Thursday, November 20, 2014

Early view of Christmastime from Asheville, NC (November 14-16)

Great weekend, this was actually taken November 14 at Stewart-Haas Racing, where my son Robby and I stopped in to see the shop and the cars there. Of note, on the following Sunday Kevin Harvick won the 2014 Sprint Cup Championship. Nice shop and a fun visit.
We also made a visit to El Amigo for some first rate Mexican food (a favorite place of ours) . Prior to that I went to RideNow to see the new area they created for Indian Motorcycles. They did not have the one I wanted to see (The Indian Scout) but still some fine bikes, and a very cool area to check out. Will have more on my "Racing with the Wind" Page.  
This  photo was taken November 15 from the Blue Ridge Parkway...just a remarkable view from up there on what was a cool day in Asheville, NC. This is one of my favorite places not just in North Carolina, but for that matter, in the world. Nice to be back there (have been a few times) and we had fun for a short bit exploring the Parkway. We made a stop at the Folk Art Center, which I highly recommend if you are in the area.
My second trip to the mountains this year, just a few weeks ago I was on the motorcycle also on the Blue Ridge Parkway, but that was in Virginia.
This is downtown Asheville, we went down there for a while. Love the town as there is a lot to see and do there. We really enjoyed some of the shops in the Grove Arcade. Fun to walk around and check out the sights. There was also some live music on the streets.
After that, we went to Biltmore Village and checked out the shops there (Amy did a bit of shopping as well) and wandering the shops.
We did not make it to the McDonalds near there but have been there before (well, I have) and highly suggest that...it is something unique to see.  
 Made a quick stop to the world famous Grove Park Inn...which is really something to see. It is all decked out for Christmas already and even outside of the season it is a remarkable sight.
This is from the backside of the hotel, which gives a view off in the distance of downtown Asheville (which can be seen at the upper right).
Again we wandered the shops there and checked out some of the hotel. Did we stay there? No, but for a really special occasion it would be a remarkable place to spend a night or two).
This is what we came to see...the Bilmore. Gets a lot of names....such as "America's Castle". It is a sight to behold with over 240 rooms, 40 plus bathrooms, and over 60 fireplaces. It is a just a huge and beautiful thing-especially so at Christmas. We loved the tour of the house and checking out the rooms (and no you dont get to see all of them, but enough to give you a real feel for the place. Tour takes about an hour and a half. It was a wonderful and remarkable visit and one I hope to repeat with my wonderful girlfriend in the year to come.      

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