September 23, 2026 – Keith Robertson

“Asheville”

We flew to Asheville on Monday, via Charlotte. A long layover there allowed us to enjoy a leisurely lunch before boarding the tiny (meaning I had to bend over almost double to walk down the aisle) plane to Asheville. It felt like flying inside an MRI tube, which was not good for claustrophobic flyers.

We wondered what caused the over 30 minute delay in leaving Charlotte – of course no updates from the American Airlines pilot. Diana noticed out the window that a plane landed with a lot of smoke from the wheels and immediate emergency vehicle response. We assume all traffic was held until that troubled flight landed.

Would you like to know a little bit about the history of Asheville? If not, skip across the next few paragraphs.

Asheville, North Carolina, sits in the Blue Ridge Mountains and has a long history rooted in the Indigenous peoples of the region, particularly the Cherokee. European-American settlement grew in the late 18th century, and the town was incorporated as Asheville in 1797. Its location along mountain routes helped it develop as a regional center, and the arrival of the railroad in the 1880s accelerated its growth.

I love this picture that was in the lobby of the condominium building – I named it Cherokees meet REO Speedwagon:

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Asheville became known as a health and resort destination, attracting visitors seeking the mountain climate. The city experienced a major building boom, producing landmarks such as the Biltmore Estate, built by George Vanderbilt beginning in 1889. Asheville also developed a distinctive Art Deco architectural legacy, particularly through public buildings constructed during the 1920s and 1930s.

The Great Depression hit Asheville particularly hard, leaving the city with substantial municipal debt. Unlike many cities, Asheville largely avoided demolishing its older downtown buildings to modernize, helping preserve its historic architecture. Beginning in the late 20th century, downtown revitalization, the arts, craft brewing, tourism, and its reputation as a cultural destination fueled renewed growth. Today, Asheville is known for its historic architecture, arts scene, food and craft-beverage culture, and its setting in the southern Appalachian Mountains.

Back to our trip. I watched a somewhat cheesy movie on the flight – Alan Cuming and Brian Cox star in Glenrothan, a movie about two brothers and their fight over a whisky distillery.

After a good hike, we took an Uber downtown to rendezvous with Jeff and Merry Lee. Dee Dee, MLM’s sister, had very kindly let us stay in one of her two condos in downtown Asheville. The place was quite luxurious with excellent views of downtown and the mountains.

We enjoyed dinner at the nearby lobster trap. Jeff and MLM donned lobster bibs, while Diana and I shared steamed clams and mussels – very good.

Jeff coined a good term – “Saintsian comeback.” Initially deployed to describe the way UT came back to win against Ohio State and gain the number one college football ranking, it is based on the way the Saints rebounded in the second half of their opening game against the Lions.

Three of us enjoyed Tuesday breakfast at Cafe Sage, while Diana went on a walk around town. This was certainly a “granola head” place – lots of healthy, vegan and gluten free discussion on the menu, and a composting station for leftovers. I enjoyed my breakfast.

After that, MLM drove us into the mountains for a hike to a waterfall.

This had been described as an easy hike with less than 200 feet in vertical elevation. Mostly true, and we think the elevation was more than that. Jeff took note of a hand written note on the trailhead sign – yellowjacket nest at the second to last set of stairs. This sparked the question, “How does one know when you reach the second to last stairs, if the last set are not visible?”

We found the little pests flying around and diverted around them, warning hikers on the way down who hadn’t seen the notice.

The waterfall was impressive and obviously not in full flow.

Dinner in the evening was excellent. A search on “best restaurants in Asheville” comes back with Curate Bar de Tapas atop the list. Things started well when the person who brought our drinks (not the waiter who took the order) put them in front of the correct person – not a common occurrence. It’s hard to pick a favourite plate that we shared – the octopus, lamb with Moorish spices, and goat cheese stuffed peppers were all delicious.

Oh, I forgot the interesting anchovies – somewhat related to the gildas of San Sebastian.

If you ever make it to Asheville, put this place high on your list.

After dinner entertainment was in West Asheville and I loved it. A Grateful Dead cover band, Clouds of Delusion, was playing at the One World Bar. They were a decent representation of the original band, and drew a very entertaining bunch of folks spinning barefoot on the dance floor. How do they not get dizzy and fall down?

Jeff and MLM were kind to revisit the Biltmore estate with us on Wednesday.

Here are a couple of online paragraphs about the Biltmore. The term “Gilded Age” is interesting. How is that different than today, where a handful of people have the majority of wealth?

Biltmore Estate is a grand Gilded Age estate built by George Washington Vanderbilt near Asheville, North Carolina. Vanderbilt first visited the area in 1888 and was captivated by the Blue Ridge Mountains. He purchased land and commissioned architect Richard Morris Hunt to design a 250-room French Renaissance–style château, while renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted designed the gardens and grounds. Construction began in 1889, and the house was completed in 1895. Biltmore is a country home and working estate rather than simply a mansion. The completed house contained more than four acres of floor space, including 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces. Vanderbilt and his wife, Edith, lived there with their daughter Cornelia, while the surrounding estate included farms, forests, gardens, and extensive landscaping. Olmsted’s work at Biltmore also contributed to the development of large-scale scientific forestry in the United States.

After George Vanderbilt’s death in 1914, his descendants continued managing the estate. Biltmore House opened to the public in 1930 during the Great Depression, helping generate tourism and revenue for its preservation. Today, Biltmore remains family-owned and encompasses roughly 8,000 acres, with the mansion, gardens, winery, lodging, and other attractions making it one of Asheville’s best-known historic landmarks.

We stopped for wine tasting at the Biltmore village. What an impressive estate!

Dinner was at Mountain Madre, a Mexican restaurant that Jeff wanted to try after seeing the food and drinks when walking by the patio. I thought the offerings were very good and different than the typical fare. The margarita flight that Jeff ordered came with helpful fruit and pepper indicators to identify each drink.

After dinner entertainment was right next door – Abby Bryant performing the music of Nina Simone at the Hotel Eve jazz club (there does not appear to be a Hotel Eve and we couldn’t figure out why it’s called that.)

Abby started out really well – great voice and style, and became a bit monotonous after three or four songs. All the same tempo and approach – she needed something different to keep our attention. That being said, the venue and staff were all great. I would go back. Thanks to Jeff for finding this music opportunity – totally different than Tuesday night’s hippy fest.

We made an attempt at brunch at Sunny Point in West Asheville on Thursday morning. A 45 minute wait seemed a bit too long, and so we took the host’s recommendation and wandered down the street to Biscuit Head.

Here we were introduced to cathead biscuits – extra-large, rustic Southern buttermilk biscuits, named because they are traditionally said to be as big as a cat’s head. That explained the cat mural on the side of the building. Diana and I split a cathead biscuit Benedict -yummy.

There was a “jambar” so that we could try some creative berry mixtures with the catheads.

This take on the Dos Equis beer commercials with the most interesting man in the world made me smile:

We walked back through West Asheville, enjoying some of the murals along the way, from Dolly Parton to Grace Jones:

We returned to the River Arts district, completely devastated by Hurricane Helene in September, 2024 – and now recovering nicely.

In case we hadn’t been exposed to enough art, we made a stop at the Marquee – a massive collection of the work of independent artists contained in a large warehouse.

There were some interesting pieces amongst the plethora of art offerings:

After some chill time at the condo, we ventured downstairs to the Sovereign Remedies cocktail bar – almost directly underneath where we were staying.

This was a great stop – good food and superior cocktails.

Then across the street for some hilarity at the dueling piano bar.

It wasn’t really dueling – the two guys took turns, allowing them to do some quick research on the requests that people were tipping them to play. Both were very talented and kept the good crowd well entertained. It was just as much fun to watch the other folks in there enjoying the music as it was to enjoy the songs that we requested.

We spent our last couple of Asheville hours enjoying brunch at Chestnut on Friday morning – a higher end affair with very good dishes. Thanks to MLM and Jeff for delivering us back to the airport for an on time and easy trip home.

I did enjoy a movie, “Tuner”, with Dustin Hoffman and Leo Woodall. Leo plays a piano tuner with ultra-sensitive hearing who discovers a talent for cracking safes.

I couldn’t resist the Talking Heads cover band, “Tchoup Making Sense” at Tipitinas on Saturday night. They were excellent and I wished they had found a way to start before 10:30pm. The opening song was my favourite – way to win me back after the late start:

Thom, Denny and Greg had happy music faces on:

One more song:

I’m glad I hung in there with the late start.

I’m about a third of the way through “Degas at the Gas Station” by Thomas Beller, and am really enjoying it. I love the writing style and the somewhat random and interconnected topics. Here’s an online summary and I’ll have some highlights to share next week:

“In his latest collection, Thomas Beller trains his piercing literary eye on how a single, seismic event indelibly shapes the trajectory of the common and mundane experiences of one’s life. Weaving together a charming set of autobiographical stories, Beller interrogates the randomness and contingencies that separate sadness from joy, death from life. His father escaped the Nazis, only to die in America from cancer when Beller was nine years old. Beller measures how this loss impacted his life as the father of two young children and became both a catalyst for understanding an ever-present sorrow. At the same time, ordinary moments—from retrieving an iPod from the subway tracks to encountering the police at a Kinks concert to observing his young tutued ballerina daughter at a gas station—lead to instances of penetrating insight, self-deprecation, and humor. Degas at the Gas Station presents an endearing and bracingly honest portrait of the author as an ever-curious observer of the mysteries and profundities of everyday life.”

I also read a bit of Patti Smith’s “Bread of Angels” – didn’t love it and found my attention drifting off – maybe I’ll come back to it again next week. A little about it:

“The most intimate of Smith’s memoirs, Bread of Angels takes us through her teenage years where the first glimmers of art and romance take hold. Arthur Rimbaud and Bob Dylan emerge as creative role models as she begins to write poetry then lyrics, ultimately merging both into the songs of iconic recordings such as Horses, Wave, and Easter.”