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.