Walk A Lot Wednesday

Posted by Susan Russo on March 28, 2013

Don in front of the Basilica of St. Lawrence

Finally, I look outside the window this morning and the sun is shining! Today’s plan is to set out early and hit the Urban Trail and Walking Tour. This trail is divided into 5 eras identified by symbols carved into pink granite blocks in the sidewalk. It encompasses the historical events, people and architecture of the downtown area represented by 30 individual stations. These are either bronze plaques or pieces of sculpture. We park our car at the Visitor’s Center (free parking) and set off on foot for downtown.

Me in front of The Flat Iron Building standing next to a huge sculpture of a flat iron

Not 15 minutes into this 2 hour odyssey, it starts snowing again. We decide to plod on (well, we really have no other choice because the car is on the other side of town). To warm up and get out of the elements we duck into the Mast General Store which has been in existence since 1883. A few purchases later and sufficiently warmed up we once again hit the trail. It seems that we and the homeless folks are the only ones out and about in downtown this morning.

The S& W Cafeteria Building – my personal favorite

We plod on through a different era and once again, the wind and snow get the best of us and we escape into an antique shop on Lexington Avenue. Once our defrosting has occurred, we again set out to complete our mission. Now, the sun is out again and although it is still windy it is more tolerable. The tour made a lot more sense after our doing the Trolley Tour yesterday and afforded us the opportunity to see things up close.

Angel Looking Homeward (if you don’t get the literary references you really should read more)

Finally, we arrive in Thomas Wolfe’s neighborhood and I can’t resist climbing onto the porch of The Old Kentucky Home, which Wolfe immortalized as “Dixieland” in his novels. Apparently, Asheville was not too appreciative of his hallmark novel & he and his mother were virtually ostracized from the community.

Finally, we complete all 30 stations and decide to trek back to the Visitor’s Center to retrieve the car and grab some lunch. However, I can’t help but having to take a picture of the sign at Pack Square Park.

I find it interesting that the first rule of the park is “No registered sex offenders”. We interpret that to mean that if you are an UN registered sex offender, you are pretty much good to go.
Meanwhile, back at the Visitor’s Center I inquiring about tickets to The Biltmore House and discover that the center offers them MUCH CHEAPER than the purchase price on the Biltmore property. I tell the nice lady that in all my research before coming to Asheville, nothing mentioned this fact. She told me that they are not allowed to advertise this fact. Of course, Don’s geezer hat again works it’s magic and we get a veteran’s discount as well.
Don now has a hankering for some North Carolina style barbecue so we decide to check out Asheville’s oldest & some claim best Bar-B-Q establishment, Little Pigs. Manager Bruce Gordon & counterman, Matt dish up some mighty good eats. I even forgo my vegetarianism and order some ribs, chicken and absolutely the best piece of lemon meringue pie I ever tasted. (See the Carmegeddon Facebook page for pictures of lunch)

Don was happier than a pig in . . . sauce at www.littlepigsbbq.net

It seems our tickets to The Biltmore are good after 4:00 p.m. today so after lunch we decide to hit the hot tub & then set out for the Antler Hill Village & Winery on the grounds of the estate. We take in the exhibit Biltmore Legacy which documents how the Vanderbilt’s did travel & leisure. Needless to say it is not in the style of your Carmageddon host’s travel pursuits. It seems to us that some people have way too much money. The one interesting fact I gleaned was that the original Biltmore Vanderbilt’s were supposed to come home from England on The Titanic but changed their minds at the last minute and took Titanic’s sister ship. One of their staff couldn’t get his cruise changed so he went on the Titanic and died when it sank. We also toured the winery the headed back to our home away from home here at the Brookside.

A late dinner was in order so we headed back downtown for some tapas at Zambra.

Don is not a tapas kind of guy. He considers anything that is shared between 2 or more people a snack and not a meal. Zambra is billed as “the most romantic restaurant in Asheville” consequently, it has a very dark ambiance the evokes Moorish Spain. Don was complaining that it was so dark he couldn’t read the menu. The couple sitting immediately next to us were taking advantage of the romantic atmosphere by attempting to copulate. Then they were out of mussels. Definitely 3 strikes in Don’s restaurant review. He did admit the food was good and the presentation perfect but he was less than enthused by it all.