Archive for the ‘Rainy day activities’ Category
Located at 10 S. Lexington Ave. the lounge offers customers a cozy setting with comfortable furniture, candlelit tables and Wifi as they savor a luscious brownie with an espresso or a glass of wine. The second and third floors of the building house the kitchen and various other things. The walls of the lounge are adorned with Asheville artist Andy Farkas work. And the chocolate! Oh my goodness! The Chocolate!!!! The owners have a gift like no other. From cake to truffles to dips, oh fantastic.
It’s in downtown Asheville so it’s only 15 minutes from your Asheville vacation cabin.
There are a couple of Bowling Alleys in Asheville. If you like to bowl, you’ll want to try some new lanes on your vacation, ones you’ve not tried before. It’s always fun to go on a vacation and try out the local lanes in the town you’re in when you’re an avid bowler. Bring your ball! Both are not far from the Asheville vacation cabin you’ll be staying in.
One is the Star Lanes bowling center on Kenilworth. The other is the Sky-Lanes on Patton Ave. What’s nice about bowling alleys are they can be so much a part of the community. They hold events there regularly to aid some organization or another to raise money.
One of the fun places to Contra Dance is at Warren Wilson College. There’s a weekly dance at Bryson Gym and anyone can go. One hundred or more people come together each Thursday for some old-time mountain music and the passes and twirls of the contra dance. You don’t even need a partner to go because the style of dance encourages you to dance with others. It’s a mere 30 minutes from your Asheville vacation cabin.
The gathering at the college started in the 1930′s as the Farmer’s Ball with square dancing. The dance hall closed in the 1950′s. The tradition started up again in 1982 and has been going strong ever since.
Paved, well lighted walkways wind through the vaulted chambers and along the banks of the ancient Underground River that carved these remarkable caverns from the hard core of the earth 200 to 400 million years ago. In the frontier days, Indians used the Underground River as an attack and escape route in their raids on settlers. Stealing into the area by way of the Underground River and the caverns, they swooped down on unsuspecting families, then disappeared as if swallowed up by the earth.
I know, I know, why would I go to Bristol TN when I’m visiting Asheville NC. I’ll tell you why. As long as you are here and you are so close, just driving distance, and you want to see everything around, you will want to check out the many caverns in the area. There were no state lines when they were created. Stay at your Asheville Pet Friendly Cabin and leave for a day trip to explore both of the Tennessee caverns mentioned in this blog, this one and the Appalachian one. You won’t be sorry.
Vadim Bora, 56, died recently this month following complications from a massive stroke in December. He may have left this city in body form, but he remains with us in spirit as his artwork is found throughout the city. Leave your Asheville pet friendly cabin and take a Vadim tour around the city.
Look for the crucifix on St. Mary’s Episcopal Church off Charlotte Street. Then on Wall Street you will see a trio of cats named appropriately “cat walk” slinking down Wall St that he created for the Urban Trail. When you go to Biltmore, Cornelia Vanderbilt playing with her dog Cedric at the Biltmore Estate’s Antler Hill Village outside Cedric’s Tavern is Vadim’s creation. At Mission Hospital’s Reuters Children’s Outpatient Center you will see “On the Mend,” a 10 piece life-size figurative sculpture grouping. At the VA Medical Center Asheville there is a memorial stone sculpture, “The Wings of Freedom.” Another place to find one of his sculptures is at the Modesto restaurant in the Grove Arcade. There you will find medieval-style grotesques of synthetic stone.
For many years, the cavern lay in silence broken only by the sound of the water, the animals that called it home, and the occasional human who made their way into it. It was home to many wild animals, used by local people as a home, celebrated by the Native Americans as a place to hold special meetings, a weekend hangout for local kids, and had many other varied uses down through the years. In 1991, it was opened to the public as a show cave for the first time in its’ long and varied history. Since that time, the caverns have had many visitors through its magnificent chambers. It is a bat sanctuary for the endangered gray bats, as well as home to 6 other species, and is a testament to the beauty not only in the world above, but also in the world underneath that many have forgotten exists.
Going to these caves would be a little bit more than an hour and a half trip each way from your Asheville vacation cabin. It would be a day trip, but an interesting and fun one. A stop in Johnson city to put together a picnic basket for a picnic once you get to the caverns would be a really nice idea.
Health Discovery has a great traveling exhibit guaranteed to entertain your kids. The new exhibit is called Alice’s Wonderland…A Most Curious Adventure. Children and agile adults are invited to “fall” through the rabbit hole and begin a whimsical journey to a place where things aren’t as they seem and the bizarre becomes ordinary. A lot like living in Asheville. :O)
Stay at an Asheville pet friendly cabin and bring the kids and the pets and have a blast. The cabin is not far from the Health Center.
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.
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.
Linville Caverns is located in Marion NC, just a short distance from Asheville NC. Definitely an easy and worthwhile day trip from your Asheville rental cabin. You get to see inside a mountain. Lots of hanging things and big caverns and a lake and Linville Falls is just right there. A really fun excursion.
From Asheville, NC : Take Interstate 40 East to exit 72 (Old Fort), staying straight off exit ramp on US 70 East for 10-12 miles. Turn left at intersection with US 221 (Wal-Mart & McDonald’s on left) travelling north for 18 miles. Cave entrance on left. Approx. Travel Time: 75 mins.