Asheville NC - misc: near the rivers & Arts district & Biltmore Village

My husband got to go to a seminar in Asheville North Carolina and I got to go with and play tourist.  Asheville has a trolley tour that I was able to take and learn a lot about the city.  

In the late 1800's, George Vanderbilt came to the area and built the Biltmore estate.  George was descended from one of those "Vanderbilt's" who help build the railroad system.  It was no surprise to see that there were a lot of railroad tracks and activity in the area.

  The other reason Asheville was where it was, is because two rivers converge there-  The French Broad river (wiki/French_Broad_River) and the Swannanoa ( wiki/Swannanoa_River).  Back when the Country was started to be developed, river transportation was one of the easiest ways to travel and whenever you would have two major river meeting up it was very common to have people settle there.  Asheville was no different and I could understand why it was located where it was since there are so many mountains surrounding it.  

The French Broad River, Asheville NC

Another view of the train yard and all the railroad tracks that are there.

train yard, Asheville NC

One of the things I liked to see was this old turn around.  When my boys were little we had a Thomas the train set.  One of their favorite additions to it was when we got the turnaround building.  We spent many an hour playing with it and it was so neat see one that actually exists and is still being use.

Train turnaround building, Asheville, NC

 One of the things that did not surprise me was to see that the railroad yard was built in the flood plain of the rivers, because of its low angles of relief which made it easier to move large trains.  And since that was where the railroads were that was where most of the industrial activity was too.  It only made sense that building would crop up there to store the goods brought into the area by the trains.
Also it did not surprise me that this area did flood.  The guide said there was a big flood at one time as seen by the white brick on this building.

  That is how high the waters got.  Since the area got flooded a lot of the building were damaged and the owners moved out.  Now that area is being settle by artist and it has become the Arts district of the area since the rents are relatively reasonable for artists. It looked like a very interesting place to explore, but I didn't have enough time to stop and see the studios. Like this one.

 Or this one.

There was also some good restaurants there too.  This one is 12 Bones - home of world famous BBQ ribs and visited by President Obama.

Once we were pass the train area we went to the area called the Biltmore Village.  This was a planned shopping area built when the Biltmore Estate was built.  It did have some interesting shops there and it was fun to stroll around. As with the rest of the city it did have some interesting sculpture too.

I really got a kick out of seeing this sign on one of the restaurants walls.

There was this Episcopal Church that George Vanderbilt help build and support.  I thought it was interesting and too these photo's of it.

Another view of the Episcopal Church

and a closer view of it. I would have loved to have gone inside but didn't have the time to.

That's it as far as the photos go of Asheville.
   One of the things I liked so much about Asheville was while I was there I felt safe and secure.  There was just a homeyness about the place that made you comfortable to be there.  It maybe because people like to retire there and they come from different places to do it  so they are used to having strangers around and treat them kindly because they know how it is to be seeing it for the first time.  I guess what I'm trying to say is the people I met were so nice and friendly and they seemed to really like having you there and made you feel welcome.  
     Needless to say I had a great time while I was there and just wished I had more time to spend in the area.   This is one area I would definitely want to visit again.  Its a great place to visit and have a fun time.   I just wish it wasn't so far away.  Well that's all I have to say about Asheville North Carolina & that's it for my North Carolina trip.

Now I'm gallivanting off to New Orleans, LA.

Downtown Asheville, North Carolina

I went to Asheville North Caroline with my husband so he could attend a seminar.  While there I got to play the tourist.  Here's a link to Asheville http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asheville,_North_Carolina. and here http://www.exploreasheville.com/
I took so many photo's I thought it would be best to do more than one blog on them.( here ) This is the section I call downtown because most of them were taken in the downtown area.

Asheville is a very eclectic community with a lot of artist living in it.  As the tour guide suggested Asheville is where the hippies that are still alive and have done well like to retire to.  So Asheville has become famous for its Bohemian life style.  They are also known for all of their micro-breweries and their organic food restaurants.  Since the surrounding area is so agriculture driven these restaurants are able to have fresh organic food available to them most of the year.  Just looking at the city magazine as to where to eat it look like you could get just about any ethnic food you desired - Mexican, Indian, Chinese, Thia, ect..
    Since it is such an artistic place it did not surprise me to see art sculptures all over the place like this one.

One of the first places we stopped was the Thomas Wolfe plaza.  It got its name because the house that Thomas Wolfe the author (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Wolfe) grew up in was there.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Wolfe_House

Thomas Wolfe home, Asheville North Carolina

Right around the corner from the home was this building with a picture of Thomas Wolfe.  I thought I got a better shot than what I did but you can kinda see what it looked like.
   The tour guide did talk a lot about Thomas Wolfe and his writings- all that I remember her saying was his book got band in the city because too many people saw themselves in his story line and they were not pleased about their caricatures.

As we drove into the downtown area I saw this unusual looking  building and was curious about it. 
The bus did stop at the Thomas Wolf Plaza to pick some people up and while we were waiting we could see that building in the distance. The guide mentioned that it was an art deco building ( wiki/Art_Deco ) built in the 1920- I 'm not sure who built it.  

Another view of that church.

This was a close-up of the same building.  I just loved the color and shape of the roof and the way it was blending in with the surrounding vegetation.

The tour continued on and we were able to see these unique store/fronts home in the area. I really liked the windows in this building.I'm glad it got preserved.

The next place we stopped at was the Pack Square.  There was a monument that catches your eye as you drive up to it making it so you can't miss the place.  Behind the monument is the Art Museum and in the distance you can see the Neo Gothic Jackson building.

Since we were stopped there to let people on and off, I was able to take some pictures of the area.
I enjoyed see the bronze statues of the wild turkeys, especially after I saw them roaming around the area, and of the hogs.

Pack Square, Asheville North Carolina

The monument had one name on it - Vance.  I was curious as to who or what that was since it's such an unusual name yet I once met a person with it as their first name.  I knew it had to have some significance.  The guide said that Vance was the Governor of North Carolina during the civil war.  I was glad to finally figure out who Vance was.

Here's a close up of the Art museum and its walls. On it were orange basketball in nets strung up to look like a grape vine.  Different and artistic - made me want to see what else was inside.

Ashevilles Museum of Art

And here's a shot of the front Art Museum entrance.

One of the building surrounding Pack Square was a tall building.  It's the Jackson Building and is in the Neo-Gothic style of architecture.  It was one of the first skyscrapers built in the area.

buildings around Pack Square, Asheville North Carolina

Here is a better view of it, one I took as we were driving around.

Jackson Building, Asheville North Carolina

Here is one that is looking straight up it and you can see how tall it is.  The guide told us that it was built prior to the 1929 stock market crash.  And when the crash occurred some people jumped from it.

What got to me was the fact that someone would put a bulls-eye on the sidewalk where they had landed after jumping from the building.  I don't know if it was a memorial or what, but thought it was weird to see. 

Sidewalk bull's-eye in front of the Jackson Building, Pack Square Asheville North Carolina

Here were some other building that were around Pack square. 

This one was - the Biltmore Building. 

Biltmore Building, Pack Square Asheville North Carolina

Across from the Biltmore was a park, and they had this interesting exhibit there.
Then the guide explained it to use.  The exhibit showed how the two building were suppose to look like when they were originally designed in the art deco style.  The first one was built like it was suppose to be built.

Here's what it looks like today.  Its the City hall designed by Douglas Ellington. 

Asheville, NC city hall

But because the government was involved the second building was not done the way it was suppose to be done and this is what they ended up with instead.

Here's the two buildings side by side.  As the guide said to us they call the first building 'the beautiful wedding cake' and the second one is called 'the box the wedding cake came in'.  That got a chuckle from all of us, because you could really see what she was saying.

I forget what building this was but thought the trees were pretty.

We drove around some more and then came to this downtown square.  I just thought it was a pretty area with interesting sculptures.

Same sculpture just a different angle.

I liked the way the square was so peaceful and such a retreat area for all that hectic surroundings.

This was one of the buildings that was interesting to me.

We stopped here and saw this flat iron building. 

To help us know what type of building it was they had this huge flat iron sculpture in front. 

This is the front of the S&W cafe (S&W_Cafeteria  ).  It's famous for its art deco decor.

And this was also in the area on another building.

I hadn't seen a Woolworth Co in ages.  I just had to get a shot of this 5 and dime store.  Boy did that bring back memories.  When I was a child the Woolworth Co was my favorite place to shop. 

Near it was the Grove Arcade. 

They had this sign showing what the building was originally designed to look like.  They only got so far when the owner died and the building stopped being built.  They finished that level off but did not continue to build it any higher.  It was one of the first ever indoor shopping malls.

Here's another street shot of it.

Grove Arcade, Asheville NC

This is another view of one of the enterances.

I really like the masonry details seen on it, especially the hearts at the top.

They said that these funny faces were caricatures of people Mr Grove did not care to do business with.  They were different and fun to look at.

The last building of interest we was there was the Basilica of St. Lawrence. (wiki/Basilica_of_St._Lawrence,_Asheville  )

Basilica of St. Lawrence, Asheville NC

It was quite the tourist spot and a lot of people were going to see it.  I didnot have enough time to and thought it would be a good reason to come back to this area.

Basilica of St Lawrence, Asheville, NC

Finally we went to Asheville hoping to see some fall foliage.  For the most part we were a tad to early but then when I would see trees like these I was glad we came when we did.  They were quite spectacular and I can only imagine what they look like when they are in all of their magnificence.