One of our favorite ways to see a new city is by taking the hop-on hop-off trolley tours that many cities offer for tourists. It's a great way to see the highlights of a town without the hassle of navigating unfamiliar streets and finding parking, plus the trolley drivers share historical highlights and humor along the way.
The weather couldn't have been more perfect for today's trolley tour, with sunny skies and temperatures reaching the low 70s. We boarded the trolley at the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center, and hopped off at the second stop, the Omni Grove Park Inn. It's a magnificent (and huge) 540 room hotel situated on a hill with panoramic views of downtown Asheville. The buildings are made entirely of stone (including the roofs), with outer walls four feet thick. The building and landscape architecture are amazing, and we found ourselves wishing (as we often have on this trip!) that we had more time to fully explore the grounds.
Back on the trolley, we decided to take a little time to explore downtown, so we hopped off at stop number six, the Grove Arcade. One of the first indoor shopping centers in the country, it was completed in 1929, opening as a five story public market with shops and services. During World War II, the federal government took over the building due to its large size (269,000 square feet) and remote location. 74 shops and 127 offices were evicted. In 1997, the city of Asheville acquired the building and in 2002 the restored Grove Arcade reopened, with shops, offices, restaurants, and 42 luxury apartments. We had a late lunch at Thai Tara on the first floor of the building. It wasn't quick, but was quite tasty. After lunch we walked a bit downtown, taking photos of a basilica and many other prominent buildings. It was hard to believe this vibrant downtown of high rise buildings and street musicians is in a city of only about 90,000 people.
Our final stop was a brief one at Historic Biltmore Village. In retrospect, we should have spent more time at the first two stops and skipped this one, since shopping for souvenirs is low on our priority list. We hopped aboard the next trolley (one comes by each stop every 30 minutes) and headed back to the Visitor Center. I was tempted to pick up their relocation packet since we could easily live here, but I resisted the urge. Oregon is home, and as I said before, I'm a placist.
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| The Spa at the Grove Park Inn is mostly underground with glass ceilings. Just walking in was relaxing! |
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| A festival of some kind was underway at Pack Square downtown on this Sunday. |
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| My daughter's lunch of pineapple fried rice with chicken. She loved it! |
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| Basilica of St. Lawrence, built in 1905. |
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| The Flatiron Building. |
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| Biltmore Village. |
Another gorgeous day for your travels.
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