BEAUTIFUL ASHEVILLE
Today Susie and I met at the River Arts District of Asheville for our last visit before I fly off to France on Tuesday. The Wedge Brewery didn‘t have a food truck but the New Belgium Brewery overlooking the French Broad River had two food trucks, and, of course, beer, so we went there. It was a sunny Sunday afternoon and spring was in the air. The New Belgium Brewery has a large parking lot but also a huge outdoor seating area including a a wide play space. What impressed us was the number of families with small children who were there. A number of kids were sailing around a sidewalk that circled the play place on scooters or bicycles while others chased each other in the center. Parents sat at picnic tables drinking beer and watching their children. It was an idyllic afternoon. I remember sitting there last summer with my son and his family before going off to Montevideo. At that time the French Broad River below the brewery was filled with rafters floating down the river, on blow up rafts or inner tubes.
And I was reminded that Asheville is a pretty wonderful town. The River Arts District, which was once the grungy industrial area converted to artist‘s studios when the industries left Asheville and now has become a sought after place to live with condominiums taking the place of warehouses. And along the river is a park with walking or running paths.
But there are several other areas of Asheville that are special including the fine shops and restaurants at the center of Asheville and Biltmore Village with its trendy shops at the entrance to the Biltmore Estate. West Asheville, which was rundown in 1965 when we arrived, is now a very hip place with all kinds of funky shops and restaurants. And surrounding Asheville are all kinds of places that draw visitors including the Biltmore House and the Blue Ridge Parkway which runs all the way to Washington along the spine of the Appalachian mountains and the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, a beautiful wild area and the most visited national part in the United States.
So why am I escaping to Geneva and southern France when I have a cottage with a beautiful view at the edge of Asheville? If I lived in Geneva, and had ever been here, I would be dreaming of revisiting Asheville and spending a quiet month here, just as I am dreaming of spending the quiet month of April in Winsen, Germany. It could be that one place is as beautiful as another, but that variety and discovering new things is what makes travel stimulating and attractive.
Right now I look forward to change, but I also look forward to being back here again in a month. Anyone in some equally marvelous place in the world can contact me if they would like to exchange houses for a month. Life is but a dream.
BILLYBABA’S WANDERING 