Skip to main content

Weekend trip to Asheville

Image
By
Last weekend, took a trip to Asheville to beat the heat.

For the 100 photo flickr set, go here.

On Saturday, we spent the day exploring town. There is a lot to see in Downtown Asheville. It is unique to most of the major North Carolina cities, in that most if not all of the older buildings have been preserved allowing for a character you don't find in a Charlotte or a Raleigh.

Basilica St. Lawrence:

Built in 1909, the Basilica is awe inspiring, and the rose garden was in full bloom.





Here are a few shots from Downtown Asheville:

Wall St. has an older European feel.

Facade at the top of the Public Service Building.

The S&W Building. Now home to a very nice restaurant.
Facade of the Grove Arcade. We ate dinner at Carmel's Restaurant and Bar here.

The second day was a bit more of exploring.

Route: US 19/23, NC 63, NC 209, US 25/70, (NC 213), I-26, I-240, I-40...etc home.

NC 63 north of Leicester is a very thrilling and twisty drive. It's also not that heavily travel. Prior to the rather twisty climb up and down the mountains. There was this view near the buncombe/Madison County Line.

There were some interesting looking NC shields at NC 63's North End at NC 209 in Trust.

This one has an odd font and the corners of the diamond aren't rounded.

So basically, this is what an NC shield would look if Michigan did it.

This patch of Tiger Swallow butterflies were located just off highway 209 in Trust.

At the Spring Creek Cafe, there's this wall painting of a map of the area. Very good detail!

After stopping at Hot Springs, I had to solve the mystery on whether or not NC 213 actually is signed in Walnut. It's been a mystery to most people who follow NC Highway's where NC 213 actually ends. The state map shows an off shoot into Walnut, and there are even signs near Marshall for NC 213. But around Walnut, NC 213 just disappears from US 25/70. Last year, I received an e-mail explaining why continues on US 25/70 and ends at Walnut. There were to be improvements to a number of secondary roads to allow NC 213 to connect to NC 209 in Spring Creek. That never happened. So the NC 213 extension ended in Walnut. So after exploring a number of off shoots from US 25/70 around the Barnard/Walnut area. I did find on Walnut Road (an old alignment of US 25/70) one East NC 213 shield.

This shield is located on Walnut Road. Which is signed off of US 25/70 as SR 1439 (There's no hint of NC 213 signed at all into Walnut on US 25/70 or NC 213 East joining the two routes either.) There wasn't any 'END' signs or begin shields....just this NC 213 shield on a less than one mile loop road off of US 25/70. But it does, prove that NC 213 is indeed signed in Walnut.

Before heading back to Raleigh, we stopped in Asheville one more time for lunch. I certainly would recommend Salsa's for a great Mexican/Caribbean cuisine mix.

Accomplishments:

Clinched: NC 63 and completed NC 213.
Added mileage to: US 19 and 23.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The 1915-era Teilman Bridge (the only known Concrete Pony Truss Bridge in California)

By
The Teilman Bridge is a semi-abandoned structure over Fresno Slough west of Burrell siding near the intersection of Elkhorn Avenue and Elkhorn Grade.  This structure is the only known Concrete Pony Truss Bridge constructed in California and was designed by Ingvart Teilman.  Teilman's Bridge would open in late 1915 when the Elkhorn Grade was the primary road between Fresno and Coalinga.  The structure would be replaced in 1991 but was left standing as it carries pipelines over Fresno Slough.  Part 1; the history of the Teilman Bridge In the early Twentieth Century the most direct highway between Fresno and Coalinga followed the Elkhorn Grade.  The Elkhorn Grade began at Fresno Slough a short distance west of Burrell siding.  From Fresno Slough the Elkhorn Grade followed a generally southwestern course through San Joaquin Valley into the Kettleman Hills towards Coalinga.   The Elkhorn Grade can be seen on the  1914 C.F. Weber map of Fresno Coun...
1 comment
Read more

The Dummy Lights of New York

By
  A relic of the early days of motoring, dummy lights were traffic lights  that  were  placed  in the middle of a street intersection. In those early days, traffic shuffled through busy intersections with the help of a police officer who stood on top of a pedestal. As technology improved and electric traffic signals became commonplace, they were also  originally  positioned on a platform at the center of the intersection. Those traffic signals became known as  " dummy lights "  and were common until  traffic lights were moved  onto wires and poles that crossed above the intersection.  In New York State, only a handful of these dummy lights exist. The dummy lights  are found  in the Hudson Valley towns of Beacon and Croton-on-Hudson, plus there is an ongoing tug of war in Canajoharie in the Mohawk Valley, where their dummy light has been knocked down and replaced a few times. The dummy light in Canajoharie is currently...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prunedale Road (Monterey County)

By
Prunedale Road is a short 2.6-mile-long frontage corridor of US Route 101 in the namesake Monterey County community of Prunedale.  Prior to 1932 US Route 101 bypassed Prunedale in favor of the San Juan Grade to the east.  Prunedale Road along with nearby Moro Road served as an alternative connecting highway between Salinas and San Juan Bautista.  Following the realignment of US Route 101 onto the Prunedale Cutoff the former through route along Prunedale Road would be rendered as a western frontage.   Part 1; the history of Prunedale Road Prunedale Road is located in and is named after the Monterey County community of Prunedale.  Said community was founded near the junction of San Migeul Canyon, Langley Canyon and Echo Valley.  Watsonville settler Charles Langley (namesake of Langley Canyon) was one of the prominent early community settlers.  The Prunedale Post Office would open for the first time in 1894 but would close by 1908.  Early agricu...
Post a Comment
Read more