Asheville Adventures (September 3-4,2011)

Patty and I celebrated (a few days late due to the work situation here) our 20th Wedding Anniversary in Asheville, NC. It is a fantastic area with a great history, remarkable views and some great roads. Took the car (the motorcycle is still in the shop, but out soon) and enjoyed some wonderful weather. Church at left was built with money by a Mr. George Vanderbilt. Rather rich in the day, he also had built a rather large house called The Biltmore Estate. It is a remarkable thing to see, and have enjoyed it a few times (but not this visit). Do have to say though, favorite time to see The Biltmore is during Christmas time, they really do that place up.
We made a stop to the Western North Carolina Aviation Museum which is in Hendersonville, NC (right next to Asheville, NC). Liked this photo because the plane at the bottom was a 1930's kit plane called a "Heath Parasol". It originally flew with a Henderson Motorcycle Engine, and cost around $130 dollars for the kit. I know that because the man who built it, and donated it to the museum is sitting in the chair at left. Was amazing hearing some of this stories. The museum has a nice collection of aircraft, and admission is free (which is always nice). Will have a few photos on my Flickr Photo Page.
Visited The Hendersonville Apple Festival, which as you can see from the crowd was a pretty big event. It was your basic apple and arts and crafts festival, which is to say it was pretty neat and we had a great time. Friendly and interesting town, was told that this was a fun event to check out. I was told right. We found out about this the night before the trip, and resulted in a last minute change of plans to go to it. I am glad we made that call!
On September 4, we got going after breakfast and drove the Blue Ridge Parkway from Asheville, NC to Blowing Rock, NC. Covered some 100 miles-good tunes on the radio, Patty by my side, and some remarkable views. Saw a lot of motorcycles, quite a few cars, and a number of some very hardy bicyclists riding those remarkable roads. Sure its not the fast way, but fun to drive one of the great American roads, and the views are nothing short of awesome.
The town of Asheville has a lot to offer; great places to eat, great music, friendly people, a very interesting downtown, and its a place you want to come back to again and again!