Last week Tom and I went to Asheville, North Carolina.  We had not been there in a very long time and certainly not since the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene.  Asheville is only 2.5 hours from Cumberland Gap, so we decided to drive down and check it out.

Hurricane Helene was really hard on the city.  Rainfall in the city was over 13 inches from September 25 to 27, 2024.  The worst damage, however, came from the flooding caused by even greater rainfall in the surrounding areas.  Some places had over 30 inches of rain in the same period.  Rivers and creeks in Asheville flooded.  Mudslides and a flooded Pigeon River took out sections of 1-40 and the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Although I-40 is open, construction delays are still making travel challenging.  The Blue Ridge Parkway on either side of Asheville is closed and may remain so for a long time.

The damage was greatest in Asheville beside the rivers.  The beautiful riverfront parks were all flooded.  The historic Biltmore Village shops were flooded.  The people of Asheville have worked very hard to get their city up and running again.  Most of the riverfront is cleaned up and repaired.  About half the shops in Biltmore Village are open again.  The Arts District, which was not damaged as much by the flooding, is open for business.  But, because the Blue Ridge Parkway isn’t open, tourism and visitation to the city is much lower than it usually is in the summer.  I overheard one business owner saying that sales had been much lower than expected.

Tom and I found a parking lot in downtown Asheville and paid for three hours of parking.  Our first destination was the Moogseum, a quirky museum dedicated to Bob Moog and the Moog synthesizer.  Tom and I grew up on music that used the Moog synthesizer so we were very interested in the museum.  The museum expanded its focus to electronic instruments such as electric keyboards and the theremin.  The museum is interactive, so we both had a chance to play around with a synthesizer.  We also tried playing a theremin, but I will need more practice before I can play the Star Trek theme.

 

After the Moogseum, we went to Mast General Store.  I expected an old-fashioned general store preserved as a museum / store in downtown Asheville.  Although the Mast General Store was originally opened in 1883, it opened in Knoxville.  Today, Mast General Stores are a chain of stores in touristy areas of the Appalachians.  The one in Asheville was fun, with antiques placed along the walls by the ceiling and barrels of candy.  It was also really expensive.

I wanted to check out some of the handicrafts stores for which Asheville is well known.  We went to Asheville NC Home Crafts which had some yarn and felted hats.  The yarn was arranged by color, which made it difficult to find the right weight and material.  But it was fun to look around.  I found some yarn for a pair of socks but was a little disappointed in the selection.

Our final destination, before our parking expired, was Malaprop’s Bookstore.  On the way, however, we found a couple of other shops to explore.  One was an art gallery and soda fountain in the old Woolworth’s.  Called Woolworth Walk, it had an interesting mix of artwork for sale.  We were especially captivated by Leland Kent who photographs abandoned places in the southeast.  His pictures are evocative and haunting.

We continued on up the street to the bookstore, but suddenly stopped when we reached a store with looms in the window.  Earthguild sells tools, materials, and books for weavers – loom weavers and basket weavers.  They had materials for many other crafts as well, but weaving is their focus.  They had a better yarn selection than Home Crafts, which made me wish I had found their shop first.  I got some roving for spinning and Tom got some stuff for barrel hoops.  Mostly, we enjoyed talking to the two very knowledgeable women in the shop.

We finally made it to Malaprop’s, which was a typical small bookstore and cafe.  I never like food in close proximity to the books in a bookstore and this food was in the middle of the books.  They had a good selection of bestsellers, but not a lot of other stuff.

Tom and I made it back to our parking spot just before our time expired.  In checking the clock, we realized we had time to get to the Blue Ridge Parkway Visitors Center before it closed.  We have been to the Blue Ridge Parkway many times but I never got the stamp.  It is a beautiful park and well worth taking your time.  We did not.  We were “those people” who run in right before the Visitors Center closes, stamp the book and leave.  Although it is easy to judge those people when you see them in the Visitors Center, Tom and I have learned that there are many reasons why they might be running in at the last minute.  We have been those people several times.

Tom and I really enjoyed our trip to Asheville.  We decided to call it a day at that point because the tourist attractions were closing.  We hope to come back to Asheville soon and explore some more.  On our way home, we drove through a small thunderstorm and the sky put on quite a show.  A fitting end to a very nice day.