I didn't decide for sure that I was going to Asheville until I got to Roanoke, Virginia. Twenty miles away from where I would have to exit to go to Princeton, I realized that I should probably figure out where I was going. I texted my cousin to let him know that I'd be in town in a few hours. I can say confidently that neither he nor his wife were expecting that message. He was out of town, and wouldn't be back until the next day. Happily, my aunt and uncle would also be visiting, so I would be able to see them as well.
I had never been to Asheville before . I had heard that it was a pretty cool place, but really, I had no idea what to expect. I am happy to be able to report that it is an awesome little town. I arrived Thursday night, and stayed in downtown Asheville.
Driving into the downtown area was definitely an experience. It's built on a couple of hills, and is pretty chaotic. There were lots of people walking, and they would cross the street regularly. I definitely had to pay attention. Also, I had absolutely no idea where I was going or where I could park. After about 15 minutes of driving around, I located a municipal parking garage. (I'm assuming it was a city parking garage. I have no idea for certain.)
Leaving the garage on foot, I followed the strains of music up a hill, where a street musician was playing the guitar. A crowd had gathered, because he was good. I listened for a few minutes, and then left to find a place to have dinner. As I was walking around downtown Asheville, I realized that I was surrounded by hipsters. Now, this wasn't a problem, it just wasn't something I was expecting. But, sure enough, there they were, in their skinny jeans, flannel shirts, and basically looking way too hip to enjoy anything. Following one group of hipsters, I learned that it was a façade, because they were raving about the street musician and other facets of Asheville that I wasn't able to catch.
The sun was going down while I was exploring, and I was able to stop and take this photo of downtown Asheville.
I had dinner at the Bier Garden, which had a truly impressive selection of local brews. The food wasn't bad either. I was actually chased away though by the Duke v. NC State basketball game though. There were a lot of Duke fans in the place, and they were not shy about rooting for their team. On another night, I would have stayed, but I was tired after driving from DC. I called it a night early, went back to my hotel and crashed.
Yesterday, I awoke to rain and cold. Checking the weather report, I learned that it would be in the 40s and rainy all day long. I was disappointed, and seriously considered heading down to Florida again for a healthy dose of sun, warmth, and more family. But I had told Jonathan that I would come by, and it had been years since I'd seen him and Elana, so I resolved to stay. I am really glad that I did.
I started driving around, checking out the area. I ended up in an area called the Biltmore Village. It was definitely different, and, if it hadn't been rainy and cold (or if I'd had an umbrella) I would have looked around. As it was, I took a couple of pictures.
Soon enough it was time to go meet up with family. My aunt and uncle urged Jonathan, Elana, and I to go to the Southern Appalachian Brewery for beer and live music. Jonathan and Elana knew one of the band members, and so we went. The beer was excellent and the live music was fun. It was different, listening to a band play in the middle of a brewery.
Fun times. I decided to stay another night.
No comments:
Post a Comment