Archive for the ‘Historic sites’ Category
There are so many places downtown to just hang out now, it’s hard to pick one and go with it for the night. You may find yourself going to several. From the great music to the home brewed beers, it’s nearly impossible not to have an outstanding evening. One of the places to consider going to is the Sky Bar. It’s located near the top of Ashevillle’s landmark Flat Iron Building. The bar is actually three west-facing balconies connected by a fire escape seven stories up. It’s a great view and a great place to watch the sunset. The operators of the bar are the folks that own the World Coffee Cafe on the ground floor on the Battery Park side. Oh boy what great deserts there!
When you leave your Asheville vacation rental cabin, you will go to downtown on Patton Ave. That’s the first exit off 240 going towards downtown, right over the bridge. Stay on Patton Ave until you see the clock on the left corner. Turn left there. Park in the city lot on your right. Then walk to the building that is connected to it. That’s the Flat Iron Building. On Wall Street you will see the big black iron right on the corner.
I remember sitting in the dark in the outdoor theatre on the edge of my seat as I watched the story unfold listening to the plight of the Cherokee Indians. My emotions went from laughter to tears and back again all through the show. The sounds, the colors, the profound story, all of it, remarkable remarkable production. It elicits a full gamet of emotions throughout the entire performance.
The Drama is in Cherokee at the Ampitheatre built and designed specifically for the historical production. From your Asheville Vacation Cabin you would take Newfound road to 40. Get on 40 and go west. Get off at exit 27 to 74 and take that all the way to 441 going into Cherokee, not Franklin. Once in Cherokee it’s pretty self explanatory and signs will lead the way.
All the National Parks across the country are honoring the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend by waiving admission fees Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Now amongst all the great places that you can go to for free, you will want to check out Carl Sandburg’s home. The home tour itself is usually $5 at other times than this. But there is never a charge to enter the grounds, hike the more than five miles of trail or visit the dairy goats at Mrs. Sandburg’s farm operation. Additional free dates are: April 16-24, June 21, September 24, November 11-13.
From your Asheville pet friendly cabin it is aproximately 35 minutes.
There are so many really really neat things to see in the Smokies. All the great lookouts along the side of the road allow you to pull off the road to feast your eyes on the views without running off the side of a mountain while looking. :O)) The views are absolutely breathtaking, even with the smokey haze that rests amongst the mountains.
From your Asheville vacation cabin, take I-40 heading West. As you drive along the road, notice when you get past Waynesville you can actually see the shift from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Smokies. The drive West is gorgeous, the vegetation lush and the ascending and the descending and the twists in the road increasing in frequency. The road runs through the Smokies. Get off anywhere and you are standing in Smoky the Bear country.
Carl Sandburg spent a lifetime exploring what it meant to be an American and asked the eternal questions, “Who am I, where am I going and where have I been?” He did this through poetry, song, lectures, writing and lasting friendships with kindred spirits.
Mrs. Sandburg owned and operated a premier goat dairy from 1935 to 1965. Here at their home, Connemara, the dairy became a Grade A operation, with milk being distributed to local dairies and sold in stores around the community. Mrs. Sandburg’s goat breeding program produced champion goats and led to the improvement of goats as milk producing animals. The park service raises goats that represent the three breeds of goats Mrs. Sandburg raised at Connemara. Rangers and volunteers are on hand to share this facinating story about goats and Mrs. Sandburg’s dairy goat operation.
In addition to tours of the home, you can enjoy over five miles of trails and stoll through gardens. It is run by and cared for by the forest rangers and many volunteers. You can see how the Sandburgs lived back then, the farm, the barn, the goats. Really cool.
From your Asheville Cabin, you’ll go past Hendersonville continuing onto Flat Rock on I-26 to the exit for the home. It’s about 30 min from the cabin.
If you would rather sit inside an air-conditioned vehicle while touring the Smokies, navigating the loop at Cades Cove is a must. Here you might see the two most prolific mammals in the park, the white tail deer and black bear. Other common sightings are wild turkey and the ground hog, and other wildlife as well. When visiting Cades Cove, you will drive along an 11-mile loop that follows many of the curves and courses that settlers forged years ago. Cades Cove is a lush valley surrounded by mountains and one of the most popular destinations in the Great Smokies. The Cove takes visitors into another time, experiencing history in each building and wilderness around every turn.
It’s not that far from your Asheville Cabin, just about an hour beyond Cherokee. It’s a day trip for sure but it is so worth it. Just to see the wilderness and the wildlife in all this undisturbed beauty is so exciting. The trail of cars often have to stop so that the wild animals can cross the road.
My favorite day trip is to Cherokee, NC. It’s only 30-40 minutes from your Asheville cabin rental. When I do go to Cherokee, I always go to the museum. It’s absolutely awesome. It’s been newly redone and it’s so impressive. The whole museum is built to tell the story of the Cherokee and their ancestors from twelve thousand years ago through the present, telling stories as you move from area to area designed in a circle with a combination of computer generated imagery, special effects, and audio with an extensive artifact collection. It is to depict the very way the tribes came together and lived in the old days. It’s absolutely fascinating. One of the best museums I have ever been to.
The self-guided tour begins with the “Story Lodge” where ancient Cherokee myths appear through computer animation. You continue through the Paleo Period, when mastodons were killed with simple spears. Through the Archaic and Woodland Periods, people adapted the environment to their needs, creating agriculture, trade, and villages. The elaborate ceremonial activities of the Mississipian Period echo throughout today’s traditions. The period of contact brought trade, disease, war, and many cultural changes.
There are many hidden secrets in Asheville NC and many paranormal stories all about them. Joshua P Warren has spent much of his life digging stuff like this up. He’s made a career out of investigating stories of Asheville’s past, from high crimes to creepy goings-on. He’s had a ghost tour of Asheville that proved itself to be most exciting, as well as 12 books he’s written on the topic. Now he’s found a home for all his stories. Joshua has opened a creepy museum in town, in a rock building at 4 Marjorie St. around the corner from Pack’s Tavern on Spruce Street and literally it was once the county jail. What stories those ghosts will tell!
When you leave your Asheville pet friendly vacation cabin, head towards downtown. Go right to the center of Downtown to Pack place and you will find it there. It’s generally open noon – 8PM. Call 335-6764 to confirm that.
Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site is 3 miles south of Hendersonville off US 225 on Little River Road in Flat Rock. The house is decorated in the simple style of the Sandburgs with poinsettias and a traditionally decorated Christmas tree, plus a free holiday celebration in the house garage with refreshments, musicians, and storytellers. Everything is free except the house tour, which is $5 or $3 for ages 62 and older, free for age 15 and younger.
From your Asheville dog friendly cabin it will take only 25 min to get there. Plan on seeing the barn and all the little animals. It’ s a great experience for the whole family.
As every year this time at Christmas, the historic birthplace of Civil War Gov. Zebulon Vance will be open today from 4-7 demonstrating not only what the home may have or could have looked like, but included will be folks staging a Christmas in the style of the 1830′s. It will be decorated in the style of that day giving a glimpse of Christmas as it may have been celebrated in the southern Appalachian mountains. The pic shows Anne Allison peeling potatoes in the kitchen during the 2009 Christmas at the Vance Birthplace event. Live acoustic Christmas music will be in the Visitor Center.
Another great Christmas activity for the family as the admission is free. You will leave your Asheville vacation cabin traveling to 19-23-26 towards Weaverville. Get off at Reems Creek. Turn right at the light. Travel a couple of miles on Reems Creek and you will see the Vance Home on the right. And if you go you will find out what that monument is all about in the middle of downtown!