Day 3: Destination SE - Asheville NC

A beautiful sunny day, with temperatures headed for the mid-60s here. Everyone tells us we brought the good weather with us--little do they know how untrue that is!

I wanted to take a bus or trolley tour of Asheville as a means of familiarizing ourselves with the area, and sure enough, they have a trolley tour that runs seven days a week all year long...except January and February.

So, next best thing, we used the trolley tour as a guide for grabbing brochures at the Asheville Chamber of Commerce's visitors center, just a few blocks away from where we are staying. You can see in this photo I have an armload of them. Also note the mountains in the background.

I don't know how others organize trips, but today, our method was taking turns. I suggested the visitor center, and Ken's pick was a drive to what is called the "River Arts District," a bunch of warehouses-turned-art galleries alongside the French Broad. Stop your giggling, that's the name of the river.

When we got to the River Arts District, we drove past a public access site and stopped to take some photos. The landing has seen better days, and probably will again. We're told that New Belgium is building a state-of-the-art brewery just across the river. That will mean more visitors and more attention to facilities like this. They've already put in a nice viewing area, pictured below.

The next three photos are of artist/shop owners in the renovated warehouses. I had a nice visit with each of them, to learn about their work and new spaces.

Rebecca's husband Robert is the artist at this shop, called "Splurge." His found-object chandeliers were wonderful, and I liked a lot of the other art work and jewelry in their shop. They moved to Asheville from Atlanta.

This is Pamella, who started out as an actor, became a puppeteer, and through making puppets and producing shows, found a passion for making beautiful objects using some of the same processes she had used in making puppets. She fashions botanical shapes by layering sheer paper over clear plastic molds, and uses them in sculptures which are illuminated (electrically) from within.

These two women, Vicky and Joyce, share an exhibit space in the same building. I loved their work. This photo was taken in Vicky's part of the space, and Joyce is holding one of her paintings. The neat thing about these artist-run spaces is they show the artists at work, not just the artwork. So you get a glimpse into the process of creating the work, which makes it all the more meaningful.

And speaking of processes, here is David, our host, in the process of stripping a layer of plastic off the bottom of the drift boat he is restoring in the little garage that sits behind his house. I stuck the camera under the boat to get a shot of the inside (below). I told David about the Quiet Water Symposium and the Kruger boats Pa paid to restore.

We went back to the apartment to sort through the brochures we snagged at the visitors center, and decided to split up for a while before dinner to allow us to pursue our own interests. I did quite a bit of walking and peering into stores, Ken tested the local brews at a downtown establishment and then walked around for some people watching.

We met up at a restaurant called "Strada" and sat at the bar for dinner.

The walk home after dinner--tonight about half a mile--is a good thing. Gives the ol' digestion a chance to work before settling in for the night. Which is happening...now.