Everyone I talked with about this trip said a visit to Asheville was a must, with the last person saying hopefully the Hurricane Helene recovery was going well. After our visit today, we can attest that recovery is still ongoing, but everything looks good from our perspective of just a little slice of town driving and downtown walking. The downtown area seemed very busy on a Friday afternoon.

Two interesting sights as we drove from VA through the panhandle of TN to reach NC:

Our recommendation for anyone wanting to walk around downtown Asheville, with lots of shops and restaurants, is to use the free parking in the Visitor Center and walk from there. We would have struggled finding parking for Usain’s length along the streets and the garages are out due to his height. It was a short walk with sidewalks. The volunteers at the information desk did their job well and we had a lovely afternoon.

The Basilica of St. Lawrence is undergoing some construction work, so we took a picture then walked on. Malaprop’s Bookstore was great; I found room for two new books. Lunch was very delicious and vegetarian friendly at the Green Sage Cafe. And then we had a Salted Caramel and Chocolate Tart and the visitor-center-recommended Liquid Truffle – so yummy.

One street performer that we had not seen before was a traveling pianist. Very cool!

A short but traffic-laden drive out of town brought us to the West Asheville KOA for a laundry night. Two days ago, it was the bedding, and now it is the clothing. It’s easier to separate it unless one finds a large laundromat to do it all at once. KOAs are great for doing laundry and having a hot shower, but machine number tends to be limited. At least I get some reading time while doing laundry, but Tony caught me in action on my phone.

I know the Biltmore Estate is in this area, and really want to visit, but we will wait for flower weather. The gardens on the estate would be prettier in an earlier season. So now this is on our return list or maybe I can get a girl’s trip arranged. Not high on Tony’s list…