriff at the time wasn’t that bad.

I say that to say most LE agencies that get defunded aren’t big into actual law enforcement to begin with. Fewer TikTok dancers is the only differences. Most taxpayers won’t see the difference.

As to Asheville itself, I have tons of fond memories. Beautiful mountains, the French Broad River, and tons of good food. 12 Bones BBQ, Franks Pizza