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This is for a group of 3 adults friends, no kids (2 females, 1 male, two of us in our early 50s, one person in early 30s.)
We're taking a day trip to the Asheville area next week from Charlotte NC, touring the Biltmore Estate. Will have some time afterwards to spend in Asheville, want to get a good feel for the city. What areas in Asheville are walkable & safe with art galleries, interesting stores, local restaurants, etc.? Looking for something offbeat, not the typical tourist attractions.
The easiest thing to do is go across the street from the Biltmore House gates a couple blocks, and turn right into that little Olde English village, which is called Biltmore Village. The village consists of several blocks, park anywhere, and wander... they have places to eat and shop.
You said you wanted to get a feel for the town, so the other thing you could do is come out of the Biltmore House gates and turn left (north) over the bridge and go straight until you dead-end on Patton Avenue. Take a left and then the next right, and the Wall Street Parking Deck entrance is on the right. Ask where the Grove Arcade is, where Wall Street is, plenty of places to eat and shop.
Wow, I'm surprised & disappointed, only got two responses, one of which directed me to a website about an event in Asheville that already ended a while ago! Thought I'd get some great info here about what to see & do in Asheville during a one-day trip. I reside in Charlotte right now & people on the Charlotte forum are super-enthusiastic about giving visitors great info, are very welcoming & point out lots of things to do/places to visit as a tourist!
Maybe mentioning the Biltmore Estate tour led people here to think we won't have time to see other things? FYO, I'm very interested in walkable neighborhoods right in Asheville, not so interested in the outskirts, most interested in the downtown area. Just thought I'd get some insight from the locals about best places to go as far as cafes, restaurants, etc. Already saw online that there's quite a few independent bookstores within a concentrated area in Asheville-- that impressed me, nothing but "big-box" large national chain bookstores here in Charlotte as far as I've seen.
I'm originally from the Northeast, just relocated to NC last year & very attracted to Asheville or Chapel Hill as liberal, progressive, "artsy" cities here in the South, considering moving to one of these cities. Might have to reconsider Asheville but still planning the visit on Wednesday. Just wondering why I didn't get more enthusiastic responses about the area-- are visitors unwelcome? Thought this was a tourist area!
Wow, I'm surprised & disappointed, only got two responses, one of which directed me to a website about an event in Asheville that already ended a while ago!
The River Arts District is not an event, it is a section of Asheville with art galleries, restaurants, etc., which is exactly what you asked for. If you bothered to read the web site I posted, beyond the first headline on the page, you would have discovered that for yourself.
Don't know why you haven't gotten more responses, but in general this forum is much "slower" than the Charlotte forum. I'll try to help with some of my favorite Asheville places. As recommended above, just go downtown, park, and wander around. Grove Arcade is cool, and there are many other shops, restaurants, and other attractions in the downtown area to occupy your time. I'd suggest:
Malaprop's Bookstore
Mast General Store (don't miss the old-fashioned candy section!)
Barley's Taproom (very good pizza, and an incredible array of draft beer selections)
Ten Thousand Villages (gifts/crafts from around the world)
Zambras (tapas/wine bar)
L.O.F.T. (Lost Objects Found Treasures)--a neat little shop full of all kinds of interesting things
Woolworth Walk (arts/crafts gallery)
You can google any of the above for more info/details, and there are many more interesting shops/restaurants to explore in addition to the above.
Oh, and you may want to visit the Asheville forum at tripadvisor.com if you haven't already. It's a little more active than this one, and the focus is exclusively on travel/tourism. Lots of info there.
NC_paddler-- Sorry if I misread info at the website you suggested. When I originally looked at, I just saw a listing for a week-long event that already ended. I'll take a look again.
arbyu-- Thanks for the info about downtown stores and attractions, will try to check them out!
Looking forward to the visit, hope the weather's not as hot & muggy as last week here in Charlotte, but guess it stays cooler in the mountain areas, right?
As you can see from the limited responses, the ones you got just about cover everything you can do in town. Biltmore Village has sort of an artificial planned sort of feel about it so I'd suggest going downtown and seeing the real Asheville around Grove Arcade, Pack Square and everywhere in between.
NC_paddler-- Sorry if I misread info at the website you suggested. When I originally looked at, I just saw a listing for a week-long event that already ended. I'll take a look again.
No worries -- the web site actually is pretty confusing . . . confusing enough so that they had to create a "frequently asked question" about it on their web site.
4. Why do you have two websites?
It IS a little confusing, isn't it? www.riverdistrictartists.com is the website listing all the artists who belong to the River District Artists organization. We put on 2 Studio Strolls a year--in June and November-- and you can find out about that and get information about our members here. We also publish a member artist profile every month! www.riverartsdistrict.com is a blog, where we post events and announcements from member artists and the River Arts District community at large. If you want to see what's going on with the artists here, or find out about upcoming events in the River Arts District, check the blog often...you can even sign up to receive each post by email or RSS.
River District Artists: Frequently Asked Questions (http://www.riverdistrictartists.com/rda/faq.html - broken link)
Sorry for the sarcastic reply before.
p.s. the NC Arboretum may be a bit "touristy" for what you are looking for, but I really enjoy it.
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And will my Cricket phone service work in the Asheville area?
