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

2018 Mojave Road Trip Part 2; The deadly desert highway (California State Route 127 and Nevada State Route 373)

By
After leaving Barstow via Old Highway 58 my next destination was in Death Valley.  To access Death Valley from rural San Bernardino County required a trek on north on Interstate 15 to California State Route 127 which becomes Nevada State Route 373 at the state line. Along I-15 I encountered the road sign oddity that is Zzyzx Road about eight miles south of Baker.   Zzyzx Road is a four mile road that used to go to the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa.   The spa was founded in the 1940s and the owner made up the name "Zzyzx" to claim it was the last word in the English Language.  The spa has been shut down since the 1970s and is now part of a Desert Studies Center for California State University. The southern terminus of CA 127 in Baker is located at I-15 exit 246.  CA 127 is a 91 mile north/south highway which runs to the Nevada State Line in Inyo County.  CA 127 is called Death Valley Road from I-15 northward.  South of CA 127 ...
4 comments
Read more

Finding the Pre-Emption Road of New York State

By
  The Pre-Emption Road (or rather a series of roads named Pre-Emption Road) follows a survey line called the Pre-Emption Line, drawn in the early days of the United States. The story begins with Massachusetts and New York having competing land claims to modern day Western New York State that have their roots in colonial charters granted by the British. After the Revolutionary War ended, this land became the frontier of the nation and its settlement became a priority for the new American government. During this era, there were a lot of competing land claims that needed to be settled. It was no different with the land claims between New York State and Massachusetts. On November 30, 1786, Massachusetts and New York sent representatives to Hartford, Connecticut to resolve their competing land claims. In less than three weeks, the representatives had reached a compromise. Massachusetts would receive pre-emption rights, meaning the right to sell the land after the Indian title ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What's In a Name?: When the Roads Really Do Tell a Story

By
  Our tagline on the Gribblenation blog is "because every road tells a story". Some roads tell different stories than others. Along our travels, we may see historic markers that tell us a little story about the roads we travel or the places we pass by. Some historic markers are more general, as to telling us who lived where or what old trail traversed between two towns. During my travels across New York State and other states or provinces, I pass by many historic markers, some with interesting or amusing references to roads. I wanted to highlight a few of the markers I've seen along my travels around the Empire State and help tell their stories. Those stories may be as specific as explaining the tales of a tree that was used to help measure a distance of eight miles from Bath to Avoca in Steuben County, as referenced on the Eight Mile Tree historical marker above. They may also help point the way along historical roads first used centuries ago, or may help tell a local l...
Post a Comment
Read more