We started our tour of Asheville at the Visitor Center, and found it to be the best place to park for our tour of downtown. We like walking tours of cities, and we got some good urban hiking this day using the "Public Art Walking Tour" brochure from the visitor center. It threaded us thru a two-mile section of the best of downtown Asheville beginning at the Grove Arcade.
This grand building was supposed to be a tall tower, but the Great Depression's economy shortened it to only two floors. Once left empty, it has been restored and now houses an indoor mall with restaurants and shops.
We also visited the Basilica of St. Lawrence--with North America's largest freestanding unsupported elliptical dome. We're not sure what that means or what it looks like because they were still hosting a church service. But it was a beautiful old church from the outside.
The Asheville walking tour included a map, as well as a historical summary of each area we were walking through. For example, when we walked to the Thomas Wolfe Memorial, we could read that this was the home where this famous Asheville author was raised.
Wolfe wrote the book, "Look Homeward, Angel" a story based on the characters living in this boarding house. In the book, the house is called, "Dixieland." But Mark is sitting on the front porch of the real building, named "My Sweet Kentucky Home." That's an interesting name since it is in North Carolina.
Each item on the walking trail has a public sculpture or piece of street art that goes with it. For example, in front of the Wolfe house was a bronze recreation of Wolfe's size 13 shoes. Some of the sculptures were small and hard to find, while others were quite large. This life-size version of "The Appalachian Stage" includes musicians and dancers celebrating the local music. This music is featured in the the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival held in Asheville every August since 1927.
Denisa feels right at home with these dancers, and tried to cut in on this bronze couple on the sidewalk.
Our urban path took us to two of the iconic buildings in downtown Asheville--the county courthouse and city hall. But right in between them is the area most enjoyed by children--the city's large splash park.
This brought us to the retail section of town, filled with cute little boutiques and gift shoppes. But our only stop was Mast General Store. There are nine of these stores spread out through the Appalachian area, and the original one has been in the business since 1883. They are stocked with everything you need--from cast iron skillets to glue to fix your hiking boots. But our favorite section included 500 kinds of old-fashioned candy that can be mixed and matched for $7.99/pound.
Mark has a rocking chair, candy, and an orange nehi. He is a happy shopper!
Set up in front of Mast's was a blue grass band, complete with a clogger dancing on his portable wooden stage.
There was another band playing in front of the old Woolworth's five and dime store. We ate lunch at Woolworth's soda fountain, and enjoyed more music.
Single musicians and bands were scattered all over downtown this Sunday afternoon. We stopped to listen and donated to applaud their talents. Below was one of the more unique bands.
We had to take a picture of the instruments they played with their feet. She was playing the spoons with her hands, but she also had a line of different toned bells that she tapped with her toes. He sat on an old suitcase, that also doubled as a base drum. Not pictured, his other foot had a tambourine strapped to it.
We had been watching for sculptures mentioned in our urban trail guide, but this bronze statue wasn't on our list.
There was something almost life-like about this statue.
When we put a bill into his basket and asked if we could take a picture, our statue was happy to oblige with a smile and a thumbs up.
As we wandered down the road, our statue friend struck a new frozen pose.
We really enjoyed our 4-mile walk around Asheville's interesting downtown, but it was starting to rain as we hustled back to our car. The clouds were still heavy as we drove south out of town to mile marker 394 of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The late afternoon lighting really made the blue layers of mountains show up. We have wandered into another of His wonders.
Since we were driving on the ridge of the Smoky Mountains, we could look in both directions. This view shows the green view of the Appalachians.
Today we drove the Blue Ridge Parkway from mile marker 394 to 414. Our hiking destination this afternoon is the Mount Pisgah trail. It is 5,721 feet tall and is named for the biblical mount from which Moses first saw the promised land. One of the highest peaks on the parkway, it is adorned by an even taller satellite tower.
It's a 1.5 mile hike to the top. The first half is almost level, so that means the last half is very steep as it gains 712 feet in elevation. So we were tired by the time we reached the observation deck at the summit to look over the mountains. Looking out over all those ridges of blue that continue to the horizon makes it easy to see why this is called the Blue Ridge Parkway.
It was an easier hike down Pisgah Mountain, but we took it slow and careful. We were met by several hikers that reported a timber rattlesnake guarding the trail. They had pictures of the 5-foot rattler to prove their story, but different descriptions of its location. So we hiked very carefully on our way down. Mark was disappointed, and Denisa was relieved that the snake had moved off the trail by the time we descended into his territory. So the only snake-like picture we can include in today's blog is an aerial view of the curving parkway snaking its way through the mountains. It's been another great day in the Blue Ridge Mountains!
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