Welcome to Western North Carolina 2013

Welcome Serving the Greater Asheville, Hendersonville & Waynesville areas

TO WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA

Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES | Welcome to Western North Carolina

Outdoor Adventure Being bored just isn’t an option

Taste the Mountains Check out our favorite eateries

Mountain Spirits

Beer, wine & Western North Carolina

Asheville’s Cup Runneth Over with Cultural Offerings Active Retirees Are the Norm in Western North Carolina

No one plans for a less than perfect move.

Occasionally, they happen. Having a local advocate goes a long way to resolving problems efficiently.

-B. Hardee 2012

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I wanted to provide some positive feedback on one of the movers you recommended. They did a very professional job for us on our move from Alabama. They sent a truck from Asheville to pick up our things and avoided having to do a shuttle because of the curvy roads.

Packing and shipping personal items and household goods can be a stressful part of relocating. Feel confident knowing you are being moved by a premier household goods provider carefully selected by our Move Management Team.

How we help

Mountainous terrain requires specialized driving knowledge to minimize unexpected expenses Ask about our Full Protection Replacement Program that can help protect your valuables Allow our personal relationships with moving companies to ensure you receive the best possible service Ask about our complimentary Move Management Services for Beverly-Hanks & Associates clients.

beverly-hanks.com

866.858.2257 relocate@beverly-hanks.com

EQUAL HOUSING

OPPORTUNITY

Welcome.

beverly-hanks.com Client Services 866-858-2257 Downtown Asheville 300 Executive Park • Asheville, NC 28801 800-868-7221 TOLL FREE • 828-254-7221 Asheville North 820 Merrimon Avenue • Asheville, NC 28804 800-277-2511 TOLL FREE • 828-251-1800 Asheville South One Town Square Blvd. Suite 140 • Asheville, NC 28803 800-868-8999 TOLL FREE • 828-684-8999 Hendersonville 400 Beverly-Hanks Centre • Hendersonville, NC 28792 800-868-0515 TOLL FREE • 828-697-0515 Lake Lure 109 Arcade St. • Lake Lure, NC 28746 828-625-8846 Waynesville 74 North Main St. • Waynesville, NC 28786 800-849-8024 TOLL FREE • 828-452-5809 NAI Beverly-Hanks Commercial 828-210-3940

It is our privilege to introduce you to the beautiful region of Western North Carolina that we call home.

We know to truly discover Western North Carolina, one must experience the splendor of our mountains and communities. We are confident that when you do, you will find out why most people who visit here never want to leave.

Choosing the right real estate company to assist you with exploring this area is important. You want to be sure you choose the best, and in Western North Carolina that means choosing Beverly-Hanks & Associates. With over 250 full-time professional sales associates who have the experience to handle your specific needs, we have earned a reputation for looking after our clients like no other real estate company in the area. If you are a first-time home buyer or an experienced investor, whether you are interested in residential or commercial real estate, our sales associates can assist you.

Not only do we know the market, we know the area. We know the schools, the hospitals, the churches, the cultural opportunities, and who to call if you have a problem. We can inform you on taxes, subdivision restrictions, zoning, and home inspections. When it is time to move, we can assist with the movement of your household. In short, we can make your move to this area a pleasant experience.

Every year, thousands of buyers and sellers choose Beverly-Hanks & Associates to handle their real estate needs. Many have used our services before, and others are referred from previous customers, from the business community, or from one of the numerous relocation companies who value our professional expertise. Regardless of the source, each client comes to us for the professional service and consul that has been a hallmark of Beverly-Hanks & Associates, REALTORS, since 1976.

It is my hope that you will find the information contained in this magazine of assistance in your exploration of the area. We look forward to being of service to you.

Warm regards,

Neal Hanks, Jr.

Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

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Inside: Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Higher Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Healthcare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Business Climate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Second Homes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Arts & Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Beer City, U.S.A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Wine in WNC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 WNC’s Food Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Active Retirement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Outdoors Adventure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 WNC Golf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Sustainability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Accommodations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 WNC Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Asheville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 The Parkway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

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Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

MARGARET HESTER PHOTO

Arden. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Weaverville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Black Mountain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Waynesville & Maggie Valley. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Hendersonville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Fletcher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Jackson County . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Mars Hill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Marshall & Hot Springs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Polk County . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Yancey County . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Brevard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Chimney Rock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Lake Lure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Calendar of Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Helpful Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

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ON THE COVER: “Queen Of The Meadow”

by Elizabeth Ellison.

Painter and papermaker Elizabeth Ellison is the owner and operator of Elizabeth Ellison Watercolors, a studio/gallery located in the Old Clampitt Hardware Building in Bryson City, N.C. Ellison and her husband — writer/naturalist George Ellison — have resided in Bryson City the area since the early 1970's. While much of her work is in water media, she also paints in oils and does some hand building with clay. Her work can be seen at her gallery in Bryson City and at The Design Gallery in Burnsville, N.C. or online at elizabethellisonwatercolors.com.

Welcome to Western North Carolina VOL. 8 • NO. 1

EXCLUSIVE RESORT MEMBERSHIP Enhance Your Visits and Stay Connected to this Spectacular Resort

Published by Smoky Mountain News, LLC PUBLISHER/EDITOR Scott McLeod ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Greg Boothroyd WRITERS Garret K. Woodward, Paul Clark, Jon Elliston ART DIRECTOR Travis Bumgardner SALES Hylah Smalley, Whitney Burton DESIGN Micah McClure, Emily Kepley Moss CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Margaret Hester

We offer membership plans to fit any lifestyle, with benefits from discounts and recognition throughout the property to preferred access to The Inn’s luxury amenities including: Historic Donald Ross-Designed Golf Course, 43,000 sq. ft. underground spa, world-class Sports Complex, indoor and outdoor tennis facilities, indoor and outdoor pools, and invitations to exclusive social events.

Please inquire about our Limited One-Year Centennial Memberships.

For a limited time only $1000 initiation fees.

290 MACON AVE. ASHEVILLE, NC 28804 828-210-7888 GROVEPARKINN.COM

Follow us on Twitter Twitter.com/EWGrove Like us on Facebook Facebook.com/groveparkinn

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One of the most important things to consider when you’re thinking about moving is the quality of the schools. Even if you don’t have children or they are out of the nest, you want to know how good of an education an area provides to its students.

You’ll be happy to know that Western North Carolina school systems and private schools consistently rank among the state’s best. The public schools that serve the area include Asheville City Schools, Buncombe County Schools, Henderson County Schools, Haywood County Schools, Madison County Schools, Transylvania County Schools, Jackson County Schools and Yancey County Schools.

PHOTO COURTESY OF WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY

Asheville City Schools

Nurturing young minds WNC schools consistently rank among North Carolina’s best

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Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

Asheville City Schools have slightly more than 4,000 students, having experienced a significant increase in enrollment at the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year. The number of students enrolled at Asheville Middle School is the highest it has been in nearly a decade. Each of the five elementary schools are a “magnet school,” meaning that parents may apply for admission to the school that best suits their child’s interests.

Asheville High School, a four-year-school, occupies a stately stone building designed by Art Deco master Douglas Ellington. With 986 students attending, 6 percent of its students are in advanced college prep courses, compared to 5 percent in the state as a whole. The school had a 76 percent SAT participation rate, which was 24 percent higher than the national rate.

Students achieved a combined critical reading/mathematics score of 1053, compared to the state average of 997 and nationwide average of 1010.

Claxton Elementary integrates the arts and humanities into curriculum teaching through drama, dance, music, visual arts and creative writing. Hall Fletcher Elementary emphasizes science, math and technologies through course work such as science lab, its greenhouse and “HopSports,” which works technology into physical education. Ira B. Jones, a “Global Scholars school,” includes Spanish, multicultural awareness and environmental stewardship into its studies.

Isaac Dickson, an experiential learning school, bases its core principles on the educational ideals of Dewey, Piaget, and Montessori. Vance School of Human Diversity and Ecology invites students to study the people and cultures of the world and examine their relationships with the natural environment.

Reflecting the diverse nature of the area’s population, Buncombe County Schools serve children of many different ethnic backgrounds.

Students in 42 schools speak more than 64 different languages. The 11th largest school system in the state (and largest in Western North Carolina), Buncombe County Schools employs nearly 4,000 people, making it the county’s second largest employer.

High school students SAT scores consistently rank among the top districts in North Carolina. In 2011, SAT scores in math, writing and critical reading exceeded state and national averages. The current Academically or Intellectually Gifted (AIG) population is 16 percent among the student body.

The system has an operating budget of $218 million, with a per-pupil expenditure of $7,607. Enrollment exceeds 25,000 students, taught by nearly 2,100 licensed teachers. Its 42 schools include 23 elementary schools, three intermediate schools, seven middle schools, six regular high schools, one alternative high school and two middle/early college schools. The “graduation initiative” began in 2006 to examine and put into motion the long-term changes to improve graduation rates. Since its inception, the program has decreased the dropout rate by 35 percent in the system.

Among Buncombe County Schools’ education initiatives is “Learn and Earn Online,” a program that allows sophomores, juniors and seniors the opportunity to take online college-level courses taught by instructors from AshevilleBuncombe Technical Community College.

Students may also take classes not offered at their high schools through North Carolina Virtual Public School, which sets up coursework, group discussion and studentteacher interaction via the Internet.

Compared to the students throughout the state, Henderson County’s scholars scored better in ABCs End-of-Grade tests in grades three through eight. Scores were considerably higher than the state average in Geometry, English 1 and Algebra 1 and 2. Achievements for both males and females exceeded state scores. Every classroom in the 13,000-student system has access to the Internet. For 2012, the district has the ninth highest SAT score in the state, with scores 61 points higher than the state average and 32 points higher than the national average.

Henderson County Schools owns Historic Johnson Farm, a heritage education center, making it one of only three school systems in the United States to own a farm. The farm, open to the public and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, teaches students about farm life on its 15 acres of farmland, forest, fields and streams. The school system

Henderson County Schools’ vision is “that every student will achieve success and graduate as a lifelong learner, globally competitive, prepared for career, college, and life.”

The system has both one of the highest graduation rates in the state and a dwindling dropout rate. Its four middle schools have been nationally designated “Schools to Watch” because of their emphasis on strong academics and their sensitivity to their students.

PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICTS > Asheville City Schools

Henderson County Schools owns Historic Johnson Farm, a heritage education center, making it one of only three school systems in the United States to own a farm. The farm, open to the public and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, teaches students about farm life on its 15 acres of farmland, forest, fields and streams.

Henderson County Schools

Education

PHOTO COURTESY OF ASHEVILLE CITY SCHOOLS

Buncombe County Schools

also has the Bullington Center, a 12-acre horticultural education center that holds workshops to teach children and adults about gardening and plant science.

Transylvania County Schools The Transylvania County school system operates four elementary schools, two middle schools, two high schools and one alternative school. It consistently ranks among the top few school systems in North Carolina in its students’ performances on the state ABC’s tests. Student attendance is among the best in the state.

Its high school students scored better on their SAT scores are students did throughout the state, and Brevard High School’s scores keep getting better. For 2011-2012, the school’s average SAT combined score for the critical thinking/mathematics portion of the exam was 1069, which is 72 points better than the state average.

To help prepare its 3,500 students for careers in the computer age, the school system

85 Mountain St. | Asheville, NC 28801 828-350-7000 | ashevillecityschools.net > Buncombe County Schools

175 Bingham Rd. | Asheville, NC 28806 828-255-5921 | buncombe.k12.nc.us > Haywood County Schools

1230 N. Main St. Waynesville, NC 28786 828-456-2400 | haywood.k12.nc.us > Henderson County Schools

414 4th Ave. West Hendersonville, NC 28739 828-697-4733 hendersoncountypublicschoolsnc.org > Jackson County Schools

398 Hospital Rd. | Sylva, NC 28779 828-586-2311 | jcps.k12.nc.us > Madison County Schools

5738 US 25/70 | Marshall, NC 28753 828-649-9276 madisonk12.schoolfusion.us > Transylvania County Schools

225 Rosenwald Ln. | Brevard, NC 28712 828-884-6173 | transylvania.k12.nc.us > Yancey County Schools

100 School Circle | Burnsville, NC 28714 828-682-6101 | yancey.net

Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

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Education

In conjunction with the Brevard Chamber Orchestra, the system implemented a strings program in its elementary schools. It also started a New Century Scholars program that provides support and college tuition for at-risk students.

Haywood County Schools

Haywood County Schools Superintendent Anne Garrett reads to students at Junaluska Elementary School in Waynesville. GARRET K. WOODWARD PHOTO

offers classes in network engineering and webpage development, as well as a Cisco Academy. On their first attempt, more than 98 percent of its eighth graders met state standards for technology competency.

The school system has also made steady

PRIVATE SCHOOLS > Asheville Catholic School

Grades PreK-8 12 Culvern St. | Asheville, NC 28804 828-252-7896 | ashevillecatholic.org > Asheville Christian Academy

Grades K4-12 74 Riverwood Rd. Swannanoa, NC 28778 828-581-2200 | acacademy.org > Asheville Montessori School

Ages 3-6 15 Julia St. | Asheville, NC 28801 828-254-6014 360 Weaverville Rd. Asheville, NC 28804 828-645-3433 ashevillemontessorischool.com > Asheville School

Grades 9-12 360 Asheville School Rd. Asheville, NC 28806 828-254-6345 | ashevilleschool.org

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> Carolina Day School

Grades PreK-12 1345 Hendersonville Rd. Asheville, NC 28803 828-274-0757 | cdschool.org > Christ School

Grades 8-12 500 Christ School Rd. Arden, NC 28704 828-684-6232 | christschool.org

> Immaculate Catholic School

Grades PreK-8 711 N. Buncombe St. Hendersonville, NC 28791 828-693-3277 | immac.org > Learning Community School

Grades K-8 375 Lake Eden Rd. Black Mountain, NC 28711 828-686-3080 thelearningcommunity.org

> Nazarene Christian School

Grades PreK-5 385 Hazel Mill Rd. | Asheville, NC 28806 828-252-9713 ashevillefirstnazarene.org > New Classical Academy

Grades PreK-8 38 Stoney Knob Rd. Weaverville, NC 28787 828-658-8317 thenewclassicalacademy.org

> Emmanuel Lutheran School

Grades PreK-8 51 Wilburn Place | Asheville, NC 28806 828-281-8182 emmanuellutheran.info > Fletcher Academy

Grades 9-12 185 Academy Dr. | Fletcher, NC 28732 828-687-5100 fletcheracademy.com

> Maccabi Academy

Grades K-5 43 N Liberty St. #100 Asheville, NC 28801 828-254-5660 maccabiacademy.org

Grades 6-8 30 Ben Lippen Rd. Asheville, NC 28806 828-258-3600 | hangerhall.org

> Odyssey Community School

Grades PreK-12 90 Zillicoa St. | Asheville, NC 28801 828-259-3653 odysseycommunity.org > Rainbow Mountain

> Montessori Learning Center

Ages 18 months-6 years 1 School Rd. | Asheville, NC 28806 828-259-9880 | mlcasheville.org

> Hanger Hall School for Girls

Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

improvement in its student-to-adult ratio. It has sought and received state and federal grants for technology, reading improvement, exceptional children’s programs, school resource officers, library books, juvenile justice programs, and quality management practices.

“Success for today, preparation for tomorrow and learning for a lifetime” sum up the vision of Haywood County Schools.

With schools far smaller than the state average, the system is able to offer its 7,700 students a great deal of personal attention.

In terms of student performance, Haywood was in the top 8 percent of schools in North Carolina. They were honored in the 2011 as having a “National Blue Ribbon School”. SAT scores placed the system in the top 5 percent of the state, with the alternative school ranked number one in North Carolina.

During the 2009-2010 school year, all 16 of Haywood County’s schools made the state ABC program’s expected growth marks, with 14 of them achieving high growth. Less than a

Children’s School Grades PreK-8 574 Haywood Rd. Asheville, NC 28806 828-258-9264 | rmcs.org

> Mount Pisgah Academy

Grades 9-12 75 Academy Dr. Candler, NC 28715 828-667-2535 | pisgah.us

> Veritas Christian Academy

Grades K-12 17 Cane Creek Rd. | Fletcher, NC 28732 828-681-0546 | veritasnc.org

The The South’s South’s Premier Premier Education Education Destination Destination Since 1900, Asheville School has prepared high school Since 1900, school students forAsheville college, asSchool well ashas all prepared the years high that follow. students for college, as well as all the years that follow.

Students learn in a nurturing, close-knit community Students learn inofa 300 nurturing, community set on a campus pastoralclose-knit acres in the Blue set on a campus of 300 pastoral acres in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina.

Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina.

Our academic program is focused on a traditional core Our academic program is focused onand a traditional curriculum that challenges students gives themcore the curriculum that challenges students them the foundation to become better thinkersand andgives communicators. foundation to become betterteaches thinkers and communicators.

A rich tradition of athletics students the important A rich tradition of athletics teaches students the important lessons of the playing field, sport and the outdoors.

The lessons ofschool the playing field, sport the outdoors.

The for boarding experience buildsand in students a respect boarding school experience builds in students a respect for and responsibility to others and one’s self. and responsibility to others and one’s self.

Asheville School is a nationally acclaimed co-ed college preparatory Asheville a nationally acclaimed co-ed9college preparatory boarding School and dayisschool for students in grades through 12. Asheville boarding and day school for students in grades 9 through Asheville School’s 275 students represent 24 states and 13 countries.12.

Recent School’s 275 students represent 24 states and 13 countries.

Recent graduates are attending Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, University of graduates are attending Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, Caltech, UNC-Chapel Hill, Davidson, Duke, Pennsylvania, Cornell, Caltech, UNC-Chapel Hill, Davidson, Duke, University of Virginia, Furman, Emory, NC State, and Wake Forest, University of Virginia, Furman, Emory, NC State, and Wake Forest, among others. among others.

ashevilleschool.org ashevilleschool.org Asheville • North Carolina Asheville • North Carolina 828.254.6345 828.254.6345

360 Asheville School Road • Asheville, NC 28806 • admission@ashevilleschool.org • 828.254.6345 360 Asheville School Road • Asheville, NC 28806 • admission@ashevilleschool.org • 828.254.6345 Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

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PHOTO COURTESY OF WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY

Riverbend Elementary School and Haywood Early College were recognized as Honor Schools of Excellence for having more than 90 percent of its students score at or above standard on mandated state tests. third of school districts in the state had 100 percent of its schools meet or exceed the academic growth standard, and Haywood County was the fourth largest district in the state to have done so.

Riverbend Elementary School and Haywood Early College were recognized as Honor Schools of Excellence for having more than 90 percent of its students score at or above standard on mandated state tests. More than two thirds of the system’s schools were state-designated “Schools of Distinction,” compared with less than one third for all state school systems as a whole.

Clyde, Hazelwood, Jonathan Valley, Junaluska and Meadowbrook elementary schools, as well as Pisgah and Tuscola high

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Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

schools and Waynesville Middle School, were all Schools of Distinction, meaning that at least 80 percent of students performed at or above grade level on end-of-grade tests.

Madison County Schools Madison County Schools’ 2,600 students attend two early childhood education centers, four elementary schools, one middle school, one high school and one early college high school. Madison High School has been designated a School of Distinction.

Madison Early College High School SAT scores were higher than state and national averages, possibly because a higher percentage of its middle school teachers than other teachers in the state have advanced degrees.

The system beats the state’s overall systems for the percentage of teachers with more than 10

years experience.

Compared to state averages, Mars Hill Elementary had higher testing scores in almost all of its classroom testing. This year, the school was recognized as a School of Progress for its high academic growth numbers.

With some of the best educational facilities in the state, the board of education has led an effort to rebuild and/or remodel all facilities over the last decade.

Jackson County Schools Tracing its history to the mid-1880s, Jackson County Schools received the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s ABC of Education Annual Accountability Report. The schools have joined other county agencies in challenging its staff and 3,600 students to improve their health through fitness.

The system has nine schools, all configured to meet the needs of a large county with few concentrations of population – Smokey Mountain Elementary, which has students from pre-K to eighth grade; Blue Ridge, a preK to 12th-grade school (one of the few in the state); the K-8 schools of Fairview, Cullowhee and Scotts Creek; the Pre-K through 12th-

grade School of Alternatives for students with special needs; Smoky Mountain High School; and Blue Ridge Early College and Jackson County Early College.

Smoky Mountain High School had an 88 percent graduation rate for the last school year, compared to 80 percent statewide. The school enrolls about 750 students and has been named a School of Distinction. In fact, half of the system’s schools have been designated Schools of Distinction.

With an enrollment of around 140, Jackson County Early College has an average SAT combined critical reading/mathematics score of 1141 for 2011-2012, which is more than 144 points higher than the state average and 131 points higher than the national average.

Polk County Schools Polk County Schools serves about 2,500 students in a system that ranks high on state and federal lists of academic achievement. All seven schools – Tryon Elementary, Saluda Elementary, Sunny View Elementary, Polk County Middle, Polk County High, Polk Central and Polk County Early College made “adequate yearly progress” for the 201011 school year.

Saluda was recognized this year as a

“National Blue Ribbon School”, becoming one of only 269 nationwide systems to receive the honor. For the 2011-2012 school year, Tyron, Saluda, Polk County Early College we named a School of Excellence by the North Carolina Department of Public Institution, while Polk Central, Polk County Middle and High Schools received a mark as a School of Distinction.

The system is 15th among 115 school systems statewide in local per-pupil spending.

The ratio of teachers to students is one of the highest in North Carolina. Test scores for students in grades 3-12 have consistently ranked among the top of both state and national averages in recent years. Every school has a fully equipped and staffed computer lab and media center.

U.S. News & World Report magazine named Polk County High School a Bronze Medal School in its Nov. 2007 report on America’s best high schools. Sunny View and Tryon elementary schools were named National Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S. Dept. of Education in previous years. High school students can take advanced placement English, science, history and math courses.

They can also earn college credits through several iSchool courses offered in conjunction with University of North Carolina-Greensboro.

Education CHARTER SCHOOLS, GRADES K-8 > ArtSpace Charter School

2030 US 70 | Swannanoa, NC 28778 828-298-2787 | artspacecharter.org > Brevard Academy

299 Andante Ln. | Brevard, NC 28712 828-885-2665 | brevard.teamcfa.org > Evergreen Community Charter School

50 Bell Rd. | Asheville, NC 28805 828-298-2173 | evergreenccs.com > Francine Delaney New School for Children

119 Brevard Rd. | Asheville, NC 28806 828-236-9441 | fdnsc.net > Summit Charter School

160 Frank Allen Rd. | Cashiers, NC 28717 828-743-5755 | summitschool.org > The Mountain Community School

613 Glover St. | Hendersonville, NC 28792 828-696-8480 | tmcschool.org

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Our approach

to critical thinking helps our students

see beyond the standard education.

It’s not always plain to see what makes one educational experience different from another. That’s why we encourage all prospective families to tour with us to see and hear the Carolina Day difference. Join us. We’re not just teaching. We’re creating critical thinkers.

Discov Discover er the differ differences ences at:

CarolinaDay.org CarolinaDay.org

828.27 828.274.0757 74.0757 4

Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

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Higher learning

A higher degree Western North Carolina colleges cater programs to regional need

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Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

C

PHOTO COURTESY OF UNC-A

Catering to a diverse population with a wide range of interests and talents, Western North Carolina offers residents an outstanding array of higher education choices.

UNC Asheville, the only dedicated liberal arts institution in the 17-institution University of North Carolina system, has been called one of the best colleges in the country for the money by the Princeton Review and Bankrate.com. It fosters critical thinking by exposing students to areas of interest that are outside of their chosen fields.

Offering 30 different majors, the school employs about 214 full-time faculty members (84% have terminal degrees), giving its 3,600 undergraduate students an average class size of 19. Students from 38 states and 24 countries have enrolled at UNCA, one of the top public liberal arts universities in the nation, where they are able to pursue bachelor of arts, bachelor of science and master of liberal arts degrees. The university has 15 NCAA Division I teams.

Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College opened its fall 2012 semester with record-breaking enrollment of 7,796. Established in 1959 as a trade school, AB Tech offers 39 career programs as well as courses that are transferable to any university in the UNC system.

One of the oldest and largest schools in the North Carolina Community College System, AB Tech has five schools – Allied Health and Public Service Education, Arts and Sciences, Business and Hospitality Education, Continuing Education, and Engineering and Applied Technology. It also has a popular continuing education program.

The college has added several new programs, including an associate degree in healthcare business informatics, a mobile development diploma, a bio-gas option in industrial systems technology and a geospatial technology option as part of surveying. AB Tech has additional campuses in Enka and Marshall.

Founded in 1889, Western Carolina University in Cullowhee serves more than 9,600 students from 38 states and 32 countries. Programs offering more than 220 majors include the nation’s highest-ranked entrepreneurship and project management

and concentrations and 27 minors. programs and a teacher education Taking at least one class within each program that has won national of the school’s eight liberal arts areas, awards. Boasting the nation’s first they attend classes that average 17 accredited four-year emergency people in size. medical care program, the “Christ-centered, studentuniversity also has a criminal justice focused, service-driven – equipping program upon which North agents of transformation, renewal, Carolina has modeled an and reconciliation� is the motto of accreditation program. Students Montreat College, a small four-year earn bachelor’s, master’s, education school in Montreat. Its liberal arts specialist and doctoral degrees. curriculum includes traditional and With an enrollment of 1,295 selected undergraduate and graduate students, Mars Hills College was professional degree programs, founded in 1856 and affiliated with including degree programs for adults the North Carolina Baptist in the areas of business, education, Convention. It offers 30 majors and management and nursing. Founded 31 minors on its large, leafy campus in 1897, Montreat College is in the Madison County town of affiliated with the Presbyterian Mars Hill. It has five schools – With the latest in medical technology, students at Asheville-Buncombe Tech practice Church of the United States. In Business, Social and Behavioral in preparation for becoming a member of healthcare field. PHOTO COURTESY OF A-B TECH 2011-2012 school year, it has an Sciences; Education; Fine Arts; enrollment of 755 students, with a “Coolest Schools� for its efforts to curb global Humanities; and Mathematics and Natural student/faculty ratio of 9:1. warming, Warren Wilson College is Sciences. A member of the South Atlantic Brevard College in Transylvania County environmentally friendly school whose Conference, it fields teams in baseball, offers more than 40 majors and minors degree students enhance their academic experience by basketball, cross country, football, golf, programs, including those in art, biology, working 15 hours a week on campus. They also lacrosse, soccer, swimming, tennis, track and English, environmental studies, exercise must complete 100 hours of community field, and volleyball. science, history, mathematics, music and service over four years. The college’s 900 Selected by the Sierra Club magazine for its psychology. Its pre-professional studies include students earn bachelor’s degrees in 40 majors sixth consecutive year in 2012 as one of its

A

Less cents... ...Makes sense.

Register Today!

Classes begin throughout the semester Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/abtech.edu

NC Private 4 Year up to $44,101

NC Public 4 Year Up to $7,788

A-B Tech $2,208 -PDBMMZ $PNNJUUFE t 3FHJPOBMMZ %ZOBNJD t 8PSME $MBTT 'PDVTFE

Based on two semesters for a full-time, in-state freshman student.

Source: Web sites of area colleges and universities

ABTech.edu Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

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WCU’s new location puts graduate degrees within reach For Asheville resident Crystal O’Dell, access to Western Carolina University’s graduate degree programs at Biltmore Park has made it possible for her to pursue her dream of becoming a family nurse practitioner while holding down a full-time job as a registered nurse.

For Jonathan Rich, a former newspaper reporter and editor living in Brevard, WCU’s new instructional site located between Asheville and Hendersonville is allowing him to change careers and become an educator.

And, for Henderson County resident Clay Hamlett, the proximity of WCU’s master’s degree program in business administration to both his home and workplace means less time on the highway.

O’Dell, Rich and Hamlett are among the more than 500 students who took classes during the fall 2012 semester at Western Carolina University’s Programs at Biltmore Park, which opened to students in September 2012.

Located in approximately 25,000 square feet of space at 28 Schenck Parkway in Biltmore Park Town Square, WCU’s new facility consolidates under one roof 22 academic programs previously taught at various sites across Buncombe County. Western Carolina has offered a variety of academic programs in Asheville since 1937, most recently at the University of North Carolina at Asheville and Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College’s Enka campus.

Space and access constraints at those sites in recent years limited WCU’s ability to meet the educational needs of the people of the greater Asheville area, said Patsy Miller, director of WCU Programs at Biltmore Park. The move to Biltmore Park is designed to serve the educational needs of Western North Carolinians in the BuncombeHenderson corridor.

“Our goal is not to be a competitor, but a collaborator in the mission to offer higher education in this region,” said WCU chancellor David Belcher. “We can more easily and cost-effectively achieve that goal with a central location in this urban setting that is close to where people live and work – not only in proximity, but in affinity – where we’re aware of, and sympathetic to, career and lifestyle needs.”

Students enrolled in programs at Biltmore Park seem to agree with Belcher’s assessment of their new learning environment.

O’Dell, the registered nurse working toward a master’s degree in the family nurse practitioner program, said she would not be able attend graduate school without the availability of WCU programs beyond those offered on the main campus in Cullowhee.

“It would have been very difficult, especially financially, to have to travel and pay the gas expenses to go an hour-plus one way to Cullowhee,” she said. “With the program being very close to me, I’ve saved a lot of money. I wouldn’t have to live on campus. I wouldn’t have to buy the gas to travel to a campus more than an hour away.

That was my biggest reason for choosing Western.”

Rich, who has worked for 17 years as a journalist, including stints at the Asheville Citizen-Times and the Hendersonville Time-News, is studying at Biltmore Park toward a master’s degree in teaching with the goal of becoming a high school English instructor.

“Because I have a busy school life and a busy work life, time and convenience are huge factors for me,” said Rich, who is currently student-teaching at Brevard High School. “I live in Brevard, and this location has enabled me to pursue a change of career at nominal

12

Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

A feature of Western Carolina University, the School of Simulation Education program at Biltmore Park Town Square provides students with a chance to fully interact with challenges posed and overcome in the healthcare industry. PHOTO COURTESY OF WCU

cost. I am able to fit work and learning into my lifestyle. I haven’t had to take any classes physically in Cullowhee; they have all been online or at a satellite location” The location in Biltmore Park, an upscale mixed-use community with a variety of retail and dining options, also has additional perks for WCU students studying there, Rich said. “I have found all of the businesses to be very welcoming to Western Carolina students,” he said. “Many of them offer discounts on food for students. For someone on a budget, that is very helpful. It’s great to be able to get that cup of coffee at a discounted price.”

Western Carolina’s Biltmore Park site includes a high-fidelity patient simulation laboratory for nurse anesthesia students and a nursing skills lab featuring a simulated hospital and outpatient care environment to allow nursing students to learn basic and advanced skills. The new space also includes 12 classrooms, a conference room, a video conference room, four student/meeting rooms, faculty offices, break rooms, and a large collaborative room for faculty and student use.

Historically, students enrolled in WCU classes offered in the Asheville area have come from Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Madison, McDowell, Transylvania and Polk counties.

pre-dentistry, pre-law, pre-medicine and pre-nursing. With a student body of 658 students in 2012, the institution has 55 full-time faculty members with a student/faculty ratio of 11:1. The college has more than 30 student clubs, as well as lots of intramurals and outdoor adventure opportunities. Among its 18 varsity sports are baseball, basketball, cross-country, cycling, football, golf, soccer, tennis, track and field and volleyball.

Offering 30 areas of study, Blue Ridge Community College near Flat Rock in Henderson County has more than 95 degree, diploma, and certificate programs, many of them qualifying students to work immediately after completing their course work. About 2,000 students are enrolled at its main campus and a satellite facility in Brevard. It has one of the largest continuing education programs in North Carolina.

Haywood Community College, serving primarily Haywood, Jackson and Buncombe counties, offers more than 50 programs. Its 2,485 students may select coursework in the departments of Advanced Technologies, Arts & General Education, Business & Entrepreneurship, Creative Arts, Health & Human Services and Natural Resources Management. It also offers distance learning and continuing education opportunities. Like all of North Carolina’s community colleges, it offers general education courses that transfer to the state university system, allowing students to get their first two years of university classes completed at a bargain price.

Serving the people of Jackson, Macon and Swain counties, Southwestern Community College in Sylva offers coursework in Arts & Sciences, Career Technologies and Health Services. More than 2,600 students are taking classes offered by more than 60 programs, while another 5,500 participate in the college’s ongoing continuation programs.

Higher learning COLLEGES

> Montreat College

310 Gaither Circle Montreat, NC 28757 828-669-8012 | montreat.edu

> Asheville-Buncombe Technical

Community College 340 Victoria Rd. Asheville, NC 28801 828-254-1921 | abtech.edu

> Southwestern Community

College Sylva, NC 28779 828-339-4000 southwesterncc.edu

> Blue Ridge Community College

180 W. Campus Dr. Flat Rock, NC 28731 828-694-1700 | blueridge.edu

> University of North Carolina

at Asheville 1 University Heights Asheville, NC 28804 828-251-6600 | unca.edu

> Brevard College

1 Brevard College Dr. Brevard, NC 28712 828-883-8292 | brevard.edu

> Warren Wilson College

701 Warren Wilson Rd. Swannanoa, NC 28778 828-298-3325 warren-wilson.edu

> Haywood Community College

185 Freedlander Dr. Clyde, NC 28721 828-627-4667 | haywood.edu

> Western Carolina University > Mars Hill College

100 Athletic St. | Mars Hill, NC 28754 866-642-4968 | mhc.edu

N.C. 107 Cullowhee, NC 28723 828-928-4968 | wcu.edu

Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

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Healthcare

Superior healthcare a WNC mainstay Quality of life attracts top physicians

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Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

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At Park Ridge Health in Hendersonville, patients have access to 223 physicians among its more than 1,100 caregivers.

PARK RIDGE HOSPITAL PHOTO

People seeking better health have been coming to Asheville and surrounding mountains for decades, drawing upon the area’s reputation for restorative air, healing waters and stimulating altitude. That history continues today, giving the Asheville area one of the state’s highest concentrations of physicians in the state.

Because the area is so attractive, Asheville has more doctors per capita than most cities of its size. But the wealth of talent and commitment isn’t confined to the region’s largest city.

Western North Carolina has several fine hospitals that practice the latest techniques in treatment, surgery and preventive care.

Leading the way is the region’s largest hospital, the 717-bed Mission Hospital in Asheville, which is part of Mission Health System. Thomson Reuters rankings released in January 2012 placed Mission Health System among the Top 15 in the United States. Out of the more than 300 health systems reviewed from 2007 to 2011, Reuters found that as a patient at Mission, you will have a higher rate of survival, fewer complications, shorter hospital stays, and a better overall patient experience. Those in the Top 15 also were noted for doing a better job of following industry-recommended standards.

Mission Health System employs 8,861 team members, including 540 physicians trained in the latest developments in healthcare, medicine and technology. U.S. News & World Report magazine ranked Mission Hospital among the top 50 hospitals in the nation for heart and heart surgery services. In 2007, the magazine selected Mission as one of the country’s Top 50 hospitals for endocrinology, which relates to diabetes treatment and research. The hospital was one of the first in North Carolina – and one of only 89 in the country – to achieve the “Baby Friendly” hospital designation given to hospitals and birth centers by UNICEF and the World Health Organization.

Mission’s Owen Heart Center, a five-story building of polished pink granite, houses surgical suites, treatment areas, intensive care units and patient rooms, all of which are private. Seven times since 2000, Mission has been named a Top 100 Heart Hospital by the Thomson (formerly Solucient) Cardiovascular Benchmarks for Success Program. In years

2007 and 2008, it was the only hospital in the Carolinas to receive the designation in the category of teaching hospitals without cardiovascular residency.

Mission’s award placed it in the company of other award recipients that included the Mayo Clinic Hospital, Cleveland Clinic, University of Virginia Medical Center and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Top 100 Heart Hospital award winners had hospital stays that were 12 percent shorter, on average, than peer hospitals (5.14 days compared to 5.85 days). Their costs averaged 13 percent - or about $2,000 - less per case than peer hospitals.

According to Thomson, if all acute care heart hospitals in the nation performed at the same level as Mission and the other top 100

Ridge Health in Hendersonville, St. Luke’s Hospital in Columbus and Transylvania Community Hospital in Brevard.

Tracing its history back to 1913, Pardee Hospital in Hendersonville is licensed for 216 acute care beds and has 13 operating rooms and 238 physicians and dentists on its medical staff. It also has a 130-bed nursing facility. The medical staff works in 40 medical specialties. Henderson County’s secondlargest employer, it has 1,200 employees.

Established in 1953, the not-for-profit community hospital offers an array of health services that include adult day health, rehab and wellness center, health education center and urgent care. Pardee is owned by, but not funded by, Henderson County.

Park Ridge Health, also in

HOSPITALS > Angel Medical Center

120 Riverview St. | Franklin, NC 28734 828-524-8411 | angelmed.org > CarePartners Rehabilitation Hospital

68 Sweeten Creek Rd. | Asheville, NC 28813 828-277-4800 | carepartners.org > Charles George VA Medical Center

1100 Tunnel Rd. | Asheville, NC 28805 828-299-2519 | asheville.va.gov > MedWest-Harris Hospital in Sylva

68 Hospital Rd. | Sylva, NC 28779 828-586-7000 | westcare.org > MedWest-Haywood

The region’s largest hospital, Mission Hospital in Asheville, is a 717-bed facility and is ranked in the Top 15 in the country for health systems.

MISSION HOSPITAL PHOTO

Hospital 262 Leroy George Dr. Clyde, NC 28721 828-452-8202 | haymed.org > Highlands-Cashiers

Hospital 190 Hospital Dr. Highlands, NC 28741 828-526-1200 hchospital.org > Mission Hospital

509 Biltmore Ave. Asheville, NC 28801-4690 828-213-1111 missionhospitals.org > Pardee Hospital

heart hospitals, more than 7,000 lives would be saved, and nearly 750 medical complications would be avoided each year.

Mission recently opened its Mission Outpatient Care Center in Clyde to serve patients in the far western region of North Carolina. Among the services offered at the new center are services that include family medicine, imaging and laboratory services, orthopedic care, spine care, neurosurgery evaluations and follow-up care and wound healing services.

Western North Carolina is served by several other excellent hospitals, including CarePartners Rehabilitation Hospital in Asheville, Charles George VA Medical Center in Asheville, MedWest-Harris Hospital in Sylva, MedWest-Haywood Regional Medical Center in Clyde, Highlands-Cashiers Hospital in Highlands, Pardee Hospital in Hendersonville, Park

Hendersonville, has a total of 98 hospital beds and eight operating rooms. A onebuilding care center, the only faith-based hospital in Western North Carolina has 223 physicians among its more then 1,100 caregivers. Among the services it offers are audiology, behavioral health, cancer and cardiology services, dermatology, family practice, internal medicine, ophthalmology, orthopedics, pediatrics, podiatry, respiratory therapy, urology and wound care.

CarePartners Rehabilitation Hospital in Asheville is an 80-bed regional referral center with programs from those suffering stroke, brain injury, spinal chord injury, multiple trauma, amputation, joint replacement and neurological disorders. The only licensed rehabilitation hospital in Western North Carolina, it is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, meaning that it has

800 N. Justice St. Hendersonville, NC 28791 828-696-1000 | pardeehospital.org > Park Ridge Health

100 Hospital Dr. Hendersonville, NC 28792 828-684-8501 | parkridgehealth.org > St. Luke’s Hospital

101 Hospital Dr. | Columbus, NC 28722 828-894-3311 | saintlukehospital.com > Transylvania Community Hospital

260 Hospital Dr. | Brevard, NC 28712 828-884-9111 | trhospital.org

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Healthcare

Mission Hospital employs 8,861 team members, including 540 physicians trained in the latest developments in healthcare, medicine and technology. MISSION HOSPITAL PHOTO

met or exceeded rigorous rehab standards. Its therapists have an average of 14 years of experience, and its patient-to-nurse ratio is 6 to 1. It participation in a national database that compares its patient outcomes to similar rehabilitation hospitals around the country allows it to continually assess and improve the quality of its rehabilitation programs.

Charles George VA Medical Center is a 116-bed acute care facility with a separate 120bed extended care and rehabilitation center serving more than 31,000 veterans from the Western North Carolina area and portions of South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia. It provides primary, tertiary and long-term care in areas of medicine, surgery, mental health, neurology, oncology, dentistry, ophthalmology, geriatrics, women’s health, spinal cord injury, and physical medicine and rehabilitation.

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Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

Because the hospital is a teaching hospital, it provides a full range of patient care services, with state-of-the-art technology and programs in education and research.

A short-term 86bed acute care facility in Sylva, MedWest-Harris Hospital serves primarily Jackson County. Having undergone major expansions in 1970, 1986, 1989, 1994, and 1995, Harris offers services including cancer care, cardiopulmonary, dietary, emergency, maternity and infant care, outpatient surgery, pain management, surgery and sports medicine. Its Community Alternatives Program for Disabled Adults is a Medicaid program that provides in-home services that include screening and assessment, respite care and home-delivered meals. It also has hospice services that include the highest skill level of nursing and counseling support for the patient and family.

MedWest-Haywood Hospital is a 121-bed hospital with 10 operating rooms whose services include advanced home care, behavioral health, critical care, diabetes education, hospice and palliative care, occupational health, orthopedics, pulmonary rehabilitation, sleep disorders, spine care services and women’s care center. The first county hospital in the state, it sprawls over 51 acres – the largest medical campus west of Asheville.

Haywood and Harris – along with the MedWest-Swain – recently affiliated with Carolinas Healthcare out of Charlotte to form MedWest, a three-hospital consortium to serve patients west of Asheville.

Created in 1923, Angel Medical Center in Franklin is a 59-bed hospital that operates under

a management agreement with Asheville’s Mission Health System. It has an 80-person medical staff, the majority of them boardcertified, and its emergency room is staff 24 hours a day by nurses and physicians. Among the hospital’s latest additions is a digital mammography system that spots abnormalities to help doctors diagnose breast cancer in its earliest stage. Angel provides a safe patient experience through its patient safety team, medication usage review group and environment of care team. It emphasizes exercise as a way for patients with cardiac and pulmonary problems to regain strength and health.

In Highlands, the Highlands-Cashiers Hospital has 24 hospital beds, four operating rooms and 84 nursing home beds. Its boardcertified physician staff covers 14 areas of healthcare in specialties usually found only in much larger facilities. It continues to update its range of diagnostic procedures by adding new state-of-the-art equipment. The hospital provides general surgery, as well as hand, orthopedic, ophthalmology, gastrointestinal, dermatology and plastic surgery. Nearly all of its physicians’ offices are on the hospital campus.

St. Luke’s Hospital, a critical access 55-bed hospital that serves Polk County and upper South Carolina, has been operating for more than 80 years. Services include emergency, psychiatric, geriatric, wound and home care, as well as surgery, radiology and rehab and respiratory therapy. Working with Rosenberg Bone and Joint, it offers patients new procedures in hip and custom-fit knee

Because the area is so attractive, Asheville has more doctors per capita than most cities of its size. But the wealth of talent and commitment isn’t confined to the region’s largest city. replacement that result in shorter hospital stays and improved recovery period.

Transylvania Regional Hospital is licensed for 92 beds and has six operating rooms. It opened the 4,000-square-foot Brevard Cancer & Infusion Center at the hospital in 2009 and has treated hundreds of patients. That same year it launched “The Joint Experience,” enhancing its joint replacement surgery services. The hospital also has operated a digital mammography system that allows images to be archived so they can be easily recalled for comparison with future tests.

Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

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Commercial Real Estate

John and Julie Stehling envisioned Early Girl as a place for straightforward, locally sourced meals, with a dining room where laughter and loud conversation filled the space.

#17 Asheville’s ranking

Opened in 2001, Early Girl is now a nationally recognized restaurant, and a part of the fabric of downtown Asheville.

The Stehlings think of Early Girl as a way to be part of Asheville, raising their children in a community they are contributing to.

Asheville is Ranked #17 of 25 Metros in Best Places for Business and Careers Forbes.com June, 2012

Small businesses are the backbone of our local economy and the community here embraces the impact these entrepreneurs have on our culture and lifestyle. NAI BeverlyHanks understands and appreciates the importance of this, and is prepared to provide the expert level of service that small businesses need to succeed.

Contact one of our brokers today to learn how your business can flourish.

#17 Asheville, N.C Metro Population: 429,700 Projected Annual Job Growth: 1.8% Business costs are 21% below national average, according to Moody’s Analytics.

Asheville is home to the U.S. National Climatic Data Center, which is the world’s largest active archive of weather data.

naibhcommercial.com 828.210.3940 866.810.5893

Beverly-Hanks EQUAL HOUSING

OPPORTUNITY

Let’s do business Western North Carolina emerges as a national business hub

Located in Fletcher just outside of Asheville, the Asheville Airport (AVL) has a 8,001-foot runway and offers direct flights to select cities and connections to major destinations worldwide. ASHEVILLE AIRPORT PHOTO

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Doing Business

Superlatives continue to fall upon Western North Carolina and especially on Asheville, the business and cultural center of a vibrant business-friendly region.

Fodors included Asheville in its list of “21 Places We’re Going in 2011.” In 2010, Forbes magazine ranked Asheville sixth among all U.S. cities as a place to do business.

Asheville was ranked 21st of Forbes 200 best places for business and careers. In 2009, the USA Today “Road Warriors” report listed the city as a favorite city for business trips. That same year, Business Facilities Magazine ranked it eighth among its top 10 metro areas for quality of life.

Not to put too high a shine on the city, but let’s mention just a couple more “best of ” designations because Asheville has gotten so many, including inclusion in Inc.com’s 10 best midsize cities for doing business and its placing 41st among 100 best places of “live and launch,” as rated by CNN Money.com.

“The Asheville area is extremely business friendly,” said Kit Cramer, president and CEO of the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce. “There is an entrepreneurial spirit here that runs deep.

“There is no need to wait to retire here. You can do business here today and enjoy our tremendous quality of life while you work.”

“There are a lot of opportunities here,” said Scott Hamilton, president and CEO of AdvantageWest, the state economic development agency created to promote business and commerce in Western North Carolina.

“We’re within a day’s drive of about 50 percent of the United States’ population,” he said, “so it’s easy to get goods to the market. Our Asheville Regional Airport has direct links to Charlotte, Atlanta, Detroit, Cincinnati and Newark and LaGuardia. And there’s a great diversification of business here, from manufacturing to tourism to software development.”

The Asheville metro area is an excellent location for any new business. For one thing, it’s highly educated. The average number of college graduates in Buncombe, Henderson, Haywood and Madison counties exceeds state and national averages (as do its high school students’ SAT scores). The four counties are home to eight colleges and universities, whose curricula include the vaunted mechatronics program at UNC Asheville and the small business incubator at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College.

The city’s attraction to the well educated may be why its unemployment rate of about 8 percent was two points lower than the state’s in 2011.

Buncombe County, population 238,318, has an employed workforce of 192,000 people.

Asheville is well situated in the Southeast.

Connected by interstates running in all directions, it’s less than a two-hour drive to Charlotte and an easy four-hour drive to Atlanta. The city and region are well served by busy Asheville Regional Airport, which has direct flights to several cities and connections to anywhere in the world.

Flying in are people working in the area’s biggest industrial growth areas – technology (Internet startups are run by people who love it here), health care (Asheville is a regional leader in the medical sciences), professional and technical business services (solo practitioners and support personnel can find plenty of work) and advanced manufacturing (there are already more than 500 such firms here).

Bucking the trend elsewhere, manufacturers in the Asheville area were quietly adding jobs in 2011. This past summer, Linamar Corp. – maker of construction equipment –

Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

19

Doing Business

Following extensive additions, the Rotunda of Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort is a sight to behold.

PHOTO COURTESY OF HARRAH’S CHEROKEE CASINO RESORT

announced it was moving to Buncombe County and creating 400 jobs.

Manufacturing wages remain high in the area. In the third quarter of 2010, the average weekly wage for manufacturing jobs in the 23 westernmost counties was $765, a better wage than even the area’s highly thought-of health care and social assistance job sector ($762).

Known as a national center of craft beer, Asheville now has over a dozen breweries, many of whom support the area’s strong tourism industries by offering samples in their tasting rooms.

Asheville and its many opportunities for outdoor recreation have attracted health care professionals since the early 1900s, giving the city one of the highest concentrations of doctors in the Southeast. Embracing wellness through such public fitness events as Lighten Up 4 Life, Relay for Life of Asheville and the “Chamber Challenge” 5K race (put on by the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce), the city is catnip to outstanding physicians and trainers. The city’s hospital system is nationally ranked.

Henderson County’s two hospitals are among its top three employers. With skilled workers, excellent schools and one of the lowest tax rates in the state, the county (population 106,000) has several manufacturing clusters, including plastics, automotive parts, electronic components and recreational and sporting goods.

In 2009, some 77,000 residents had attained at least a ninth-grade education, and the number of residents with degrees from higher education institutions was twice the number of people whose education stopped with high school. Every fall, the

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Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

Jackson County has the state’s biggest employer west of Asheville – Harrah’s Cherokee Casino & Hotel.

Hendersonville Chamber of Commerce sponsors a Chamber Business Expo for members to promote their business or organization to area residents.

With some 40,000 people in Henderson County’s workforce, the average family income was $69,740 in 2009. That year, North Carolina gave its industrial park certification to Henderson County’s Ferncliff Industrial Park – the first such certification granted in Western North Carolina and, at the time, one of only three certifications statewide.

Home of Cold Mountain, whose looming profile inspired the novel and movie named for the peak, Haywood County was the first Certified Entrepreneurial Community in the nation, a state designation that means the county is friendly toward those who want to start or expand a business. Owners and administrators will find a wealth of information and coaching at the Small Business Center at Haywood Community College in Clyde.

With about 27,000 educated, skilled workers and a median household income of $40,380, Haywood County has a diversified economic base that ranges from small business to large manufacturing. Blue Ridge Paper Products in Canton is one of the oldest and continuously operated paper mills in the country. Health care remains strong in the county, with more than 27 providers ranging from MedWest Health System to single-

physician offices. A testimonial to the gorgeous scenery that Cold Mountain presides over are the 51 Haywood County businesses that provide lodging, from inns to campgrounds.

Known as the land of waterfalls, Transylvania County – with beautiful Brevard as its hub – is the home of the Cradle of Forestry, the site of the first forestry school in America. More than half of the county is parkland – Pisgah National Forest, DuPont State Forest and Gorges State Park. Like its 31,000 residents, manufacturers are attracted to its water, the highest quality to be found in the state. Home to Brevard College, Transylvania Regional Hospital and the nationally known Brevard Music Center, the county has a low tax rate and a median household income of about $49,000.

With an unemployment figure a percentage point lower than North Carolina’s in 2011, the county has a workforce numbering 13,070 people. Capitalizing on its parkland and other natural attractions, many are employed in the tourism industry, which brought $68 million into the county and generated $13 million in payroll in 2009.

Warmly nestled in North Carolina’s Thermal Belt, Polk County has attracted a diverse economic base. Timken, maker of motion control systems and power transmissions, has a plant in Columbus, as does fabric maker Milliken. Kangaroo Products makes its motorized golf caddies there. Agriculture is a big industry in Polk County, suppling vegetables and meat to many restaurants and institutions. Because of its rolling hills and meadows, Polk County also has a big equestrian community, anchored by the Foothills Equestrian Nature Center.

Polk County graduates 77 percent of its high school students, has nearly 10,000 people in the workforce (out of a population of about 20,500) and has a median household income of $42,072. The unemployment rate in 2011 was about 7 percent.

Gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains, Jackson County also boasts a well-educated workforce, many of whom attended Western Carolina University in Cullowhee or Southwestern Community College in Sylva.

Experiencing a 22 percent increase in population between 2000 and 2010, the county now has more than 40,000 residents and a median household income of $37,823.

Retail sales in 2007 were more than $433 million. Capitalizing on tourists attracted to mountains that top 6,000 feet, accommodations and food service sales that year amounted to more than $74 million.

Jackson County has the state’s biggest employer west of Asheville – Harrah’s Cherokee Casino & Hotel.

3072 Sweeten Creek Rd. • Asheville, NC 28803 14-C1 Brozzini Court • Greenville, SC 29615

www.abecarolina.com ~ 800-627-1556

GOOSMANN ROSE COLVARD & CRAMER, P.A. - ATTORNEYS AT LAW GEORGE F. GOOSMANN, IV • JOHN R. ROSE • VERONICA H. COLVARD • ELIZABETH L.M. CRAMER

CENTRAL AVENUE PROFESSIONAL PARK • 77 CENTRAL AVE. SUITE H • ASHEVILLE, NC 28801

828.258.0150 • WWW.GRCCLAW.COM Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

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Second Homes

Welcome home Western North Carolina is a safe, affordable place to live and play

DONATED PHOTO

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Called the “Paris of the South” and the “San Francisco of the East,” Asheville has been everyone’s favorite getaway since George Vanderbilt built his humble vacation home — better known as the Biltmore Estate — in the Blue Ridge Mountains more than 100 years ago.

People have been following Vanderbilt for decades, making Asheville and the mountains around it one of the most popular second home and vacation home destinations in the country. In 2011, Barron’s magazine included Asheville in it list of 15 “best places for second homes.”

“It’s an easy place to live in, with enough culture and outdoor activities to keep even the most demanding resident satisfied,” Barron’s stated.

It’s not just the art, though American Style Magazine named Asheville its 2011 top small city for art. And it’s not just the beauty of the nearby Blue Ridge Parkway, though in 2011 the Wall Street Journal included it among its list of “four scene-stealing, summertime routes around the nation.”

Partly, it’s the value. You can buy a lot of house here for a fraction of what it would cost in larger metro areas. Partly, it’s the charm. People who live in the mountains, even those who move here from far away, seem nicer. They say hello. They let you in amid traffic. And they’ll wave while they do it.

And it seems the further you get from town, the more helpful people are. Many parttime residents have stories about neighbors who watch their houses when they’re back home. They talk about community members cutting their grass while they’re gone, of making sure doors are locked and that strangers stay away.

And if you’re thinking about buying into one of the area’s beautiful gated communities, your concerns will be even less. There are many here, including The Ramble, an exquisite community near the Biltmore Estate so well laid out that it would please Frederick Law Olmsted, the landscape master who designed New York’s Central Park and the estate around Vanderbilt’s shimmering chateau.

Many of the area’s newest homeowners are people in their 50s and early 60s who are buying second homes with an eye toward making them their permanent addresses once they retire. Buying now makes sense for many reasons, not the least of which is that prices are affordable. Owners can explore the area to see if it suits their interests and lifestyle upon retirement. And, they can recoup some of their investment by renting their houses during the busy summer months and popular leaf season. There are many property managers in the area to handle the transactions.

New second-home owners who have already quit the working life often time their visits around the activities of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, an award-winning, internationally acclaimed center of learning that is affiliated with the University of North Carolina at Asheville. Participants may select from an array of programs and classes on a variety of topics, including wellness, the arts and humanities and how retirement differs today (for one thing, it’s a lot more active in a place like Western North Carolina!).

There are so many wonderful towns to explore, such as Waynesville with its historic Frog Level community, Marshall with its timeless feel, Hendersonville with its wealth of art galleries. People looking for more isolated homes find beauty and value near small communities like Hot Springs, Cashiers or Black Mountain.

Those who love the city life will certainly find it in Asheville, where condos and townhouses downtown are mere steps from the shopping at the Grove Arcade, the dining

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Second Homes along Wall Street, the antiquing on Page Avenue and the people-watching up and down Lexington Avenue. Bookstores, salons, galleries and coffee shops all inhabit Asheville’s Art Deco buildings, making for a fun and funky address for lucky downtown denizens.

New arrivals enrich the community with their volunteer spirit, their wealth of knowledge and a sophisticate’s palate that delights in the many farmers’ markets in the area. Here they can indulge in the region’s wonderful restaurants. Indeed, Asheville has a growing reputation for excellent locally sourced bistros that are independently run and wildly supported. And it’s a city that takes its beer seriously, being the home of more than a dozen (and counting) breweries and, now, a distiller of fine spirits.

All this makes the city a popular choice for getaway and second homes. Buyers have a range of choices, from large condominiums in Asheville’s funky River Arts District to

The historic Grove Arcade in downtown Asheville is a great place to eat, shop and just browse. It is also one of the downtown area's architectural gems. MARGARET HESTER PHOTO

Biltmore Park’s comfortably planned neighborhoods to affordable, green homes outside of the city, many within the sheltered folds of the area’s coves and valleys. The range of real estate in Western North Carolina is as vast as the mountains, from small cottages to large estates. Buy a beautiful lot, and build your dream home – there are many options here.

Porch-sitting takes on special relevance here because the climate allows for it nearly yearround. Hurricanes, whiteouts and tornadoes are things people experience here only through

news accounts. Seasons in the mountains are mild, with few of the intense hot temperatures that make this area attractive to people from southern and coastal regions. There are also few mercury drops, a climatic trail that entices people here from the northern and midwestern states. Talk of the weather is usually about how delightful it is.

Experiencing it is just a matter of walking out your front door. Just outside of Asheville is the Pisgah National Forest. Nearby are Joyce Kilmer Forest, DuPont State Park, Chimney Rock State Park, Nantahala National Forest, the Shining Rock Wilderness Area, and the crown jewel of Western North Carolina — the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Life is just more relaxed here. And it’s a lot more fun.

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Arts & Culture

Bele Chere, held every year in downtown Asheville and featuring nationally known music acts, has grown into the Southeast's largest street festival. MARGARET HESTER PHOTO

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Getting out and having fun Festivals of all kinds fill the calendar year-round

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Learn more about music in Western North Carolina

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Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

With so much going on, even residents of these beautiful mountains feel like guests with more opportunity than time. From bluegrass to baroque, from barbecue to beluga, Western North Carolina has just about every kind of festival you can imagine.

Hendersonville has been growing apples since the mid-1700s, and in celebration of the fruit of all that labor (a $22 million crop for the county now), the city holds the North Carolina Apple Festival during Labor Day weekend in Hendersonville. Now 61 years old, the festival brings tasty food, arts and crafts, free entertainment and, of course, lots of apples to the historic courthouse on Hendersonville’s stately Main Street.

In July, Waynesville also hosts Folkmoot USA, North Carolina’s official international music and dance festival. The Haywood County town celebrates the region’s traditional roots in late August with the Smoky Mountain Folk Festival, a weekend’s worth of mountain music and dance. Then in October two fall festivals fills the quaint downtown.

The Church Street Arts and Crafts Festival is a juried craft show, while the Haywood County Apple Festival attracts tens of thousands to enjoy apples, agriculture, crafts and food during the color season.

What’s better than barbecue, smoky ribs and a beautiful day? All that and music, which is what you’ll find at Tryon’s Blue Ridge BBQ & Music Festival, held June 14-15, 2013. This is a serious competition (which you get to savor) in which dozens of teams working with the precision of NASCAR pit crews slop and mop their way to (they hope) the coveted grand championship.

Lovers of the movie “Dirty Dancing” will have the time of their lives at the Dirty Dancing Festival held in September in Lake Lure, where much of the phenomenally popular film was shot. There’s a lake-lift competition and lots and lots of dancing.

Considered by many as the best spring music festival, the White Squirrel Festival in downtown Brevard brings hundreds of people to town over the Memorial Day weekend. The festival kicks off with a Memorial Day parade and, like a lot of festivals in the area, also includes a 5K/10K race. Summertime in Brevard brings about the

The Easter Hat Parade in Dillsboro attracts, well, over-thetop Easter Hat creations. MARK HASKETT PHOTO

Mountain Song Festival, a benefit show at Brevard Music Center that showcases the best of folk, bluegrass, old-time and traditional mountain music.

Christmas is special in Dillsboro, which during the first two Fridays and Saturdays of December turns its streets into pathways of softly lit candlelight. Dillsboro Lights & Luminaries is a winter wonderland of lighthearted laughter and song, with horse and buggy rides, cocoa and hot cider.

Got a thing for hats? You should be in the Dillsboro Easter Hat Parade. Bring your hat or make one in front of Dillsboro town Hall.

Prizes go to the best, biggest and ugliest hat.

And, the Easter bunny attends.

The coolest bands and musicians you may not have heard of are always on the program at the Lake Eden Arts Festival, held in May and October. With a heavy emphasis on world music, the festival has turned into one of the area’s premier music and healing arts events. Go for the day, or camp the whole weekend – either way you’ll love the music, the people and the gorgeous Camp Rockmont setting.

The hot days of August are a good time to be indoors, especially when the heels are flying during the Mountain Dance & Folk Festival, held in Asheville’s Diana Wortham Theatre at Pack Place. Held the first week of August, the event has attracted the area’s top mountain dancers, balladeers, fiddlers, banjo pickers and others since 1928.

Bakersville in picturesque Mitchell County celebrates its Rhododendron Festival in mid June, a weekend that includes streets dances, a car show and the “Ducky Derby,” which sees thousands of rubber duckies racing down Cane Creek in a fundraiser that everyone loves. The festival also stages the N.C. Rhododendron Pageant, a two-evening event that’s one of the area’s oldest scholarship opportunities for young women.

There’s nothing so sweet as a summer’s evening outdoors. Saturday nights on downtown Asheville’s Pack Square Park, that means Shindig on the Green, a four-decades tradition for lovers of bluegrass and traditional music. Grab the kids and some lawn chairs and savor the cool night air in the friendliest of atmospheres.

As sweet as the honey it’s named for, the Sourwood Festival in Black Mountain attracts more than 30,000 to the town’s streets every August. Kids rides and games, face

AREA FESTIVALS > Apple Harvest Festival

Waynesville 828.456.3517 | downtownwaynesville.com > Asheville Greek Festival

227 Cumberland Ave. | Asheville 828.253.3754 holytrinityasheville.com/greek_festival > Bele Chere

Asheville 828.259.5800 | belecherefestival.com > Blue Ridge BBQ & Music Festival

Harmon Field | Tryon 828.859.7427 | blueridgebbqfestival.com > Cherokee Indian Fair

Cherokee 828.497.6536 | greatsmokies.com > Church Street Arts & Craft Show

Waynesville 828.456.3517 | downtownwaynesville.com > ColorFest – Art & Taste of Appalachia

Dillsboro 828.586.5100 | visitdillsboro.org > Dillsboro Easter Hat Parade

Dillsboro 800.962.1911 visitdillsboro.org/specialevents.html > Dillsboro Festival of Lights & Luminaries

Dillsboro 800.962.1911 visitdillsboro.org/specialevents.html > Dirty Dancing Festival

Lake Lure dirtydancingfestival.com > Fall Harvest Craft Festival

Cherokee 828.497.6536 | greatsmokies.com > Festival of Flowers

Biltmore Estate | Asheville 828.225.1333 | biltmore.com > Folkmoot USA

Waynesville 828.452.2997 | folkmootusa.org The Lake Eden Arts Festival attracts such groups as the Mickey Hart Band (former Grateful Dead drummer). GARRET K. WOODWARD PHOTO

Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

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Arts & Culture painting, arts and crafts, music and dancing – plus the Sourwood Idol Contest - make this a fun alternative to larger festivals held in the area this time of year.

In April, the Biltmore Estate bursts into bloom, turning winter away with thousands upon thousands of tulips, azaleas and flowering shrubs. The Festival of Flowers pageantry is accompanied by musical events that draw people to the gardens and the hopeful signs of spring. Also in April, the Historic Johnson Farm Festival in Hendersonville gives children of all ages a glimpse of what a working mountain farm was (and is).

Foodies find lots to love during Asheville’s annual Greek Festival, a late summer events that serves up mounds of delicious ushers in fall with heaping platters of chicken riganto (baked chicken strips sprinkled with oregano, lemon juice and the chefs’ special sauce). The HardLox Jewish Food and Heritage Festival in October is the place to get a mean chopped liver sandwich and a crisp kosher dill pickle.

June in Asheville belongs to beer-lovers.

The Beer City Festival features great local music, and Brewgrass features great regional music. Both pour some of the best craft beer

made in Asheville and elsewhere in the Southeast.

Asheville’s least formal festival is the Lexington Avenue Arts and Fun Festival, an artist-run blast held in September in downtown Asheville.

The most visited outdoor festival in the Southeast takes places all over downtown Asheville the last weekend in July. Bele Chere, a much-anticipated street party that attracts people from everywhere (or so it seems) offers as much entertainment on the street as on the stage.

If you still have any energy after all of that, don’t forget the Mountain Sports Festival in Asheville, a weekend in May full of culture, athletics, music, food, drink and more.

AREA FESTIVALS CONTINUED

> Leaf Festival of Cashiers Valley

Spring, summer, fall Asheville’s famous drum circle kicks up every Friday night during spring and summer.

This free event at Pritchard Park in the heart of

Folkmoot USA brings international groups from up to 12 different countries to Western North Carolina each year for two weeks of performances. ASHLEY T. EVANS PHOTO

Cashiers 828.743.5191 | cashiersnorthcarolina.com

> Smoky Mountain Fall Arts & Craft Festival

Franklin 828.371.0595 | franklin-chamber.com

> Hard Candy Christmas Arts & Craft Show

Cullowhee 800.962.1911 | mountainlovers.com

> Mountain Dance & Folk Festival

Diana Wortham Theatre | Asheville 828.258.6101, ext. 345 | folkheritage.org

> Smoky Mountain Folk Festival

Stuart Auditorium | Lake Junaluska 828.452.1688 | downtownwaynesville.com

> HardLox festival

Pack Square Park | Asheville 828.253.2282 | hardloxjewishfestival.org

> Mountain Song Festival

Brevard Music Center 828.243.3496 | mountainsongfestival.com

> Sourwood Festival

Black Mountain 828.669.2300 | sourwoodfestival.com

> Historic Johnson Farm

Hendersonville 828.693.9708 historichendersonville.org/johnson_farm.htm > Jammin’ at the Millpond

Haywood Community College | Clyde 828.627.4522 | haywood.edu > Lake Eden Arts Festival

Black Mountain 828.686.8742 | theleaf.com

> N.C. Apple Festival

Hendersonville 828.697.4557 | ncapplefestival.org > N.C. Rhododenron Festival

Bakersville bakersville.com/rhod_events.html > North Hominy Community Apple Festival

Canton 828.648.3220 | cantonnc.com > Shindig on the Green

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Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

Pack Square Park | Asheville 828.258.6101, ext. 345 | folkheritage.org

> Stecoah Valley Center Arts and Craft Show

Robbinsville 828.479.3364 | stecoahvalleycenter.com > Village Art and Craft Fair

Biltmore Village, Asheville 828.274.2831 | newmorninggallerync.com > White Squirrel Festival

Brevard 828.884.3278 | brevardnc.org/white-squirrel-festival > WNC Pottery Festival

Dillsboro 828.586.5100 | visitdillsboro.org

downtown gives kids a chance of spin and laugh among hula hoopers, tall bike riders and (sometimes) fire dancers.

Also downtown is the Thomas Wolfe Memorial State Historic Site, where on the first Friday of May through October, from noon until 2 p.m., there’s free music on the front porch of the historic Old Kentucky Home. Relax under the shade trees to some pleasant tunes, then maybe tour the boarding house that Wolfe’s mother ran in the early part of the 20th century.

The children’s area of Asheville’s Bele Chere festival, on the last weekend in July, is decidedly low-key. The downtown festival may be the largest outdoor festival in the Southeast, but in the children’s area within the cool confines of the Asheville Civic Center, the emphasis is on non-frenzied fun and play. The alcohol-free zone offers a mix of free crafts, ticketed rides and free children’s performances.

Every July, Narnia Studios, a children’s store in downtown Hendersonville, puts on Chalk It Up!, a sidewalk art affair for children (and adults!) that has become one of Hendersonville’s biggest summer attractions.

Just remember to register in June.

For one weekend every summer, several

farms in the area open their barn doors for the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project Family Farm Tour, a self-guided driving tour that lets your children pet farm animals while discovering where their food comes from. Join the tour for any or all of the farms in the Asheville area and surrounding counties.

The Orchard at Altapass, a historic apple orchard and farm on the Blue Ridge Parkway, has events nearly every day May through October. The Coon Dog Day Festival, with its crafts, parade and square dances, happens in Saluda in July. In September, the Mountain Heritage Day at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee is a daylong celebration of southern Appalachian music, dance, arts and culture.

Also in September, there’s the “Fall Into the Farm: A Family Fun Day on the Sandburg Farm” in Flat Rock. This free family-friendly festival highlights the farm life of poet Carl Sandburg’s family and features square dancing, historic barn tours, cheese-making demonstrations and children’s crafts.

There’s lots of live theater in the Asheville area performed with children in mind, much of it performed by the Asheville Arts Center,

Asheville Community Theatre and the Tryon Children’s Theater Festival.

Winter Children have been enjoying Christmas at the Biltmore House ever since owner George Vanderbilt introduced his family and friends to the estate on Christmas Eve 1895. Festooned with Christmas trees, poinsettias and thousands of ornaments, Christmas at Biltmore runs from early November to Jan. 1 every year.

Everyone loves gingerbread houses, and everyone loves going to the Grove Park Inn to look at the confectionary castles entered in the hotel’s National Gingerbread House Competition. Mondays through Thursdays from mid-November to Jan. 1, the public is invited to ogle the dozens upon dozens of houses entered into this growing competition.

Another fun thing to do in winter is to attend the Asheville International Children’s Film Festival, the largest children’s film festival in the Southeast. Held in November, it’s a 10day extravaganza featuring more than 70 films from 25 countries. Animation, features, shorts, historical films and fantastic hands-on, interactive workshops – this festival has it all for kids.

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Arts & Culture

Welcome to Beer City USA WNC earns a spot among tastiest-known craft brew regions

Oscar Wong, the godfather of WNC’s craft brew scene.

GARRET K. WOODWARD PHOTO

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When Oscar Wong founded Highland Brewing in 1994, the Western North Carolina beer scene was, well, non-existent.

“There was no scene,” he chuckled. “For the first year, my friends kept saying, ‘I think you’re going to go broke selling this stuff.’”

Skip ahead 18 years and his brewery is as strong as ever, competing with some of the finest businesses in the country. Dubbed the “Godfather” of the booming Asheville beer market, Wong is impressed with the amount of breweries finding a home here, but he isn’t surprised.

“Clearly, we’ve gotten a lot of attention all over the country with three major breweries (Sierra Nevada, New Belgium, Oskar Blues) coming to the area from the west,” he said.

“That’s given us a lot of recognition. A lot of it here is lifestyle, quality of life and the source of water. We have great water here.”

With Asheville continually voted “Beer City USA,” it seems Western North Carolina has become a worldwide hub for beer connoisseurs and the curious alike. Over a dozen breweries (creating 50-plus different ales) and innumerable niche bars dot the city landscape, with more coming down the pipeline. Several budding regional breweries are also popping up in every direction. Microbrew giants Sierra Nevada, New Belgium and Oskar Blues are all eager to break ground in the area, with enormous breweries planned that will not only accelerate the already-bustling scene but also provide hundreds of jobs and an always welcome boost for the regional economy.

“Microbreweries are an affordable luxury. It’s a form of manufacturing we’re bringing back to the area, with breweries in North Carolina being one of the fastest-growing, job-creating scenes,” said owner/brewmaster Kevin Sandefur of BearWaters Brewing Co. in Waynesville.

Though North Carolina has a long and storied history of brewing, whether it was beer or liquor, the state, for decades after Prohibition, was a brick wall for those looking to open up shop. Over time, the respective legislative bodies realized the potential the microbrew industry could provide to the local economy. Once the floodgates were released, enthusiastic communities rallied around the breweries, each as unique as the mountain culture that is celebrated in Western North Carolina.

“It fits right in with the tradition because this is an artisan beer,” Wong said. “We have cheeses, fabrics, woodwork and music here. They’re all crafts and we have a craft. We fit in very well with the culture. We named it Highland Brewing to celebrate the Scots-Irish who settled this area way back when.”

Reflecting on his own heritage growing up and residing here, Clark Williams, owner/co-brewmaster of Frog Level Brewing in Waynesville, feels these up-an-coming breweries are only going to be a catalyst for the culture and tradition unique to the Great Smoky Mountains.

“I think that heritage mentality goes from the tobacco grower to the moonshiner, being proud of something and making a product to support their families,” he said. “[Alongside Asheville], I like that Bryson City can claim they have a brewery. Sylva can claim one. Waynesville can claim they have three. It’s almost retrograding back to the days when every town had a brewery.”

Viewing the art of brewing as a way to connect all other aspects of tourism, Jon Bowman, co-owner/manager of Tipping Point Brewing in Waynesville, feels the more the merrier for breweries in Western North Carolina.

“This area is already a tourist destination, and these breweries give people one more thing to do while they’re here. Hike all day, bike all day, float the river, then go checkout the breweries,” he said.

Finishing up a brewing cycle at LAB (Lexington Avenue Brewing) in downtown

Teaching the craft With microbrew giants Oskar Blues, Sierra Nevada and New Belgium planning to put down deep roots in Western North Carolina, there will be many new jobs to fill in the industry. To start, there will be an estimated 400 jobs created, something that will require plenty of enthusiastic people looking to learn, explore and thrive in the budding industry.

Starting in January 2013, Oskar Blues Brewery (which opened its east coast headquarters in December 2012) and Blue Ridge Community College will work together to offer a hands-on brewing training course. With the nationally renowned company at the helm, the Oskar Blues Brew School will offer classes at the brewery and at the college’s satellite campus in Brevard.

The course will offer on-site training and guest speakers alongside students concocting their own specially designed beers, which will be tested and developed on the brewery’s pilot system. Once the requirements are met, students will then partake in the General International Beer and Distribution Certification exam.

Asheville-Buncombe Tech Community College has announced the creation of The Craft Beverage Institute of the Southeast, a premier education destination to meet the needs of the rapidlygrowing beverage industry in the region.

“The job of the community college is to find the local need and fill it. Each region has its own market niche,” said Dr. Hank Dunn, A-B Tech President. “Craft beverages are a big business in the area. We think it will be an incredible boon to the area and will grow exponentially.”

The College plans to offer a two-year degree starting in fall 2013 in brewing, distillation and fermentation to teach the science and technical art of craft beverages. A large component of the process will require STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education. There will also be a business track to address marketing, events and tasting room management to provide a comprehensive education to support the beverage industry.

The growth of the beverage industry in Western North Carolina was led by the Biltmore Estate Winery, the world’s most visited winery. Now the region is welcoming the production facilities of New Belgium, Sierra Nevada and Oskar Blues breweries, joining Asheville’s own Highland Brewery and other microbreweries in the area. In addition, Western North Carolina is also the home of three distilleries.

“We are not the Northern California wine country. We are not St. Louis, known for its beer. We are not Kentucky, home of whiskey,” said Sheila Tillman, Associate Dean of A-B Tech. “We are finding ourselves in the situation of supporting a growing job force of not one part of the beverage industry, but we have three major industries simultaneously coming here. “ A-B Tech will not only provide a two-year degree, but continuing education and workforce development in the beverage industry through hands-on training in a fermentation facility designed for brewing, winemaking and distillation at the College’s Enka site.

Scott Adams, Director of The Craft Beverage Institute of the Southeast, said there are a few places to study beer in the area, but nothing as comprehensive that covers brewing, fermentation and distilling. “Our goal is to get people trained and in the jobs where they are needed,” he said.

Asheville, assistant brewmaster Bruce Cottingham is all for the beer chaos overtaking the landscape.

“It’s full throttle. It’s going nowhere but up.

Breweries are opening all the time,” he said. “I think everybody is very locally minded here, which is why people are starting all these different types of things. It can be a risk, but you’ll get the community support.”

Putting the industry against the context of the region, Wong believes the beer industry, as with other southern Appalachian industries, runs on three principles – quality, integrity and respect.

“Respect is the toughest one. I believe that you shouldn’t dread coming into work. You live your life,” he said. “That’s what is so wonderful around here, and it’s going to continue to be that way. More and more people are discovering it. I want to make sure we don’t lose the character of this place. We can manage it if we do it right.”

Though one might think this endless development could saturate the market, Cottingham argues that beer in Asheville is an art, and the more artists converging here, the better.

“It’s beer. Do you really think people will get tired of it? You can never have too many varieties,” he said. “It’s about patience and

GARRET K. WOODWARD PHOTO

Fitting into the landscape

quality. Brewing is an art, and any artist is going to try and be a perfectionist with their craft.”

Room to grow Wong points out that though the brewery portion of the economy may be small — for now — the possibility for improvement and growth is unlimited.

“With the addition of these new guys, it presents a challenge and an opportunity,” he said. “We’re now 6 percent of the business in

“I think everybody is very locally minded here … it can be a risk, but you’ll get the community support.”

— Bruce Cottingham, Lexington Avenue Brewing

Buncombe County. In Portland, Ore., it’s close to 30 percent. So, we have room to grow, and I believe that’s what will happen.”

Readying himself for the renowned Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Sandefur will be pouring his flagship Stiff Paddle IPA and Barrel Roll Bourbon Porter in-person at the event.

BEER CITY CONTINUES, PAGE 33

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Arts & Culture

Grasping for grapes Western North Carolina continues to bolster its wine offerings

Established in 2012, Burntshirt Vineyards in Hendersonville (top) is quickly making a name for itself in the budding Western North Carolina wine scene. The barrel room at the renowned Biltmore Winery (below) offers tours and an opportunity to taste the product.

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PHOTO COURTESY OF BILTMORE

GARRET K. WOODWARD PHOTO

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The morning fog has just lifted in Western North Carolina. Sunshine crashes into the hills like a wave, soon washing over the vineyards. It’s the perfect time to pick grapes, and Eric Case has been at it since dawn.

“We have warm days and cool nights, which helps the grapes to ripen,” said Case, manager at Burntshirt Vineyards in Hendersonville. “Our elevation in Henderson County helps. We’re cooler at night than other growing areas in North Carolina.”

Taking a page from the microbrewery boom in this region, the wine industry in southern Appalachia has blossomed. With the legendary Biltmore Estate Winery leading the way, an array of local wineries have emerged to compete with the Yadkin Valley and beyond, including Burntshirt and St. Paul Vineyards.

“The conditions of these mountains is very similar to Europe,” said Alan Ward, owner of St. Paul Vineyards near Hendersonville.

“We’re trying to be true to this region and grow the best fruit we can. This is agricultural tourism at its best.”

Ward points to the far south ecosystem that resides in the mountain elevations ranging

“We’re trying to be true to this region and grow the best fruit we can. This is agricultural tourism at its best.”

GARRET K. WOODWARD PHOTO

— Alan Ward, owner of St. Paul Vineyards near Hendersonville.

BEER CITY, CONTINUED FROM PAGE 31

“I’m really proud to be able to represent our region in a very respected and prestigious event like the Great American Beer Festival,” he said. “I’m looking forward to go out there and say, ‘We’re from a little place in Western North Carolina. We’re making really good beer and we’re ready to compete with some of the biggest and best breweries in the world’.”

Taking a sip from the delicious results of his hard work, Cottingham looks out onto the bustling streets of Asheville. It’s late afternoon, with sunshine spilling onto the city. A grin soon rolls across his face.

“I love that you kind of have to struggle to find a Budweiser in this town,” he said.

ASHEVILLE BREWERIES

mean, we’ve had moonshine for years,” he from 2,300 to 3,000 feet. With crisp chuckled. “Being a tourist-oriented region, evenings blanketing the area, pleasant people are looking for local wines. The temperatures below 90 degrees during the North Carolina wine industry will day is key to grape growth. continue to grow once they get bigger and “We’ve studied and done our have a distributor handle their product.” homework,” he said. “We listen to what California took the lead in U.S. wine people tell us about our wine and it’s been production after Prohibition, but the tide great feedback. We focus on high quality is slowly turning. North fruit and having a great Carolina is bolting out winemaker.” of the gate and back Alongside the > Biltmore Estate Winery (Asheville) into the mix. obvious addition to the > Burntshirt Vineyards (Hendersonville) “The wine industry in local culture and > Eagle Fork Vineyards (Hayesville) the United States in tradition, the wine > Calaboose Cellars (Andrews) general is in its infancy industry also replaces > Cherokee Cellars Winery (Murphy) compared to Europe,” he numerous > Falderal Winery (Hendersonville) said. “But, it has grown manufacturing and > Ritler Ridge Winery (Candler) leaps and bounds, with agricultural jobs that North Carolina being vanished from Western > Rockhouse Vineyards (Tryon) one of the states taking North Carolina over the > Saint Paul Mountain Vineyards the lead.” past decades.

(Hendersonville) Connoisseurs are “It’s still agriculture,” > Valley River Vineyards (Murphy) familiar with the Case said. “The apple Sonoma and Napa Valleys of the west, so farmers have dwindled here. A lot of grape winegrowers around here know it’ll be an growers in the Yadkin Valley used to be uphill battle to get people to turn their tobacco growers. The more we can keep heads south, but the proof is in the wine. local, the better.”

“It’s very satisfying to see people drink Noticing the change in consumer taste at the wine and enjoy it,” Case said. “People his wine store, The Classic Wine Seller in aren’t used to us yet, but we’re going to Waynesville, owner Richard Miller sees the change that. Once they try the wine, potential of the industry for his backyard. they’ll be impressed.”

“It fits in with the traditions here. I

WINERIES

> > > > > > > > > > > > >

Altamont Brewing Asheville Brewing Blue Mountain Brewing* French Broad Brewing Green Man Brewery Highland Brewing Lexington Avenue Brewery New Belgium Brewing* Oyster House Brewing Thirsty Monk Brewery Wedge Brewing Wicked Weed Brewing Yellow Truck*

WNC BREWERIES > > > > > > > > > > >

BearWaters Brewing Co. (Waynesville) Brevard Brewing (Brevard) Catawba Valley Brewing (Morganton) Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) Heinzelmannchen Brewery (Sylva) Lookout Brewing (Black Mountain)* Nantahala Brewing (Bryson City) Oskar Blues Brewing (Brevard) Pisgah Brewing (Black Mountain) Sierra Nevada Brewing (Mills River)* Southern Appalachian Brewery (Hendersonville) > Tipping Point Brewing (Waynesville) (*) Breweries planned

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MARK HASKETT PHOTO

DONATED PHOTO

Arts & Culture

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Scrumptious southern pecan pancakes (left) are just one of numerous made-from-scratch savory dishes served up at Tupelo Honey Café in downtown Asheville. Located in downtown Sylva, City Lights Café (right) utilizes an array of local ingredients in their pursuit of delicious and healthy, diet-friendly meals, alongside a wide selection of local microbrews and wine.

WNC’s food scene grows up The Mountain South works to establish its own culinary identity

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Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

The chaos of the lunch rush has overtaken the Tupelo Honey Café in downtown Asheville, but Elizabeth Sims is all smiles.

Marketing director for the popular culinary hub, she looks around the restaurant at faces young and old, each arriving for the flavorful Southern fare, each leaving satisfied and stuffed.

“We’re really interested in refining and defining what it means to be in the Mountain South, which is a region we feel has been quite overlooked,” she said. “Nashville, Charleston and New Orleans all have a different take on what it means to be Southern.

It’s time the Mountain South gets recognized culturally, and in a culinary sense.”

And it seems that is exactly what is Learn more about the happening. The creativity of the local farm-to-table movement culinary industry is spiraling up and out TV in Western North Carolina of Western North Carolina as the region’s BH reputation continues to grow. beverly-hanks.tv “Although we are in a lot of ways becoming more global in our offerings, Southern roots always remain a high focus,” said Christine Sykes-Lowe, executive director of Asheville Independent Restaurants (AIR). “As more people are attracted to our area, chefs will open more restaurants with more concepts. The possibilities are limitless and exciting.”

With dozens of members, AIR champions creativity, culinary flair and the independent spirit. Focusing on sustainable food culture, whether it be buying from nearby farmers or teaching greener practices in running a restaurant, the organization believes in supporting the local economy.

“We’re fortunate enough to be able to utilize our vast resources in sustainable agriculture in Western North Carolina,” Sykes-Lowe said. “It supports commerce and is sustainable. In the end, it just tastes better. It’s a win-win for everyone.”

Head chef at The Sweet Onion in Waynesville, Doug Weaver grew up in North Carolina. He believes true Southern hospitality doesn’t stop at the door, but extends out of the kitchen and to the dining table. It’s about being mindful of modern techniques, but also being respectful of what a Southern dish is, in character and in taste.

“Because it’s what we are and not what we’re trying to become,” he said. “That’s where

“Nashville, Charleston and New Orleans all have a different take on what it means to be Southern. It’s time the Mountain South gets recognized culturally, and in a culinary sense.”

— Elizabeth Sims, Tupelo Honey Café marketing director

GARRET K. WOODWARD PHOTO

the real Southern flair is, when you treat someone the same who comes in for cup of coffee and some collared greens as someone who orders the filet and a bottle of wine.”

A proud Southerner, Weaver mixes his “greasy spoon” influences as a child with the sophisticated palates he MARGARET HESTER PHOTO cooked for on the West Coast. It’s that fine line between cosmopolitan style and country grace that he feels is key to “A lot of Americans have let their palates go numb. They’re the explosion and sustainability of restaurants in this used to eating very mediocre fare,” Sims said. “We don’t do that. region.

All of our dishes are made from scratch in the kitchen. Not only “We try to keep one foot in the past and one in the future,” does it taste better, it’s also fresher and better for you.” he said. “We definitely are focused on the future and what Ory Petty, lead chef at City Lights, sees people today needs to be changed, for the better. But, at the same time stepping out of the comfort zones and trying new things, but we’re focused on the past and our heritage in this area.” also being aware of what their eating, which means addressing Further into the western hills, Bernadette Peters, owner certain dietary needs (gluten free, vegetarian, etc.). of City Lights Café in Sylva, “What we’re trying to do is retain points out the importance of local audience and make ourselves as working together as a open to the community as possible. community, which also Buying local and serving local,” he showcases the importance of said. “We also want to attract people using local ingredients and from out of town by having options practicing sustainability. that are unique to this place, but “‘Love Your Community’ is making sure people are comfortable the theme we’re creating in our coming in.” space here,” she said. “As Viewing his restaurant as a individual business owners, we source of pride, Weaver is aware he can’t grow in a vacuum, we have represents the community with to work together to encourage each dish he presents. He wants people to come to out town.” patrons to have a worthwhile Buying local is a common experience. That exact sentiment thread running through the reflects the skill and craftsmanship Chef Josh Monroe (top), owner of the Chef's Table in Waynesville, shops the Farmer's Market for the freshest food tapestry of taste in Western that has always been cherished and available to serve in his restaurant. Chef Doug Weaver (above) North Carolina. Fruits, nurtured in Southern Appalachia. of The Sweet Onion says the beauty of Southern mountain vegetables, beef, spices, wine “We feel a tremendous cuisine is that it has “one foot in the past and one in the future.” and beer are just some of the responsibility maintaining our raw and refined materials grown and produced in the area. identity in this community, our dignity and our pride,” he “Southern Appalachia has always been a homegrown said. “We’re moms and dads here. I don’t want to go to the area,” Peters said. “We’re using a lot of ingredients that playground and hear that someone had a bad experience at people love without using a lot of preservatives.” our restaurant.”

Feeling it’s the chef ’s responsibility to find the right Though a modern world society can sometimes seem ingredients, Weaver holds a philosophy of feeding people homogenized, Sims applies the cultural mixture quality, no matter who they are and where they come from. optimistically to the backdrop of where the future of “You can’t be pretentious. Don’t say you’re better than Southern cuisine is headed. whatever was here before. People here can see that a mile “The South has become more globalized, so what does away,” he said. “I won’t feed something to people I don’t that mean now?” she said. “It means you have people from know that I wouldn’t feed to people I do know.”

Vietnam fishing down in the gulf coast or you go into Reaching deeper into the community, Tupelo Honey Café Atlanta and find every type of food possible. It’s a very currently takes its chefs into the local school systems, where embracing scene. We’re very proud of our creative take and they not only help inspire and create with the cooks there, what it means to have a Southern theme.” but also educate children about eating healthy and living a sustainable existence.

FAVORITE EATERIES ASHEVILLE > Curate > Admiral > Corner Kitchen > Red Stag at Grand Bohemian > 131 Main St. > Rezzaz > Vinnies WAYNESVILLE

> Sweet Onion > Frog’s Leap

Public House

> Blue Rooster > Bogart’s > Gateway Club > Tipping Point

Pub and Brewery HENDERSONVILLE > Mezeluna > Hannah Flannigans > Square Root > West First > Seasons at Highland Lake * As selected by Beverly-Hanks’ agents

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Retirement

Staying active An active community and plenty to do takes retirement to a new level

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UNC Asheville hosts events for retirees, such as Creative Retirement Exploration Weekend, a weekend program focused on relocation.

OSHER LIFELONG LEARNING INSTITUTE PHOTO

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Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

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An inexpensive city in an affordable region in the temperate South, Asheville has attracted active retirees for years.

And in recent years, Western North Carolina has becoming even more appealing to those who want to spend the best part of their lives immersed in art, culture, fine dining and adventure opportunities that every beautiful morning beckon its newest residents to come out and play.

No wonder Asheville has been TopRetirement.com’s No. 1 place to retire > Beauty of the area for four years running. “Asheville’s > Charm of small-town living mountains, gentle four-seasons climate and > Quality of life recreational/cultural opportunities provide > Climate and the four distinct seasons the standard that all other retirement towns > Mountains can aspire to,” the website stated.

In 2010, the website eHow.com listed * According to Beverly-Hanks agents Asheville as one of the five best small towns in which to live as a retiree.

MarketWatch put it first among its top 10 places to retire, and Black Enterprise magazine included it in its 20 best retirement locations. Bestboomertowns.com said Asheville was one of the “21 Best U.S. Towns for Baby Boomers’ Active Retirement.”

Active retirement certainly sums up the lives of many of the area’s newest arrivals.

Every morning, you’ll face an array of exciting options, nearly all of them involving a healthy dose of sunshine and fresh air.

There are many other good reasons why retirees love Asheville. Its cost of living is less than the national average. At $251,000, the average home sale is less than the country as a whole.

Health care is excellent here, and less expensive than many similar- and smaller-sized cities in the Southeast. The average cost of a doctor’s visit is $75.50, and for the dentist, it’s $97.

Downtown Asheville is a sensory delight, filled with wonderful sights, sounds and aromas. The city’s dining scene encompasses nearly every kind of ethnic cuisine imaginable, including Italian, Indian, Thai, Nepalese, Southern and Southwestern. The sidewalks are full

WHY DO FOLKS MOVE HERE?

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Learn more about hiking in Western North Carolina

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of people popping in and out of dozens of art galleries, all supplied with work by nationally and internationally known artists who chose to live here above all other places.

Restaurants and clubs abound in music, as do sidewalks full of accomplished musicians playing for tips and notice. Hat in hand and heart on their sleeves, they sing and strum in front of smart shops purveying fashionable clothes, art and antiques.

You can’t drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway without passing a long line of motorcyclists enjoying the freedom of the road and of retirement. Clubs formal and informal meet for long rides throughout Western North Carolina, including the famous Tail of the Dragon near Robbinsville, N.C. – 318 curves over 11 miles, one of America’s premier motorcycle and sports car roads. Nearby is Cherohala Skyway, a milehigh ride to Tellico Plains, Tenn.

For those who like to take the mountains by foot, Western North Carolina abounds in trails. Mount Mitchell, Roan Mountain,

MARK HASKETT PHOTO

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Clingmans Dome and Mount Sterling are some of the higher peaks that eager hikers notch on their grand tour of the region’s tallest mountains. The Mountains-to-Sea trail through Asheville passes through much of the region. Perhaps the area’s most famous forested byway is the Appalachian Trail, a Maine-toGeorgia ridge top route that can be accessed in several places in Western North Carolina.

For those who like to pedal along under their own power, the backroads of Western North

Carolina are unparalleled for their beauty and challenge (and most are bike-friendly, with cafes and stores along the way). Racers will find plenty of events to choose from, including the Blue Ridge Breakaway, Roan Groan, 24 Hours of Pisgah, Mount Mitchell Assault, Hot Doggett 100 and Hilly Hellacious Hundred.

Retirees routinely best younger residents in area duathlons and triathlons held at Biltmore Lake, Lake Junaluska and along the French Broad River. Runners in all age groups can choose from races held nearly every week in nearly every town in the mountains. Those who like to push further will love the half marathons staged in Asheville, Cullowhee, Bethel, Brevard, and Ridgecrest. For those who have even more than that, the DuPont State Forest 50K is in the cool of October, the 18-mile Shut-In Ridge Run is in chilly November and the 40-mile Mount Mitchell Challenge is in the cold of February.

Several car clubs cater toward those who like to tinker and show off their work. Highlands Sports Car Club in Asheville is a friendly group of automotive enthusiasts whose members come from all walks of life and drive all types of vehicles. The Mountaineer Antique Auto Club in Clyde attracts collectors of classic cars. There is also an antique car club in Hendersonville and a Mustang club in Asheville.

“We wish we would have moved sooner.”

Celebrate

It’s the comment we hear most often from new Deerfield residents. They delight in our location and their newfound friends; love the state-of-the-art amenities; feel safe, secure and well cared for by our expert staff – their only complaint is that they didn’t make the decision to move sooner. Since the best time to move may have been years ago, then isn’t the next best time now?

Call to schedule a visit and learn how you can thrive at Deerfield – in body, mind and spirit.

AN EPISCOPAL RETIREMENT COMMUNITY

1617 Hendersonville Rd. | Asheville, NC | (828) 274-1531 press 1 | www.deerfieldwnc.org Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

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Outdoors

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There's plenty of outdoor adventure at every turn in Western North Carolina, including a plethora of mountain biking trails and even a canine competition featuring water-diving dogs catching tossed objects. ASHLEY T. EVANS PHOTO (LEFT) • MARGARET HESTER PHOTO (RIGHT)

Outdoor adventures The Mountain South offers innumerable opportunities for exploration

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Recreation is truly “re-creation” in the Blue Ridge, whose mountains offer lucky residents and visitors the chance to renew their spirits through a rich variety of outdoor opportunities.

There’s plenty of fun to be had, and if you like sports, you’ll find plenty to root for here.

Asheville turns out in force to watch the Asheville Tourists, affiliated with the Colorado Rockies, a Major League Baseball team that sends many of its first-round picks here to pick up valuable experience. Grab the family, pick up a sack of peanuts and a couple of hot dogs and watch some excellent baseball on a warm summer’s eve. It seems like everyone’s friendly in a minor league ballpark, and that’s no truer than at McCormick Field, where the Tourists play.

Is football your thing? Fans flock to area restaurants on Saturdays and Sundays to support their favorite college and professional teams. And many go to Memorial Stadium above McCormick Field to watch the Asheville Grizzlies, a semi-professional team that has dominated the Appalachian Division of the Gridiron Development Football League.

For something quirkier, roll over to the Asheville Civic Center to watch the Blue Ridge Rollergirls, members of North Carolina’s first all-female, flat-track roller derby league. The matches combine fashion, camp and fierce competition in an event that draws a spirited crowd as fun to watch as these young athletes going ‘round and ‘round.

Coached for years by basketball coach Eddie Biedenbach, UNC Asheville’s Bulldogs have been getting a lot of attention in the Big South League, playing to near capacity crowds in the university’s new Kimmel Arena. In nearby Cullowhee, Western Carolina University’s Catamounts have produced several excellent players, including Kevin Martin, who now plays with the NBA’s Houston Rockets. Soccer and volleyball rule at Montreat College and Mars Hill College.

Asheville has been selected as host city for the 2012-2014 Southern Conference men’s and women’s basketball tournaments. The city hosted the tournaments for years at the Asheville Civic Center downtown, and the sidewalks full of people going between games and restaurants brought a palpable excitement to the heart of the city.

The Mountain Sports Festival in Asheville every spring is a three-day celebration of all things outdoors. Races and events take in the sports of trail running and biking, cyclocross, ultimate frisbee, rock climbing and dodge ball. Everyone from amateurs to professionals takes part in competitions and clinics that make participants better competitors. The festival also stages a lot of free music around downtown Asheville.

The Nantahala Outdoor Center can provide just about any kind of adventure you’d want, from biking to climbing to hiking to river floats to lake kayaking to jet boat rides to tickets to the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad (you should see the fall foliage from one of these comfortable cabins).

The Wildwater Rafting centers on the Nantahala, Chattooga and Pigeon rivers near Asheville offers exhilarating guided whitewater raft rides that roll over rapids in trips that last about three hours. Other adventurous explorers might opt for harnessed canopy tours, conducted in the beautiful Nantahala Gorge over six aerial bridges and 11 zip lines.

The rides, meant to be more informative than jaw-dropping, go through several ecosystems, and guides share cultural and ecological tidbits along the way.

Zip lines are big in the Asheville area right now.

Navitat Asheville offers top-of-the-tree tours along 10 zip lines, two sky bridges and from two rappelling experiences.

The three-hour adventures have been featured in USA TODAY, in the New York Times and on CNN’s Headline News.

For those who like two feet on the ground, the region offers unparalleled hiking in Pisgah National Forest, Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest and Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and state parks at Chimney Rock, DuPont, Gorges, Grandfather Mountain, Lake Norman and South Mountains. There are several hiking clubs in the area, including the Carolina Mountain Club, established in 1923 and now the oldest and most active hiking club in Western North Carolina.

Julian Price Park, the Blue Ridge Parkway’s largest campground, offers rangerguided hikes during the day. The National Park Service also provides car camping in maintained sites at Linville Falls, Crabtree Meadows, Mount Mitchell and Mount Pisgah. For backpackers, there’s excellent primitive camping in Linville Gorge. Closer to

The Mountain Sports Festival brings together enthusiasts to participate in a myriad of outdoor events, including longboarding.

One of the region's largest outdoor gatherings that takes place every year is the Nantahala Outdoor Center’s Guest Appreciation Festival (below).

SCOTT BASTE PHOTO GARRET K. WOODWARD PHOTO (BELOW)

FAVORITE THINGS TO DO IN WNC ASHEVILLE/BUNCOMBE > Visit Biltmore Estate > The Blue Ridge Parkway > Visit the Grove Park Inn > Walk around downtown Asheville > Visit the N.C. Arboretum > Live Music WAYNESVILLE/HAYWOOD COUNTY > Visit Cataloochee Valley and see the elk > Shop in downtown Waynesville > The Blue Ridge Parkway

HENDERSONVILLE/HENDERSON COUNTY > Visit DuPont State Forest > Visit Historic Flat Rock > Visit downtown Hendersonville > The Blue Ridge Parkway * As chosen by Beverly-Hanks’ agents

Asheville, public campgrounds exist at Lake Powhatan, North Mills River and Davidson River.

Lake Powhatan is in the Bent Creek area of the Pisgah National Forest, just south of Asheville, and home to miles of mountain biking trails. DuPont and Pisgah state parks have lots of trails, as does the Jackrabbit Mountain biking and hiking trail system just outside of Hayesville in Clay County. Road riders will love the popular flat cycle along the French Broad River between Asheville and Marshall (be sure and stop in Zuma Coffee in Marshall for a delicious caffeinated pick-me-up). The Blue Ridge Bicycle Club, Asheville Bicycle Racing Club and the Asheville Women’s Cycling Club host events, club rides and races.

Whitewater Paddling magazine has named Asheville a “Top 10 Whitewater Town,“ but the glory is shared by many towns on the French Broad, Pigeon, Nantahala and Nolichucky rivers. There are many rafting companies in the area, including Huck Finn Adventures in Hot Springs and French Broad Rafting Expeditions and Blue Heron Whitewater in Marshall. The Biltmore Estate has many outdoor experiences, including river floats, fly fishing, horseback riding, hiking and biking.

The fun doesn’t stop with the warm weather.

Strap on your skis and head to Cataloochee Ski Area in Maggie Valley, Wolf Ridge Ski Resort near Mars Hill or Beech Mountain and Sugar Mountain in Banner Elk. All have runs for various levels of expertise, as well as exciting inner tube rides and ski lodges to nurse any sore muscles.

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Golf

AREA COURSES > Asheville Municipal Golf Course

Municipal 226 Fairway Drive, Asheville 828-298-1867 | ashevillenc.gov > Biltmore Forest Country Club

Private 31 Stuyvesant Road, Asheville 828-274-1261 | biltmoreforestcc.com > Black Mountain Golf Course

The historic Grove Park Inn’s golf course is located just minutes from downtown Asheville.

GROVE PARK INN PHOTO

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Mountain links

There’s nothing like playing a round of golf at high elevation to quicken the blood and make you feel alive. Golf courses in Asheville and Western North Carolina have attitude as well as altitude, challenging golfers in the most gorgeous of settings.

Condé Nast Traveler Magazine included the golf course at Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa in its list of “Top 20 Southern U.S. Golf Resorts.” Designed by Donald Ross in 1926, the 18hole, par 70 course has an undulating front nine and a back nine that can be steep. A decade ago, the resort invested $2.5 million to restore the course in a manner that Ross would approve. Players who have enjoyed its challenge include golf immortals Bobby Jones, Sam Snead and Byron Nelson and more recent PGA stars Doug Sanders, Gene Littler, Fuzzy Zoeller and Chip Beck.

The Country Club of Asheville has an 18-hole, par 72 Donald Ross-designed course with a distinctive clubhouse that overlooks the Blue Ridge Mountains. It also boasts a stateof-the-art indoor tennis facility that has eight outdoor clay courts and a modern fitness facility. Also available are a 25-tee driving range and putting and chipping greens.

One of the oldest golf courses in Western North Carolina, Asheville Municipal Golf Course is an 18-hole, par 72 course that opened in 1927. The front nine of this Donald Ross-designed course measures 3,246 yards from the back tees, calling for a driver on every hole. The course is open daily to the public, weather permitting.

The 18-hole golf course at Biltmore Forest Country Club recently underwent at $2.5million restoration, accompanied by an $8.5-million renovation of the clubhouse, bringing both back to their 1922 splendor. Over the years, the course has attracted the likes of Bobby Jones, Bill Tilden, John D. Rockefeller, William Jennings Bryan, William Howard Taft and Calvin Coolidge Sporting the only golf course in Western North Carolina designed by Jack Nicklaus, The Cliffs At Walnut Cove is a par 71, 18-hole course that opened in tournament-ready conditions, according to the PGA Tour. Its greens, bent grass fairways, clever bunkering and elevation changes make it a challenge that calls for a sharp eye.

In Weaverville, just north of Asheville, is Reems Creek Golf Club, an 18-hole, par 72 course. Located in the beautiful Reems Creek Valley, it’s surrounded by tall mountains through which the Blue Ridge Parkway passes. The 6,492-yard course was designed by Hawtree & Sons, a British firm that worked on Royal Birkdale, a course that's in the British Open rotation.

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Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

Municipal 15 Ross Drive, Black Mountain 828-669-2710 | blackmountaingolf.org > Broadmoor Golf Links

Public 101 French Broad Lane, Fletcher 828-687-1500 | broadmoorlinks.com > Champion Hills

Private 15 Club View Drive, Hendersonville 800.633.5122 | championhills.com > Cliffs At Walnut Cove

Private 268 Walnut Valley Parkway, Arden 888-988-3040 | cliffscommunities.com > Country Club of Asheville

Private 170 Windsor Road, Asheville 828-258-9762 | countryclubofasheville.net > Crooked Creek Golf Course

Public 764 Crooked Creek Road, Hendersonville 828-692-2011 > Crowne Plaza Tennis & Golf Resort

Public 1 Resort Drive, Asheville 828-253-5874 | ashevillecp.com > Cummings Cove Golf & Country Club

Public 20 Cummings Cove Parkway, Hendersonville 828-891-9412 | cummingscove.com > Etowah Valley Golf Club

Public 470 Brickyard Road, Etowah 800-451-8174 | etowahvalley.com > Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa

Public 290 Macon Ave., Asheville 800-438-5800 | groveparkinn.com

C H AMP I ONHI LLS. COM

Member-Owned Club

Debt-Free Community

Exceptional Location

Exceptional Community

Secluded, but not isolated, just minutes from Asheville and Hendersonville with easy access to two interstate highways as well as regional and international airports

A debt-free community with capital reserves and a variety of living options in a spectacular mountain setting, from $400,000 to $3 million

Exceptional Golf

Exceptional Lifestyle

Tom Fazio’s “Mountain Masterpiece,” consistently ranked in the top 10 in North Carolina

A member-owned club with first-class amenities, just minutes from a wide array of recreational, dining, cultural and entertainment options

Exceptional People 300 resident families from all parts of the country with an amazing variety of interests and hobbies

Exceptional Opportunity Champion Hills residents are inviting a limited number of members from other clubs to experience the Champion Hills lifestyle for a weekend as our guests in 2013. If you’re interested in seeing firsthand what it’s like to live and play at Champion Hills, please call or e-mail us for details.

For more information about our community or special guest weekends, please call 800.633.5122 or e-mail us at info@ChampionHills.com.

Champion Hills Club is a private, member-owned country club. Admission is member-sponsored and requires approval by the Board of Governors.

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Golf South of Asheville, in Mills River, is High Vista Country Club, whose golf course is open to the public. Established in 1976 and designed by Tom Jackson, the 18-hole course has dramatic elevation changes and winding fairways. Nearby, Etowah Valley Golf Club has three 9-hole courses, all knitted together in one spectacular championship golf experience. Create the combination you want from six tee positions on a scenic mountain plateau 2,200 feet high.

Height matters at Mount Mitchell Golf Club, located near Burnsville. Lying at about 3,000 feet elevation and bordered by peaks that exceed 6,000 feet, the course is relatively flat.

The South Toe River runs through it, a factor that must be taken into account for many shots.

In the mountain region west of the Asheville area there are a handful of top-notch public courses, including the new Sequoyah National in Cherokee (designed by Robert Trent Jones II) and the historic 27 holes at Waynesville Inn Golf Resort and Spa. In the Cashiers area of Jackson County, the scenic High Hampton Inn has one of the most picturesque courses in the country.

Golf courses in Western North Carolina have attitude as well as altitude, challenging golfers in the most gorgeous of settings.

REGIONAL COURSES CONTINUED

> Rumbling Bald Resort on Lake Lure

Private 112 Mountains Boulevard, Lake Lure 828-694-3000 | rumblingbald.com

> High Hampton Inn & Country Club

Private 1525 Highway 107 S., Cashiers 828-743-2411 | highhamptoninn.com

> Sequoyah National Golf Club

Public 79 Cahons Rd., Whittier 828-497-3000 | sequoyahnational.com

> High Vista Country Club

Public 88 Country Club Road, Mills River 828-891-1986 | highvistagolf.com

> Smoky Mountain Country Club

Public 1300 Conley Creek Road, Whittier 800-474-0070 | smokymountaincc.com

> Mount Mitchell Golf Club

Public 11484 N.C. 80 South, Burnsville 828-675-5454 mountmitchellgolf.com > Orchard Trace Golf Club

Public 3389 Sugarloaf Road, Hendersonville 828-685-1006 > Reems Creek Golf Club

Semi-private 36 Pink Fox Cove Road, Weaverville 828-645-4393 | reemscreekgolf.com

> Southern Tee Golf Course

Public 111 Howard Gap Road, Fletcher 828-687-7273 > Springdale Country Club

Public 200 Golfwatch Road, Canton 800-553-3027 | springdalegolf.com > Waynesville Inn, Golf Resort & Spa

Public 176 Country Club Drive, Waynesville 800-627-6250 | wccinn.com

Play where the air is refreshing, the views are breathtaking, and Robert Trent Jones II-designed greens are waiting.

Enjoy 18 holes of challenging championship golf surrounded by the Great Smoky Mountains. While you’re here, experience natural beauty, native culture, and entertainment in the homeland of the Cherokee Indians.

SequoyahNational.com | 828.497.3000 42

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TroonGolf.com

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Sustainability

Consumers, growers share vision

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Farmers markets, consortiums work toward sustainability

The Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project presents a variety of programs to illustrate the importance of keeping food local, such as the Growing Minds Farm to School Program.

PHOTO COURTESY OF APPALACHIAN SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE PROJECT

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Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

Families in Western North Carolina cherish the land they live on, the lives they lead and the love they share. So it’s no surprise that they take good care not only of each other but also of the things that nurture their lives.

The rich soil, clean air and pure water of Western North Carolina are prized by area farmers, whose tasty, healthy vegetables find eager buyers at area tailgate markets. The Western North Carolina Farmers Market, one of five state-owned farmers markets in North Carolina, features stand after stand of high-quality fruits and vegetables, jams and jellies, fresh-baked breads and honeys of all sort. Open daily year ‘round, it has so many farmers and vendors selling tempting treats that it spreads them throughout several buildings on 36 acres.

Smaller tailgate markets organized and staffed by farmers abound in the mountains.

Often offering up live music and craft demonstrations, the markets resemble county fairs, with lined tents displaying greens, berries, squash and all manner of potatoes, as well as fresh herbs and cut flowers. Bakers bring vans full of aromatic savory and sweet breads, often brewing up strong coffee to complete the treat.

Asheville has some excellent natural foods store, including Earth Fare, a large soup-tonuts natural supermarket in Westgate Shopping Center, and Greenlife, a classy full-service “green” grocery on Merrimon Avenue. Mainstream groceries such as Ingles and Fresh Market have updated their stores and increased their organic offerings. Many bakeries and restaurants throughout Western North Carolina make it a point of using only organic or naturally raised ingredients.

Slow Food Asheville, the local chapter of an international slow food movement, is called a “convivium,” a group that assembles convivially every so often to enjoy the pleasures of food and company.

Assembling around food that is as tasty as it is healthy and good for its growers and the planet, the convivium is comprised of tailgate markets, organic growers, food artisans and wonderful restaurants. Members explore the world of good, healthy food via tastings, field trips and other celebrations.

The mission of the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project is to help local farms thrive, to link farmers to markets and supporters, and to build healthy communities through connections to local food. The project brings farmers and consumers together in a mutually beneficial way. Buying local means that you’re eating fresher, better-tasting and healthier food, and that you’re helping local farmers stay in business. By supporting farmers, participants are helping to preserve farmland and are encouraging the use of environmentally friendly agricultural practices.

Green describes more than just the area’s approach to healthful eating. It also describes the leading trend in homebuilding today.

And in “green building,” Western North Carolina is a leader.

The Western North Carolina Green Building Council espoused sustainable building practices more than a decade before they became common in much of the rest of the country. Educating and organizing the regional building industry since 2001, the council has been a rich source of information for the public and professional builders. Member contractors build some of the greenest homes in the area.

Many of those houses are certified by the NC HealthyBuilt Homes Program, which requires residential builders and developers to utilize sustainable, high-performance building strategies to make homes comfortable, healthy and affordable.

HealthyBuilt homes use less water and energy, protect the land on which they’re built and reduce waste by being as recyclable as possible. Many even generate their own power, selling the excess

Green describes more than just the area’s approach to healthful eating.

AREA FARMERS MARKETS > Asheville City Market –

Downtown Saturdays, 8 a.m.-1 p.m.

161 S. Charlotte St. | Asheville 828-348-0340 asapconnections.org/citymarket.html

> Canton Tailgate Market

Tuesdays 7 a.m.-12 p.m., Thursdays 4-7 p.m., Saturdays 7 a.m.-12 p.m.

58 Park St. | Canton 828-235-2760 | cantonnc.com

> Big Ivy Tailgate Market

Saturdays 9 a.m.-12 p.m.

1679 Barnardsville Hwy. | Barnardsville 828-626-3101 buyappalachian.org/listing/big-ivytailgate-market

Saturdays, 8-11:30 a.m.

Courthouse St. | Columbus 828-894-2281 polkcountyfarms.org > Greenlife Sunday Market

Sundays, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

70 Merrimon Ave. | Asheville 828-254-5440 wholefoods.com/stores/asheville > Haywood’s Historic Farmers Market

Wednesdays and Sundays, 8 a.m.-1 p.m.

250 Pigeon St. | Waynesville 828-627-1058 waynesvillefarmersmarket.com > Henderson County Curb Market

> Black Mountain Tailgate Market

Saturdays 9 a.m.-12 p.m. May-October 130 Montreat Rd. | Black Mountain 828-669-8722 blackmountaintailgatemarket.org

Saturdays 7 a.m.-12 p.m.

100 N. King St. | Hendersonville 828-693-7265 > Jackson County Farmers Market

> Columbus Tailgate Market

> Asheville City Market – South

Wednesdays, 2-8 p.m.

Town Square Blvd.

Biltmore Park Town Square, Asheville 828-348-0340 asapconnections.org/citymarket.html

> Henderson County Tailgate Market

Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, 8 a.m.-2 p.m.

221 N. Church St. and 2nd Ave. Hendersonville 828-692-8012 | curbmarket.com

Saturdays 9 a.m.-12 p.m.

Railroad Ave. | Sylva 828-631-3033

Artisans Market Saturdays 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

Corner of N.C. 213 and Park St. | Mars Hill marshillmarket.org

Thursdays, 4-6:30 p.m.

McCowan St. | Tryon 828-894-2281 polkcountyfarms.org > Waynesville Tailgate Market

> Montford Farmers Market

Wednesdays, 2-6 p.m.

36 Montford Ave. | Asheville facebook.com/pages/MontfordFarmers-Market/210375855670483

Wednesdays and Saturdays, 8 a.m.-12 p.m.

171 Legion Dr. | Waynesville 828-648-6323 downtownwaynesville.com

> North Asheville Tailgate Market

> Weaverville Tailgate Market

Saturdays, 8 a.m.-12 p.m.

UNCA campus | Asheville northashevilletailgatemarket.org

Wednesdays, 2:30-6:30 p.m.

60 Lakeshore Dr. | Weaverville weavervilletailgate.org

> Riceville Tailgate Market

Fridays, 4-7 p.m.

954 Tunnel Rd. | Asheville 973-943-8506

Sundays, 12-4 p.m.

Blanahasset Island | Marshall

MARK HASKETT PHOTO

Market Saturdays, 8 a.m.-12 p.m.

Corner of Johnson and Jordan streets | Brevard 828-877-3796 farmersmarketonline.com/fm/ TransylvaniaTailgateMarket.htm > Tryon Tailgate Market

> Madison County Farmers &

> Sundays on the Island

back to the power company.

State and federal tax credits make investing in many of these efficient energy systems more affordable, and having those systems helps homes achieve Energy Star status. To earn the designation, homes must be at least 15 percent more efficient than the standard built to the 2004 International Residential Code. They also must include energy-saving features that typically make them 20 to 30 percent more efficient than standard homes. Such features may include insulation made from recycled

> Transylvania Tailgate

materials, floors made from locally sourced wood and windows that let in light but keep out heat and cold.

Many homes are LEED certified.

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is an internationally-recognized green building certification system that helps homeowners design, build, operate and maintain their homes in ways that save money and decrease their impact on the earth. Building in existing neighborhoods, having dual-flush toilets, installing energy-efficient appliances and providing the best–possible quality of indoor air are all ways to achieve LEED status.

Blue Ridge Forever is an organized effort spearheaded by 12 land conservation organizations to protect the mountain land

> Wednesday Co-op

Tailgate Market Wednesday, 2-6 p.m.

70 Biltmore Ave. | Asheville 828-255-7650 facebook.com/pages/ Wednesday-Co-op-TailgateMarket/155698901169392

and waterways of the southern Blue Ridge Mountains. Already it has gotten 50,000 acres under state, national or conservation trust protection.

Sustainability means so much to Asheville that its city government has an office whose sole duty is to come up with ways that city departments can be “green.” Asheville City Council has adopted a resolution to reduce the municipal carbon footprint 8 percent by the year 2050. City-funded buildings fall under a green building ordinance, and all new buildings must be LEED certified.

The Asheville Independent Restaurant Association has a “green team” that shows other restaurants how to save energy and reduce waste. Its work has led to a far higher percentage of restaurants in Asheville being certified by the Green Restaurant Association than are certified in Chicago, Los Angeles or New York City.

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Accommodations

A tradition of hospitality Western North Carolina has been attracting visitors for 200 years

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Visitors to the Asheville area are lucky — they have a host of hospitality choices, from inexpensive motels by the highways to elegant inns both large and small.

Travelers, many tempted to stay, have been attracted to Asheville and the surrounding Smoky Mountains for more than 200 years.

Western North Carolina’s natural beauty, its healthful climate and its cooler temperatures drew Low Country rice planters up from Charleston, S.C., just after the American Revolution. Those same attributes now attract people from all over the world, many of whom relish the opportunity to stay in an inn built about the time their greatgrandparents were born.

Perhaps the most famous inn of all is the Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa. The century-old hotel, with enormous fireplaces at either end of its cavernous lobby, is one of the world’s largest repositories of Arts & Crafts furniture and fixtures. Built from tons of granite pulled nearby by crews of men and mules, the inn now has a $42 million subterranean spa that Travel + Leisure’s magazine included among its 25 best hotel spas in the United States and Canada in 2011.

On Lake Toxaway, about an hour’s drive from Asheville, is The Greystone Inn, a resort on the largest private lake in North

The Swag Inn is located adjacent to the Great Smoky Mountains Park in Haywood County, mixing seclusion and luxury. The inn always makes its way onto the lists of the top inns in the U.S. JUMPING ROCKS PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTO

Travelers, many tempted to stay, have been attracted to Asheville and the surrounding Smoky Mountains for more than 200 years.

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Carolina. Guests can enjoy its spa, try their hand at croquet on the inn’s championship courts or play golf on a Kris Spence-designed course.

Every day that the weather is good, the inn sends guests out on its 26passenger mahogany boat for a complimentary champagne cruise.

So handsome you might not venture to the nearby Biltmore Estate is the 1891 Cedar Crest Inn in Asheville. Built by William E. Breese, a Confederate officer and bank founder, the Victorian inn is full of highly polished oak and walnut, much of it placed (so the story goes) by the same craftsman that George Vanderbilt used to build his mansion.

The Asheville area abounds in historic bed and breakfast inns, many of them concentrated in the city’s Montford neighborhood just

outside of downtown. Residents and visitors working up an appetite in a pre-supper stroll walk past the Beaufort House Inn, 1900 Inn on Montford, Applewood Manor Inn, and Carolina Bed and Breakfast (built by Biltmore House architect Richard Sharp Smith).

Farther away (but not far) in Asheville are the elegant Princess Anne Hotel and the Chestnut Street Inn on Chestnut Hill, as well as the Albemarle Inn in Grove Park. In Candler, there’s the Honey Hill Inn and Cabins; in Waynesville, there are the Windover Inn Bed & Breakfast, the Swag Country Inn and Inn at Iris Meadows; in Leicester, there’s the Wildberry Lodge Bed & Breakfast. In lovely Hot Springs, guests stay at the Mountain Magnolia Inn and the Duckett House Inn and Farm. In Weaverville, lovely stays are had at the Inn on Main Street and Dry Ridge Inn. And in between each and every one of these beautiful inns, there are dozens more, eagerly awaiting the opportunity to pamper you during your stay here.

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Dillsboro

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Hendersonville 400 Beverly-Hanks Centre Hendersonville, NC 28792 800-868-0515 TOLL FREE 828-697-0515

Gaffney Boiling Springs 85

Greer

820 Merrimon Avenue Asheville, NC 28804 800-277-2511 TOLL FREE 828-251-1800

One Town Square Blvd. Suite 140 Asheville, NC 28803 800-868-8999 TOLL FREE 828-684-8999

Cliffside

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26 25

300 Executive Park Asheville, NC 28801 800-868-7221 TOLL FREE 828-254-7221

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Downtown Asheville

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Waynesville 124 Branner Avenue Waynesville, NC 28786 800-849-8024 TOLL FREE 828-452-5809

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109 Arcade St. Lake Lure, NC 28746 828-625-8846

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Buncombe COUNTY

Asheville WNC’s largest city is a cultural gem and an architectural jewel

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With a population of 75,000, Asheville is the largest city in Western North Carolina and serves as the area’s economic and cultural nerve center in many ways.

Talk about your A-list cities: Asheville is amassing accolades on many fronts.

Billed as a place where “altitude affects attitude,” Asheville is surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains. It’s been renowned as a place to retreat and take in natural wonders since the 1800s, and in recent decades, its once-dormant downtown has exploded with commerce and entertainments.

Stories about Asheville’s quality of life have become a staple of national media outlets. In 2007, the city topped Relocate-America.com’s list of the 100 best places to live. In 2009, U.S. News & World Report named Asheville one of “America’s best affordable places to retire.” And in an August 2011 report, Good Morning America pegged Asheville as one of the “10 most beautiful places in America.”

Part of that beauty springs from the mountain setting, and part from the architecture. Asheville’s downtown is home to scores of historic buildings, many of which are noted for their art deco accents.

Nearby is the Biltmore Estate, site of the Biltmore Mansion, one of the largest private residences ever built. Completed in 1895, today the 250-room, French renaissance-style house and the 8,000-acre grounds are open to guests for tours, dinners, concerts and outdoor activities.

The gardens, stables, restaurants, winery and hotel all help make this North Carolina’s top tourism destination, with more than a million people now visiting each year.

Asheville is an arts mecca. In both 2010 and 2011, the readers of AmericanStyle magazine voted it the “top small-city arts destination” in the country. Downtown is full of galleries and shops displaying all manner of arts (as is the Biltmore Village area, just south of downtown), from traditional mountain crafts to more modern creations.

Buncombe COUNTY Asheville’s city hall (facing page) is a massive Art Deco masterpiece by famed architect Douglas D. Ellington. Completed in 1928, Ellington said the “contours of the building should reflect the mountain background.” The recently completed Pack Square Park in front of city hall includes a water feature that invites family and friends to have some fun on warm days.

Street performers (below) are a mainstay of the always lively, bustling downtown Asheville scene. MARGARET HESTER PHOTO

Asheville’s signature festival is Bele Chere, held downtown every summer since 1979. Held the last weekend in July, the festival draws hundreds of thousands of visitors for a wide variety of arts, music, food, drink, vendors, performances and children’s activities.

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Buncombe COUNTY

Biltmore Village (above) is a historic Asheville neighborhood near the Biltmore Estate that now features shops, restaurants and galleries in a walkable setting. The up-and-coming River Arts District (below) along the French-Broad River is home to a number of artists, new condominium developments, restaurants, brew pubs and other eclectic businesses.

DONATED PHOTO (ABOVE) GARRET K. WOODWARD PHOTO (BELOW)

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The Asheville Art Museum, which has helped anchor the arts scene for decades, recently announced major expansion plans. The Black Mountain College Museum & Arts Center, also downtown, hosts exhibits, talks and workshops that celebrate the legacy of the college, a noted avant-garde institution from 1933-1957.

A rising jewel of the arts scene is the River Arts District, an ever-expanding complex of studios and galleries near the French Broad River that’s also becoming one of Asheville’s culinary and entertainment hubs.

The performing arts also abound in Asheville, with dozens of venues hosting live music, readings, theatre and comedy.

The Asheville Civic Center is the largest, with both a 7,600-seat arena and the 2,400-seat Thomas Wolfe Auditorium. The center hosts everything from performances by the Asheville Symphony Orchestra to roller derby bouts starring Asheville’s own Blue Ridge Rollergirls. More intimate performances take place at the Diana Wortham Theatre, a 500-seat venue that’s part of a downtown cultural and educational center, Pack Place, and the recently opened Altamont Theatre, a 120-seat performance spot that boasts some of the best acoustics in the area.

The Orange Peel, a renovated 1970sera music club, draws national acts on a nightly basis and was recently named one of the best rock venues in America by Rolling Stone. The Grey Eagle, a smaller but still substantial establishment in the River Arts District, also brings in top talents from around the region and the country. And on just about any given night, a dozen or more smaller bars and clubs feature live music of various kinds.

There’s also a burgeoning comedy

Biltmore Village

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Interiors worthy of your mountain vista.

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Buncombe COUNTY

PHOTO COURTESY OF ASHEVILLE SYMPHONY

The performing arts abound in Asheville, with dozens of venues hosting live music, readings, theatre and comedy.

GARRET K. WOODWARD PHOTO

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Artist: Michael Lightcap.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS CRAFT GUILD

At the Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands, more than 200 local and regional craftspeople offer their creations of clay, fiber, glass, leather, metal, mixed media, natural materials, paper, wood and jewelry.

scene, with both amateur and professional stand-up comics performing several times a weeks at various venues.

The annual Laugh Your Asheville Off, held in in July, is the biggest comedy festival in the Southeast.

Some of the area’s biggest art events take place in Asheville. In July and October, the Civic Center is home to the four-day Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands, which has taken place for more than 60 years. At the event, more than 200 local and regional craftspeople fill the center, offering their creations of clay, fiber, glass, leather, metal, mixed media, natural materials, paper, wood and jewelry. A newer event, The Big Crafty, has exploded in popularity in recent years. Held in July and December at Pack Place, it’s a kind of community bazaar, with quirky handmade crafts, local food and beer, and music.

Asheville’s signature festival is Bele Chere, held downtown every summer since 1979. Held the last weekend in July, the festival draws hundreds of thousands of visitors for a wide variety of arts, music, food, drink, vendors, performances and children’s activities. For those who find the festival too big for their liking, there’s a smaller but still-vibrant event in September, the Lexington Avenue Arts and Fun Festival, a family-friendly celebration the funkier side of Asheville’s underground arts and music.

Every April since 2009, the downtown has hosted HATCH Asheville, a creative arts and mentoring festival that brings in luminaries from around the world to discuss and showcase work in seven disciplines: architecture,

The Asheville Symphony Orchestra (top) has been entertaining audiences since 1960. The city has built a reputation as a musical mecca, attracting both nationally known artists like Willie Nelson (left) and scores of up-and-coming musicians who ply their trade at the dozens of live music venues.

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ASHEVILLE AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE PHOTO

design/technology, fashion, film, journalism, music and photography.

In 2010, Asheville added another festival that’s putting the city on the musical map.

Moogfest, held at the end of October, is a three-day affair that celebrates the legacy of electronicinstrument inventor Bob Moog, who lived out his final decades in Asheville. In 2011, the festival featured more than 70 musical acts at half a dozen local venues.

Of course, traditional music also gets its due in Asheville. On Saturday nights throughout the summer, thousands of mountainmusic fans gather for the Shindig on the Green. The outdoor event was founded back in 1930, as the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, by legendary Appalachian

Over the decades, Shindig on the Green has changed remarkably little: It’s still one of the best ways to take in mountain music and dance performed by the young, old and everyone in between.

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Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

Buncombe COUNTY song collector and folk historian Bascom Lamar Lunsford. Over the decades, the event has changed remarkably little: It’s still one of the best ways to take in mountain music and dance performed by the young, old and everyone in between.

Asheville also has a vibrant literary culture that springs from deep roots. The great American novelist Thomas Wolfe was born and raised here, and other noted writers of his era, including O. Henry and F. Scott Fitzgerald, did some of their best work while staying in Asheville. The Thomas Wolfe Memorial, a state historic site in Wolfe’s restored childhood home, hosts tours, readings and other events to celebrate his rich body of literature.

In recent years, Asheville has firmed up its reputation as a culinary center with a sizable and rapidly evolving food scene.

They city has some 250 independent restaurants and 12 farmers markets.

Livibility.com recently named Asheville one of the country’s top-10 “surprisingly vibrant food cities,” and the Huffington

Numerous restaurants draw enthusiastic foodies to dining destinations spread far and wide. TUPELO HONEY PHOTO

Post listed it among the top “undiscovered local food cities.” The best of the city’s culinary offerings is celebrated at events like the Asheville Independent Restaurant Association’s Taste of Asheville, an annual gala featuring cuisine

and spirits from dozens of area eateries, wineries and breweries.

Asheville has also emerged as a center of local, specialized food production, thanks in part to Blue Ridge Food Ventures, an 11,000-square-foot kitchen that’s part of

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Buncombe COUNTY

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Asheville has embraced the farm to table movement, with several farmer's markets now open and many restaurant chefs using them to purchase fresh food.

JON D. BOWMAN PHOTO

Asheville-Buncombe Technical College, which is home to a renowned culinaryeducation program. With its cooking and food storage capacity, along with classes and marketing assistance, BRFV has helped scores of food entrepreneurs find a recipe for success.

If all that eating makes you thirsty, Asheville has the solution for that as well.

The Biltmore Estate’s Biltmore Winery is one of the largest in the area, and features both tours of the vineyards and an expansive tasting room. And then there’s the local craft beer scene, which might be unparalleled.

There are a whopping 10 craft breweries in Buncombe County, and their output is lauded by beer enthusiasts. In 2009, Imbibe magazine’s readers voted Asheville the “best craft beer city in America,” and for the last three years running, Asheville has won a national online poll for the coveted title of “Beer City USA.” Outdoors enthusiasts find no shortage of activities in Asheville, whether its hiking, biking and climbing in nearby mountains, paddling and fishing on the French Broad River and local lakes, careening through the trees on a zip line, or golfing at one of the area’s renowned courses. Asheville is such a outdoors destination that in 2007 Outside magazine named it “best Southern town” for outdoor adventures. And of course, no survey of Asheville’s outdoor offerings would be complete without a mention of the area’s stunning leaf season.

TripAdvisor.com recently named Asheville the best place in the nation to view fall foliage.

Asheville has placed great emphasis on preserving the natural environment, and the city’s government has instituted substantial greenways and bikeways programs.

Science and education loom large in the community. The University of North Carolina at Asheville’s 3,600 students participate in such projects as the local hub of the statewide Renaissance Computing Institute, or RENCI. RENCI’s mission is to “bring the latest cyber tools and technologies to bear on pressing problems.”

That mission is greatly advanced by academic collaborations with what might be called Asheville’s “climate community.”

In fact, the city is home to the federal government’s National Climatic Data Center, making it the nation’s de facto headquarters for climate and weather research.

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The Blue Ridge Parkway unravels gracefully across the landscape, at times suspended from high cliffs and etched into rocky crags, then deftly shifting gears to skim over hayfields and past log cabins bound by split-rail fences.

The road seems unfazed by mountain topography. The Parkway moves so harmoniously through the scenery and lays so gently on the terrain, it seems possible that perhaps the Parkway was there first, or at the very least born at the same time as the mountains themselves.

“I can’t image a more creative job than locating that Blue Ridge Parkway, because you worked with a 10-league canvas and a brush of a comet’s tail,” said Stanley Abbott, the chief landscape architect of the Parkway during its construction in the 1930s.

The 469-mile Blue Ridge Parkway celebrated its official 75th anniversary in 2010. It is a unique unit of the National Park Service, a scenic roadway through the rural mountain area of Western North Carolina and Virginia. It both moves people from place to place and also binds the region together.

The task facing early Parkway designers was enormous, with little more than vague parameters of where to put the Parkway.

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“I can’t image a more creative job than locating that Blue Ridge Parkway, because you worked with a 10-league canvas and a brush of a comet’s tail.”

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A silver ribbon running through the Smokies

Blazing a scenic road through high and rugged mountain passes in the 1930s was an engineering and artistic feat. It also pushed the boundaries of competing American ideals.

The country was in the midst of a burgeoning national park movement, and many in the general public had already accepted a popular concept of preserving America’s grand landscapes. Meanwhile, a love affair with the automobile had likewise gripped the country. These two notions gave rise to the Parkway concept.

Yet merging the two was not easy.

“A road and a park are very different things,” said Ian Firth, a historical expert on Parkway design and professor emeritus in the College of Environment and Design at the University of Georgia.

“Roads are meant to bring progress and development. A park is 180 degrees different. It is where you preserve something from progress and from development.”

Abbott, just 26 — Stanley Abbott, chief landscape architect of the Parkway in the 1930s years old when he was hired as chief landscape architect for the Parkway, possessed both the skill and instinct to capture the Appalachian countryside and its sweeping mountain vistas from behind the windshield of an automobile. He often likened his approach to that of a

Learn more about the Blue Ridge Parkway

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cinematographer, training his camera on one frame after the next and eventually producing a 469-mile masterpiece.

While the Parkway’s design is often compared to art, Abbott and his colleagues applied a mathematical formula to achieve the serpentine line.

Abbott was a master of the spiral curve, a highly engineered and deftly calculated arc that eases cars gently into a curve and exits them smoothly. The turning radius broadens as you move through the curve, much like a spiral expands as it moves outward from the center. The Parkway owes its sweeping nature to the equation, which avoids the unpleasant centripetal force of standard curves.

Abbott deployed another geometric tool called the reverse curve, essentially two backto-back spiral curves in opposite directions.

Drivers barely exit one turn before they slalom into the next one. The reverse curve creates a rhythmic experience, as if swaying back and forth through the mountains.

Not only do they achieve a rhythmic

MARK HASKETT PHOTO

Buncombe COUNTY

motion, but they aim the car’s windshield toward the views, whether it’s a mountain vista on the outside curve or a rhododendron-capped boulder after rounding the bend.

While the Parkway often changes, the grade is gentle, another area of careful calculation.

The notion of Abbott penning the

Parkway’s design in one fell swoop is far from the truth. Abbott plugged away dutifully from 1935 to 1944 until he was called into service for WWII. By then, only two-thirds of the road had been completed.

Construction resumed immediately after the war and continued in sections until 1967.

The final missing link around Grandfather Mountain wasn’t finished until 1987.

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Buncombe COUNTY

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In Arden and Mills River, there’s lots of room to roam — and you don’t have to go far to experience some of the finest facets of mountain life.

Arden is an unincorporated community in south Buncombe County. It’s a quick jump off of Interstate 26, with Asheville 15 minutes to the north and Hendersonville 15 minutes to the south. It’s just a few miles from the Asheville Regional Airport and right next door to some of the best spots on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The community is bordered to the east by the French Broad River and just down the road from the North Carolina Arboretum. An extraordinary public garden that adjoins the Parkway, the 434acre Arboretum has 65 acres of cultivated gardens and 10 miles of hiking and biking trails, hosts one of the most unique bonsai collections in the country, and stages a steady stream of exhibits on subjects ranging from mountain quilts to rare plants.

Also nearby is Bent Creek Research and Demonstration Forest, a federal facility that’s part of the Pisgah National Forest, and the Lake Powatan Recreational Area, which together offer dozens of mountain trails and lakeside camping sites.

A favorite Arden locale for kids is Jake Rusher Park, a huge public park with

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Arden

MICHAEL OPPENHEIM PHOTO COURTESY OF THE N.C. ARBORETUM

playgrounds and a walking area. One of the play areas includes several castle-like structures, so some locals call the facility “Castle Park.”

One of Arden’s most impressive historic structures is the Blake House Inn Bed & Breakfast, which was built as a summer retreat in 1847 by the son of a Charleston plantation owner.

The house is a rare example of Italianate architecture with Gothic Revival influences. It has been restored and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.

Across the French Broad River from Arden is Biltmore Park Town Square, a mixed-use development that’s one of the Biltmore Company’s newest ventures. The grounds include hundreds of apartments, condos, offices and townhomes, and a dynamic range of businesses including restaurants, spas, health clubs, specialty shops, a movie theater, a bookstore, a hotel and more.

Another nearby community, Skyland, is home to scores of additional eateries

and shops and more recreation facilities.

The county-run Zeugner Center has a heated indoor pool, measuring 35-by-75 feet, that hosts water exercise classes and open swim times for the public.

Another county-run facility, Lake Julian Park, is popular among local families. The 300-acre lake and surrounding park offers picnicking spots, boating, fishing and a playground.

The lake has an abundance of fish, including bass, brim, catfish, crappie and tilapia. Anglers can fish from the shore and, for a small fee, from privately owned or rented boats. The park also rents paddle boats and canoes, and provides free use of a pontoon boat for people with disabilities, senior citizens and student groups. On the shore, there’s a sand volleyball court and horseshow pits.

The park is open year-round, though the hours vary with the seasons. In addition to the regular offerings, Lake Julian is center stage for special annual events, including fireworks displays on July 4, fishing tournaments and the Festival of Lights.

An extraordinary public garden that adjoins the Parkway, the 434-acre Arboretum has 65 acres of cultivated gardens and 10 miles of hiking and biking trails

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Weaverville

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Barnardsville

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Buncombe COUNTY

Two communities in north/central Buncombe County offer laid-back living opportunities a short distance from the hustle and bustle of Asheville.

Weaverville, population 3,200, has had a mini growth spurt in recent years. The town is situated in the Reems Creek Valley, adjacent to Interstate 26 and just five miles north of Asheville, where many Weaverville residents work.

The town has its own economic base, however, with everything from small independent eateries (like local favorites on Main Street, Blue Mountain Pizza, WellBred Bakery & Café, and The Glass Onion) to large-scale manufacturers (like Arvato Digital Services, one of the biggest compact disc producers in the country).

Weaverville has earned a reputation for keeping its neighborhoods clean and green.

It’s garnered the Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree City USA certification every year since 1990, and in 2009 the foundation named it the top “Tree City” in the state.

The town maintains Lake Louise Park, a hub of local recreation. The small lake is surrounded by picnic tables and shelters, outdoor grills, a playground and a walking trail, making it a perfect spot for family and community events, exercise and romantic strolls.

From Weaverville, it’s just a 15-minute drive to the scenic roads and trails of the Blue Ridge Parkway. And the town is home to Reems Creek Golf Course, a semiprivate course designed in part by Hawtree & Sons, British architects who specialize in crafting classic Scottish-style links.

Weaverville prides itself on a tradition of neighborliness, offering residents ample opportunities to get to know each other, be it in a park, at a local pub or sporting event, or at the Weaverville Downtown Go Around, a casual monthly event that’s one part meet-and-greet, one part walking tour.

A key part of Weaverville’s recent growth has been in its bustling art scene. Local galleries and studios showcase the work of jewelers, painters, potters, glass artists, sculptors and fiber artists. Two main local events celebrate the town’s artistic abundance: In September, there’s Art in Autumn, which fills Main Street with arts and crafts. And twice a year, in May and October, there’s the Weaverville Art Safari, a free, self-guided studio tour featuring faceto-face encounters with dozens of area artists and craftspeople.

Buncombe COUNTY

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Weaverville is home to Reems Creek Golf Course, a semi-private course designed in part by Hawtree & Sons, British architects who specialize in crafting classic Scottishstyle links.

Golf is one of Western North Carolina's most popular activities, and the British-designed Reems Creek Golf Course (above) resembles a Scottishstyle links course. Getting outside to splash in a cool creek is a popular activity throughout WNC.

One of Weaverville’s main attractions is the Vance Birthplace, a state historic site.

There you can visit the restored childhood homestead of Zebulon Baird Vance, a storied North Carolina leader who was the state’s Civil War governor and also served in the state legislature and the U.S. Congress. The property, in a serene part of Reems Creek Valley, hosts regular tours, re-enactments and educational presentations. The Vance home, a five-room log cabin, has been reconstructed around the original chimney and preserved in appropriately rustic, early-19th century style, as have the six original log outbuildings.

Ten miles northeast of Weaverville is the bucolic community of Barnardsville, set amidst rolling hills, pastures and mountain farms. Like Weaverville, it’s home to both folks who enjoy a relaxed environment and a substantial number of professional artists.

Barnardsville was once a town, but the residents decided to go unincorporated in 1970. As it shed its municipal government, it found other ways to build community connections.

A local association coalesced and founded the Big Ivy Community Center, which has evolved into a vibrant hub of activity. The center hosts a library, preschool and swimming pool, and provides space for an array of gatherings, events and services, including a pre-school, after-school programs, a community library, a book club, senior lunches, bingo bouts, computer classes, and yoga and zumba sessions. The space is also available for rent, and is used for workshops, reunions, birthday parties, weddings and other special events. Every October, the center hosts Mountain Heritage Day, featuring local cuisine, crafts, music and exhibitions on traditional mountain living.

The center’s grounds are also home to the Big Ivy Historical Park, which is dedicated to preserving local heritage. The centerpiece of the park is the pre-Civil War cabin of Henry Carson, grandson of the community’s founding family, the Dillinghams. There’s also a replica of a one-room schoolhouse that was built in the 1890s.

Barnardsville is in a part of Buncombe that’s full of farms, so fresh, local food is literally a part of the landscape. There are several community-supported agriculture options, and weekly farmer’s markets at the Old Barnardsville Fire Station, so residents often buy their produce from their neighbors.

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SARAH E. KUCHARSKI PHOTO

GARRET K. WOODWARD PHOTO

Buncombe COUNTY

Black Mountain’s wellpreserved train depot is run as a gift shop and event and display space.

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Swannanoa valley town embraces its natural surroundings

Nestled in the Swannanoa Valley, Black Mountain enjoys proximity to nearby mountain vistas, rivers and trails, and has plenty to offer in its own right. The town of almost 8,000 residents has a vibrant but quaint commercial center and is noted for its cultural and recreational offerings. It’s a community that breathes with a particular kind of mountain energy, embracing both its natural surroundings and its tastefully configured, small-town urban core.

Part of Black Mountain’s vitality can be attributed to its draw as place to gather, consult and worship. Popular retreats and conference centers include the Blue

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Ridge Assembly, Christmount, The Cove, Ridgecrest, and the Montreat Conference Center. The last of those centers is located in Montreat, a small village adjoining Black Mountain that is also home to evangelist Billy Graham and a liberal arts school, Montreat College.

Downtown Black Mountain features a hearty cluster of independent restaurants and bars, gift stores, craft shops and art galleries, and nearly 50 antique dealers.

Town Hardware and General Store, on State Street, offers an inventory of 35,000 items and the quintessential old-timey shopping experience.

The town’s historic feel is enhanced at local institutions like the Swannanoa Valley History Museum, located in the former Black Mountain Fire Department building, which was designed by Richard Sharp Smith (project architect for Asheville’s Biltmore mansion) in 1921.

Also downtown is the nicely preserved historic train depot, which is run as a gift shop and event and display space by a crew of volunteers.

To take in one key part of the town’s history — the distinguished run of the avant-garde Black Mountain College, which was located next to Lake Eden from 1933-57 — travel fifteen miles to downtown Asheville and visit the Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center, which pays homage to the iconoclastic institution with an ongoing roster of exhibits, talks and performances.

Outdoor recreation is one of Black Mountain’s hallmarks. Nearby fishing holes abound, and just north of town, the 10-acre Lake Tomahawk and its bankside walkways are a favorite spot for a stroll, fishing off the peer, or a nonmotorized boat ride. Several local summer camps are some of the most long-established in the area.

The Black Mountain Golf Course,

GARRET K. WOODWARD PHOTOS

Buncombe COUNTY

which is run by the town, has a special claim to fame: One of its 18 holes is a whopping 747-yard Par 6. And just a few miles away is the Cliffs at High Carolina, a wellness-focused high-end community.

And the town hosts numerous footraces,

Nearby Lake Eden and its environs is home base for the wildly popular Lake Eden Arts Festival, featuring scores of music, dance and performance groups from the around the world. bike rides and other athletic contests on a regular basis.

Unique festivals and gatherings take place in Black Mountain throughout the year.

The last Saturday morning of each month, for example, Town Square hosts CRUZN, a casual gathering of classic car, truck and motorcycle enthusiasts. The Black Mountain Arts and Crafts Show takes place each June, and on a mid-August

weekend, the town stages the annual Sourwood Festival, a street fair that brings tens of thousands of visitors for a celebration featuring mountain handicrafts and art, rides and games, traditional foods, music and dancing.

Several local institutions, including Montreat College and nearby Warren Wilson College, offer frequent concerts, theatre productions and dances. Twice a year, in May and October, t Visitors to LEAF, which often sells out early, can camp on the festival grounds or opt for day passes.

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Haywood COUNTY

Waynesville & Maggie Valley Where to Retire magazine named Waynesville one of its 100 Best Places to Retire, referring to the mountain town as a “low-cost Eden.”

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High peaks surround the town of Waynesville, once billed as Gateway to the Smokies and now the county seat of Haywood County. These ridges bring snow in the winter and cooler temperatures in the summer, and Haywood boasts the highest average elevation of any county east of the Rockies. The county has 18 mountains that are 6,000 feet or higher.

Waynesville and its quaint, historic Main Street are just part of what makes Haywood a unique mountain community.

It also includes Maggie Valley, a small town long popular to visitors, and Canton, a historic industrial town that takes pride in its blue-collar roots.

The largest cultural hub west of Asheville, Waynesville is home to numerous social events, including “Art After Dark,” showcases an array of artists every first Friday of the month from May through December. GARRET K. WOODWARD PHOTO

Where to Retire magazine named Waynesville one of its 100 Best Places to Retire, calling it the best mountain town and saying it had the best main street. It also referred to Waynesville as a “low-cost Eden.”

The town’s proximity to Asheville offers residents the best of a larger city while still holding on to its small-town amenities.

Early doctors prescribed visits to the area surrounding Waynesville for patients suffering from respiratory ailments — not an unpleasant prescription by any means — and hotels once welcomed those suffering from tuberculosis.

Along with these health-conscience tourists, the wealthy flocked from Charleston and Atlanta by train in the summer to escape the heat, with two trains a day unloading vacationers at the old train depot in what is now the Frog

MARK HASKETT PHOTO

Haywood COUNTY

ASHLEY T. EVANS PHOTO

Waynesville’s proximity to national parks and forests makes it a great jumping off point for outdoors activities.

Cataloochee Valley in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is home to a growing herd of elk (top), while downtown Waynesville hosts several popular craft shows (above) throughout the year.

Level area. A horse and buggy would take visitors and their luggage three blocks to Main Street, which was lined with hotels and boarding houses.

The recently restored train district in Frog Level has gained recognition as a National Historic District and is now home to a collection of small galleries, a coffee roastery, and a micro-brewery.

Downtown is a pedestrian’s dream with much to choose from including working art studios, fine restaurants, pubs, a local bookstore, another coffee roastery, cigar store, gift shops, a bakery and more. The first Friday of each month is Art After Dark, a gallery stroll with meet-the-artist events that is almost like a street party due to the number of people who show up.

There are also the popular Mountain Street Dances on several Friday nights during the summer beginning at 6:30 p.m. in front of the Haywood County Historic Courthouse, a fun, free event where you can listen to live music and take part in the traditional dancing. No worries for those new to the art form as the caller takes his time and walks everyone through the steps.

Waynesville is also one of those mountain towns that provides a great jumping off point for a mountain vacation.

It’s close to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Pisgah National Forest, mountain biking trails and whitewater rafting rivers Just outside of Waynesville is Cold Mountain, the peak that Charles Frazier used to name his acclaimed novel that also became the title of the subsequent movie.

Hiking the mountain requires a map and an entire day, but you can view it by following U.S. 276 out of Waynesville until you hit the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Cold Mountain overlook is right at the U.S. 276Blue Ridge Parkway intersection.

This Historic Courthouse in Waynesville was built in the neoclassical style during the Depression using the same stone that was used for the Washington Monument in D.C. Its lawn, with large trees and benches, makes a great resting place.

On the west side of Waynesville is Hazelwood Village, which used to be home to up to four mills that provided jobs for thousands of workers. The town merged with Waynesville but has maintained its own identity and evolved into a revitalized retail district, including pottery studios, a coffee roastery, a gourmet restaurant, and a business that makes homemade soaps and lotions (which make great gifts). Hazelwood also is home to the Folkmoot Friendship Center, which serves as the headquarters for the two-week international dance and music festival that has been held for 28 years every July.

Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center is home to the World Methodist Conference and the Southeastern Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church. It features a public, 2.5mile paved walking/jogging path around the lake. There are ducks, geese and swans to feed, benches, bridges, a dam, a butterfly garden and a rose walk along the path. In addition to lodging accommodations, a couple of good restaurants and the World Methodist Museum also are on the grounds, along with a native plant garden and meditation labyrinth. Paddleboats can be rented on the lake. There is also a pool and playground. The lake is just off U.S. 19 north of Waynesville and east of Maggie Valley.

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Haywood COUNTY

Waynesville is also home to the Museum of North Carolina Handicrafts, which is located in the historic Shelton House and features 19th century crafts, including pottery, quilts, basket and woodworking.

Waynesville also has plenty of recreational opportunities for families at its greenway, playground and recreation center. The full-sized recreation/fitness center features an indoor pool and water park. It also includes a game room with video games and ping pong table. A disc golf course starts on its grounds.

Just 10 miles outside of Waynesville is Maggie Valley, a quaint mountain delight that sprang up to cater to visitors and still rolls out the welcome mat to traveling tourists. The town is an epicenter of oldtime mountain fun, from family restaurants and fine dining to foot-stomping Appalachian song and dance to putt-putt, elk-spotting and some of the best snow skiing in the South.

From spring to autumn, the valley is also packed with motorcyclists from around the country, who come to traverse the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway, motor through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and enjoy the camaraderie of other riders who make annual treks to Maggie to visit

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HAYWOOD COUNTY TOURISM DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY PHOTOS

Lake Junaluska features a public, 2.5-mile paved walking/jogging path with benches, bridges, a butterfly garden and a rose walk along the path.

the Wheels Through Time Museum. The Museum is among the highlights of a visit to Maggie, featuring a world-class collection of historic motorcycles and some cars. Most of the motorcycles are still in running condition. The museum has been featured in dozens of television shows and magazine articles.

Maggie herself, the town’s eponymous early resident, became its namesake when her father realized that the hamlet must be named to have a much-desired post office.

After submitting the names of his daughters — Maggie, Cora and Mettie — the postmaster settled on Maggie, and in 1904, a town was born.

Maggie left the valley for Texas at 17, but her image and namesake live on in the bonneted silhouettes that adorn the town, welcoming visitors to the mountain way of life. A volunteer dressed as Maggie still roams the town’s sidewalks, welcoming visitors and posing for pictures.

Speaking of Maggie traditions, don’t miss out on a visit to Joey’s Pancake House. It only serves breakfast, but it’s a

The High Country Quilters (left) host several events each year, while the walking trail at Lake Junaluska (above) is one of Haywood County's most popular attractions.

hearty meal served up by a staff that knows how to treat their customers. Don’t be put off if there’s a line out the door — which there usually is on weekends — it moves fast and there’s complimentary coffee while you wait.

Cataloochee Ski Area features the best skiing in the southern mountains and typically is one of the first ski resorts in the East to open. The resort’s snowmaking abilities are constantly modernized and updated, allowing it to add inches of snow to its base every time the weather drops below freezing.

Near the ski resort is Cataloochee Ranch, which has cabins, horse stables, a grand old lodge and restaurant, all atop a 5,000-foot mountain. Those not staying at the ranch are invited to join staff and visitors for evening cookouts, and you might even

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hear some local storytelling or some great traditional music.

From Maggie Valley it’s a short drive to Cataloochee Valley in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Elk again roam free in the valley, thanks to a reintroduction program. Dusk is the best bet for guaranteed sightings, but please, stay away from the elk.

They have antlers for a reason.

For true local charm, look no further than Canton and Clyde, the neighboring towns nestled in eastern Haywood County. They are situated around the Evergreen paper mill, which started life as

Canton’s historic Colonial Theater features a winter music series hosted last year by the Grammy-award winning local bluegrass band Balsam Range.

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Canton is a snapshot of a classic mill town, with many of the unique and beautiful bungalows and buildings once built for mill workers and managers still intact.

The downtown district is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and its crown jewel is the Imperial Hotel. Originally crafted as a stately home, it is currently being renovated to its former glory, to include a restaurant celebrating the town’s history.

The restored Colonial Theater features concerts, shows, movies and other entertainment events in a beautifully restored historic theater. The theater features a winter music series hosted by the Grammy-award winning local bluegrass band Balsam Range.

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Haywood COUNTY Historic murals also dot the downtown landscape, offering interesting viewing for a stroll down Main Street, while a stop into one of the street’s barber shops or cafes will give you a chance to rub elbows with the locals.

The Pigeon River Scenic Walking Trail in the town park covers a mile and a half of the scenic Pigeon River. Benches line the trail for those looking to relax and take in the native flora or feed local wildlife, while a boat ramp is available for fishing and canoeing. The park also includes tennis courts, a huge outdoor pool and a picnic area with grills.

Clyde, a hamlet that lies between Canton and Waynesville, can boast as its own the oldest structure in Haywood County. The Shook-Smathers House, home to the Shook Museum, was built around 1820, with additions and renovations made for decades producing the finished product we see today. The home’s attic chapel played host to many storied circuit preachers over the years, many of whom have left their mark in the unique collection of signatures that decorate the chapel’s walls.

The town is also home to ‘The Big Gun,’ a local landmark and war memorial that is the defining feature of the small downtown landscape.

Another memorial, made from steel taken from the World Trade Center, opened in Clyde in 2011, commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. Clyde was given two of only around 1,000 piece of steel salvaged from the site to be used in memorials.

Cataloochee Ski Area (left) is a great family ski mountain that has made huge investments in its snowmaking capabilities. It is always one of the first to open and the last to close in the Southeast. CATALOOCHEE SKI AREA PHOTO

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Henderson COUNTY

Hendersonville, long known for its historic charms, is blooming into the future.

The town, population 13,000, is the largest in Henderson County and is the county seat. In recent years, it has revitalized its local business scene and advanced its reputation as a place that offers something for just about everyone.

The town’s many tranquil neighborhoods and housing developments all surround a sturdy core — a downtown that’s a unique blend of the past and the present. It’s full of pubs, restaurants, museums, general and specialty stores, and other independent businesses, and welcoming to pedestrians, bikers and cars all at the same time.

Few downtowns in the area can boast such a concentration of attractions, especially museums. The Henderson County Heritage Museum is housed in the historic old courthouse, built in 1905. The

Mineral and Lapidary Museum, on Main Street, offers geologic highlights from near and far. Also downtown are Hands On!, a free educational museum for children, and the Historic Hendersonville Train Depot, home of the Apple Valley Model Railroad Club. The club has installed a remarkable scale model railroad that has over 600 feet of track. (And just outside of town is the Western North Carolina Air Museum, the first air museum in the state, which features restored and replica antique and vintage airplanes.)

Downtown bustles with special events throughout the year. In the summer, the free Monday Night Street Dances take place, bringing traditional mountain music and dancing. Attendees are welcome to tap their toes as spectators or cut a rug on Main Street. Music on Main Street, a weekly summer concert series on Friday nights, showcases diverse styles of local live music.

And again, visitors are free to sit and watch or to join in on the dance area.

The biggest event of the year is the North Carolina Apple Festival, held every Labor Day weekend for more than 60 years.

A celebration of the county’s major crop, the festival pays tribute to everything the fruit has to offer, along with other local foods, crafts and entertainment.

Local foods get a boost at the Henderson County Curb Market, a farmers market held downtown three days a week during warmer months and once a week during winter. The market has a true local focus: vendors must be county natives and all items for sale are required to either be handmade or locally grown.

The arts also make a strong showing in and around Hendersonville, with the Arts Council of Henderson County taking the lead. The Council recently launched a performing arts series. The Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra, which celebrated its 41st anniversary in 2012, stages frequent performances and conducts both music education programs and a youth orchestra as well.

The Center for Craft, Creativity & Design also makes a major contribution to the local arts scene. Based at a 50-acre facility in Hendersonville, the center is a project run by the University of North

Hendersonville A vibrant blend of past and present

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Henderson COUNTY dedicated to preserving the Carolina at Asheville. Its history of local textile arts. programs include craft and design Another historic research and publishing, Hendersonville treasure is the exhibitions, public art projects, Mountain Farm & Home and conferences that draw artists Museum, which is dedicated to from across the country. preserving agricultural and The town of Hendersonville domestic equipment, methods manages a splendid array of local and literature related to rural life parks, which are integrated into a in 19th century Western North comprehensive greenways plan.

Carolina. The museum offers a Berkeley Park presently has a trip back in time, and is packed baseball park and a large pavilion, with such relics as a 16-foot water and plans are being advanced to wheel, a local doctor’s buggy, develop a nature trail there. Boyd grain reapers and threshing Park has two tennis courts and a machines, and antique engines, unique municipal park feature: a tractors, butter churns and tools. miniature golf course. Dr. Martin The cornerstone of higher Luther King Jr. Memorial Park education in Henderson County is features picnic tables, a walking Blue Ridge Community College, path and a granite memorial to the main campus of which is just King. King Memorial Park has a south of Hendersonville. The twobaseball field, a mile-long nature year, comprehensive trail and a half-mile walking trail. post-secondary school serves more Lenox Park is another popular than 15,000 students a year. The picnicking spot, as are Toms Park, college, which recently celebrated which has more than 20 its 40th anniversary, offers 95 shuffleboard courts, and Sullivan programs of study and one of the Park, which has basketball courts largest continuing education and a playground. The two-mileprograms in the state. It has placed long Oklawaha Greenway Trail The Center for Craft, Creativity and Design recently opened the exhibition special emphasis on technical passes through several of the parks.

“Harvey’s Legacy: The Next Generation of Studio Glass in Western North programs in automotive Patton Park is one of the larger Carolina.” SCOTT ALLEN PHOTO • WWW.HANGTHEMOONPHOTO.COM technology, emergency response, facilities. The 19-acre park has two law enforcement, nursing, engineering and opportunities to explore nature in a baseball fields, a football and soccer field, machining technology. managed forest setting. There’s a series of basketball, racquetball and tennis courts, Hendersonville is neighbored by smaller trails and several picnic areas, all pavilions and picnic tables, two gazebos, a towns that also have much to offer. Nearby surrounded by hardwood trees, azaleas, playground, a walking trail, an Olympic-size Flat Rock, once known as “The Little rhododendron and wild flowers. swimming pool and a skate park.

Charleston of the Mountains,” has long Henderson’s ties to traditional mountain When it comes to outdoor recreation, been a resort escape for southerners fleeing agriculture and culture are on display at Hendersonville is uniquely situated. It’s summer heat. It’s home to the Flat Rock Historic Johnson Farm, a former farm and close to the Pisgah National Forest, Playhouse, where the many and varied tourist retreat that was established in the DuPont State Forest, the Blue Ridge performances draw some 90,000 visitors late 19th century. The centerpiece of the Parkway, and several mountain lakes and each year. It’s also where you can visit the property is a house built from handmade rivers. Just five miles from downtown is Carl Sandburg Home, where the bricks, the home of a wealthy tobacco Jump Off Rock, a storied scenic overlook. renowned poet and writer lived out his last farmer. Several outbuildings, including a According to local legend, hundreds of years 22 years. The estate, which Sandburg blacksmith shop, barn and cottage, have ago, a Cherokee Indian chief and his christened “Connemara,” is a National also been lovingly preserved. In 1987, it sweetheart would meet on the rock, until he Historic Site and welcomes the public to was added to the National Register of was called off to battle. She waited at the view everything from Sandburg’s 10,000Historic Places, and today the 15-acre site is rock for him to return, but he was killed in volume library to the goat farm that was owned and run by the county school combat, so she leapt to her death. Her ghost, lovingly tended by Sandburg and his wife. system, and provides a unique range of the legend goes, appears on moonlit nights.

Etowah, also close by, has become a heritage education programs, including Whatever the truth to the story, today the residential and retirement haven that field trips, tours, classes on farm animals views remain fantastic, and the trails around features some of the finest golf courses in and guided nature walks. A renovated Jump Off Rock are popular with hikers. the area. boarding house is home to the Heritage The Holmes Educational State Forest, Weavers & Fiber Artists, a group eight miles from downtown, offers more

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A small town that enjoys close proximity to some of Western North Carolina’s biggest attractions, businesses and natural wonders, Fletcher is no longer simply a sleepy stopping point between Asheville and Hendersonville.

The town’s motto, fittingly, is “Pride in our past, and faith in our future.” Fletcher is growing at a steady and smooth pace, with its current population of 7,340 more than double what it was a 20 years ago. The town sits on six square miles of relatively flat land, with the Blue Ridge Mountains on the close horizon.

Located in north Henderson County, Fletcher is just a quick jaunt away some of the most vibrant and culturally rich cities and towns in the region. Asheville, Black Mountain, Brevard, Flat Rock, Hendersonville, Mills River, Lake Lure and Saluda are all within a 20-mile radius of the town.

Fletcher is uniquely positioned for national and international travelers, and a great spot to host visitors from near and far.

In addition to ready access to the nearby Interstate 26, residents are just minutes away from Asheville Regional Airport, which offers nonstop flights to almost all major U.S. cities. The airport is going through a growth spurt of its own, adding new routes on a regular basis.

In recent years, the town has expanded its health and recreation initiatives, implementing a greenways master plan that

makes the community more walkable and bikable. At present, there are 4.5 miles of connected trails; the plan envisions expanding the network to some 13 miles.

Two local parks offer opportunities for exercise and enjoyment close to home: The 60-acre Fletcher Community Park features playgrounds, picnic areas, walking trails, and baseball and soccer fields, and Kate’s Park, adjacent to the Fletcher Library, has playgrounds, trails and an outdoor grilling area.

Community celebrations, from free concerts to parades, take place throughout the year. Many annual highlights are staged in the fall. Pickin’ in the Park, a bluegrass-infused get-together in September, turns Fletcher Community Park into a center of mountain music, local food and kids’ activities. And in October, Kate’s Park hosts an annual Halloween Carnival that offers safe (if slightly spooky) fun for families.

The biggest festival draw of all is the weeklong Western North Carolina

Mountain State Fair, held each September at the WNC Agricultural Center in Fletcher The state-run fair is a counterpart to the annual North Carolina State Fair in Raleigh. In 2011, the fair drew an estimated 175,000 attendees from around the region.

The WNC Agricultural Center’s 87acre multiuse facility hosts events year round, including horse and livestock shows, a variety of professional conferences, classic-car events and multiple trade shows.

For the past two years, it’s been home to the Asheville Food and Wine Festival, a sizable showcase of the region’s culinary delights co-sponsored by Slow Food Asheville and WNC Magazine.

Several times a year, the Ag Center welcomes thousands of arms aficionados to the Land of the Sky Gun and Knife Show, which outgrew its traditional home at the Asheville Civic Center in 2010. The show has expanded significantly, adding 130 new vendors (for a total of 450). The upsizing was made possible by the recent completion of the Davis Event Center, a 45,000square-feet arena that’s outfitted with huge exhibit spaces, several conference rooms and an onsite restaurant.

Other new economic opportunity is brewing in Fletcher, as the town, in conjunction with the Fletcher Area Business Association, is developing a “Heart of Fletcher District.” The mixed-used district is being tailored to support small retail businesses, professional offices and independent restaurants, and will feature a new Town Hall complex, built in part with a special $5 million community-facilities loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In addition, Fletcher has long been home to (and close to) major manufacturing and industrial facilities.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE WNC AGRICULTURAL CENTER

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Fletcher

GARRET K. WOODWARD PHOTO

Henderson COUNTY

The WNC Agricultural Center hosts events year round, including horse and livestock shows, classic-car events and a variety of trade shows.

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Jackson COUNTY

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Jackson County, which includes the county seat town of Sylva and the highaltitude village of Cashiers, has some of Western North Carolina’s most spectacular scenery.

The county was established in 1851 from parts of Haywood and Macon counties and named after President Andrew Jackson. The Tuckasegee River winds through the county, boasting some of the best trout fishing in the region. In fact, Jackson County is home to the only Flyfishing Trail in the state, and a flyfishing trail map available from the Chamber of Commerce gives directions to

Out and about in

Jackson County

Jackson County is home to the only Flyfishing Trail in the state. some of the best spots to try and hook a prized trout.

Jackson is also home to part of the Nantahala National Forest, the largest of the four national forests located in the state. Nantahala is a Cherokee word for “land of the noonday sun,” and the Nantahala Gorge in adjoining Swain County is considered one of the top whitewater rivers in the East. National Geograpic magazine called the river the number one water tourist destination in the country, and it attracts more than 250,000 paddlers a year. The 2013 World Freestyle Kayaking Championships will be held in the gorge at the Nantahala Outdoor Center.

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Jackson County boasts world-class fly-fishing in the Tuckasegee River and dozens of gorgeous waterfalls. MARK HASKETT PHOTOS

Sylva has one of the most vibrant downtowns in all of Western North Carolina. It boasts an assortment of art galleries, furniture and clothing stores, restaurants, a coffee shop, bakery, a brewery and more.

Mill Street — better known locally as Back Street, which is the other half of the one-way Main Street — is undergoing revitalization. It also provides access to the town’s bustling Farmers Market, open every Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon, May through October. Sylva’s tree-lined

streetscape, dotted with benches, provides visitors with an afternoon of easy walking. There is even an official 1.2mile tree walk, featuring 44 of the more than 50 species in Sylva, designated a Tree City USA. The Sylva Garden Club currently maintains the walk, which features a guidebook, map and small signs at the base of each tree indicating its common name. The walk officially begins in the shade of Bicentennial Park near the historic courthouse.

Speaking of the Jackson County

Jackson COUNTY Courthouse, it is often called the most photographed courthouse in the state. And why not, as it sits atop a knoll accessed by 107 steps. Those steps are what gives local highway N.C. 107 its name.

Adjacent to the courthouse is a library, historical museum and performance space. What was the most beautiful courthouse in the state is now considered by some the most beautiful public library in the state.

Friday Night Live brings music to Sylva and Dillsboro with an everchanging list of locations and bands. The popular Art After Dark gallery stroll is

held on the first Friday of each month.

The Bridge Park Pavilion is a popular gathering place for events in downtown.

The Scotts Creek Bridge conveniently connects the Bridge Park and Poteet Park.

Nearby Western Carolina University’s Fine Arts Center and Museum has an excellent permanent collection and visiting exhibits, along with a great line-up of nationally-known performers. WCU also is home to the Mountain Heritage Center, which features exhibits, demonstrations and educational programs on mountain society, past and present, from the migration of the Scotch Irish

The county is home to Western Carolina University (clockwise from top), the WNC Pottery Festival held in Dillsboro every year on the first weekend in November, and its famed hilltop courthouse, which now houses a library, museum and performance space.

people to basket making traditions.

A mysterious collection of Native American petroglyphs known as Judaculla Rock is located on Caney Fork Road off N.C. 107 between Cullowhee and Glenville Lake in Jackson County. In the late 19th century, Cherokee groups were known to have ceremonial assemblies around the rock. Some say the rock is a map of a 1755 battle between the Cherokee and Indian rivals. Archeologists who have perused the stone claim it was carved sometime in the Late Archaic Period about 5,900 to 3,200 years ago when evidence first appears of Native American societies forming mound societies, or towns.

The Village of Cashiers likes to boast of its location, perched on the highest plateau in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Western North Carolina. There’s no doubt this singularly unique geography is spectacularly beautiful, with hundreds of waterfalls, quiet lakes, stone mountains and rhododendron forests.

Cashiers (pronounced CASH-ers) is a true crossroads community, with four roads coming in from each of the cardinal directions serving as the only arteries in or out. At this crossroads is the Village Green, a commons area lined with shops with a stage that also hosts a full line-up of free performances.

You’ll find plenty of hikers and rock climbers amongst the permanent residents in the area. Panthertown Valley boasts 6,700 acres of sheer rock, waterfalls, and hiking and biking trails.

Cashiers also has excellent golfing and country clubs.

High Hampton Inn and Country Club and Fairfield Sapphire Valley are fullservice resorts that provide rooms, golfing, dining and other amenities. In the village proper, a walking trail leads shoppers to the many retail shops and restaurants.

Whitewater Falls, the tallest waterfall in the east, is 10 miles from Cashiers. The ZacharyTolbert House is an 1840 Greek Revival estate house on the National Register of Historic Places built by one of the founders of Cashiers.

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Madison COUNTY Owen Theatre at Mars Hill College.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MARS HILL COLLEGE

Mars Hill

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Located in a mostly rural, exceedingly picturesque part of Madison County, Mars Hill is a small town that’s big on mountain traditions.

There are 1,800 residents within the town limits, and 11,000 within a 5-mile radius of downtown. Mars Hill sits close to Interstate 26, offering quick access to Asheville, which is 15 miles south. The state’s border with Tennessee is just 11 miles north.

The largest local institution, Mars Hill College, contributes much to the character of the town. A private liberal arts school with an enrollment of 1,200 students, the college is affiliated with two Baptist institutions. It was founded in 1856, making it one of the oldest educational facilities in Western North Carolina.

The college’s artistic and cultural offerings are considerable. The Rural Life Museum preserves and presents artifacts of traditional Appalachian communities, and the Weizenblatt Art Gallery shares both visiting exhibitions and student and staff works. The 1,800 seat Moore Auditorium hosts frequent concerts and other performances.

The Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre, founded in 1975, has become one

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of the region’s top theater draws. The focus of its work is a summer season of five distinct productions, ranging from musicals to dramas to comedies, along with plays that highlight aspects of mountain heritage.

The performances take place in one of the most historic buildings on campus, Owens Theatre, which also features student- and staff-written productions.

Mars Hill’s college’s dance team, the Bailey Mountain Cloggers, has won 18 national championships and helped preserve the practice of traditional mountain dancing.

In 2010, Mars Hill College spearheaded a partnership of local groups to promote a unique and overlooked part of the town’s history, the Anderson Rosenwald School, which served the county’s black elementary students from 1930 to 1965. Long in disrepair, the school is now being refurbished as a community center.

The college has also developed some renowned athletic programs. Its men’s crosscountry team has won many a title, and in 2011, the cycling team won the NCAA Division II national championship. Its indoor swimming pool is open to the public (for a small fee) during select, regularly scheduled hours each week, and the recently installed Disc Golf Sanctuary is open as well. The course, noted for its natural beauty

and sloping design, traverses a mile-and-ahalf circle around part of campus.

Mars Hill Recreation Park, which is operated by the town, offers more options for exercise, with tennis courts, a ball field, basketball courts, a playground and a public outdoor swimming pool that’s open in the summer.

Come winter, nearby Wolf Ridge Ski Resort is open for business. One of North Carolina’s top-rated slopes, Wolf Ridge welcomes visitors of any skill level. The resort recently expanded its operations, and now offers 82 acres of terrain for skiers and snowboarders.

The area around Mars Hill is rich with other outdoor opportunities, including nearby stretches of the Appalachian Trail, numerous other trails in the Pisgah National Forest, and the fishing- and paddling-friendly French Broad River.

The mountains around Mars Hill are also filled with music. The town’s most famous native was the late Bascom Lamar Lunsford, also known as the “Minstrel of the Appalachians.” Born in 1882, Lunsford was a folklorist and performer who spent decades collecting mountain stories and songs. To celebrate and continue his legacy, each October, Mars Hill College hosts the Bascom Lamar Lunsford Festival. The event features mountain music concerts, “picking circles” where anyone with a fiddle, guitar or banjo can join in to swap songs, dancing, storytelling and traditional crafting demonstrations.

From June through August, the town stages the Mars Hill Music & More Summer Series, a free monthly event that brings folks out for music and dancing.

Throughout the year, the Ebbs Chapel Performing Arts Center’s 250-seat theater hosts musical performances ranging from the classical to the traditional.

Most commerce in Mars Hill is relatively small-scale, independent and local. The Mars Hill Merchants Coalition helps tout the benefits of shopping locally, which are amply demonstrated at the Madison County Farmers Market. Open Saturdays from April through October, the market features a cornucopia of locally grown fruits and vegetables, along with handmade preserves and mountain crafts.

Most commerce in Mars Hill is relatively small-scale, independent and local.

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Madison COUNTY

Two small Madison County towns, Marshall and Hot Springs, have made the most of riverside living.

Marshall, population 800, is the county seat and sits on the banks of the French Broad River some 20 miles north of Asheville. The area is rich with local history, as it was a key way station on the Buncombe Turnpike, an early trading route that ran from Tennessee though Western North Carolina to South Carolina.

Today, Marshall is an enclave of artists that’s in the midst of a renaissance. There are dozens of local galleries and studios, including the epicenter of local arts: Marshall High Studios, a former high school on Blannerhassett Island in the middle of the river that’s connected to downtown by a bridge.

The building, which dates to 1925, was renovated and reopened in 2007 as a home for 28 studios. In addition to hosting working artists who specialize in numerous different media, the 28,000-square-foot facility has regular classes, exhibitions and hosts performances.

Marshall’s Main Street offers other signs of the town’s unique blend of old and the new. There’s a bookstore and numerous cafes, galleries, antique shops and eateries.

Hovering above it all is the historic, cupoladomed county courthouse, which was built in 1906 and designed by the famed architect Richard Sharp Smith.

One Main Street mainstay is The Depot, an old-timey general store. It’s a great community shopping spot that doubles as a performance venue on Friday nights, when local musicians strike up a soundtrack of traditional bluegrass and country music.

Music can also be heard at the town’s regular French Broad Fridays, a series of free outdoor concerts.

Several other local institutions keep Marshall’s art scene humming. The Madison County Arts Center, also on Main Street, presents regular exhibitions of both traditional and contemporary art.

A couple of blocks away is the French Broad Institute (Of Time & and the River), aka “The FBI,” which was opened in 2007 in a former Methodist church that was built back in 1912. Run by a collective of volunteers, the FBI’s unique mission is “to serve the community of Marshall and surrounding areas by providing a forum for curated collaborations, multidisciplinary performances” and function as “an investigative think tank for reimagining the relationship between traditional and avant-

& Spa maintains indoor and outdoor hot tubs that are fed by the springs, and also offers a full range of massage and body treatments. Broadwing Farm Cabins also features spring-fed tubs.

The town itself is quite quaint, with one main drag that’s lined with cafes, coffee shops and gift stores.

Hot Springs’ real outdoor claim to fame, though, is its intimate relationship with the Appalachian Trail. The AT passes right through town. Each April, the town hosts

Marshall & Hot Springs

garde arts, and between the time-based arts and the natural sciences.”

Another of Marshall’s unconventional centers is the Prama Institute, a nonprofit holistic retreat just a mile from downtown.

Founded in 2005, the institute hosts workshops, seminars, yoga classes, spiritual gatherings and other events, as is available for rent. On the near horizon, it plans to expand into an eco-village with an organic farm.

The resort town of Hot Springs is also nestled next to the French Broad. Though its resident population is only 650, the town’s numbers swell with visitors seeking relaxation and recreation.

Hot Springs got its name from one of the region’s extraordinary natural features: mineral springs with a temperature of more than 100 degrees. The Hot Springs Resort

Fans of live music, outdoors sports competitions and a festive atmosphere converge on Hot Springs during the annual French Broad River Festival.

PHOTO BY MEGAN RICHARDSON OF GREAT SMOKIES PHOTOGRAPHY

the weekend-long Trailfest, a celebration of all things AT complete with live music, local foods and athletic events.

A few weeks after Trailfest, Hot Springs sponsors the annual French Broad River Festival, featuring an impressive roster of musical groups, whitewater and bike races, arts and crafts vendors and a kid’s village.

And in September 2011, the town added the French Broad Fall Fest to its calendar, a celebration of craft beer and live music.

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Polk COUNTY

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Touted as the “First Peak of the Blue Ridge,” Polk County has long welcomed flatlanders to a higher altitude, offering foothills rich with history, culture, crafts, vast natural areas and unique culinary traditions.

Elevations in the county range from 300 feet to 3,200 feet. Most of Polk’s 20,000 residents live in or near the county’s three main towns – Columbus, Saluda and Tryon.

Columbus, the county seat, is a scenic small town dotted with historic houses and other noted buildings, such as the Polk County Courthouse, which has been preserved in all its 1859 splendor (and modernized a bit, of course).

Saluda is nestled in the mountains in the southeastern corner of the county, and in fact its borders stray over into neighboring Henderson County. The town is famous for sitting atop the Saluda Grade, once the steepest railroad grade in the United States.

It is also well known for its charming town center, with a main street lined with cafés, restaurants, antique shops, art galleries and historic buildings like the M.A. Pace General Store, a hub of local commerce and community that recently celebrated its 112th birthday. Given its location, from Saluda it’s a quick to trip to other quaint and cultured mountain towns, like Brevard, Flat Rock and Hendersonville.

Tryon sits close to the border with South Carolina, and is located in what climate researchers call a “thermal belt.” The result is that the town and its environs are generally free of dew and frost, making it an

Polk County ideal area for certain types of agriculture not practiced widely in the mountains. For example, with its three wineries, Polk is a pocket of Southern wine country.

Tryon has long been a haven for artists, crafters, musicians and writers. Back in the

early 1900s, when Tryon was a small village, artists flocked in from Europe and major U.S. cities like Chicago and New York, establishing an informal creative colony. Today, the town’s art scene still thrives, with numerous studios, galleries, art schools and theaters.

The art of toy and craft making was an integral part of the town’s development.

Tryon Toy-Makers and Wood-Carvers operated from 1915 to 1940, cranking out small wooden figurines and toy animals.

That’s why, at Tryon’s town center, you’ll find a larger than life replica of “Morris the House,” one of the company’s popular

Tyron is famous for its annual steeplechase (above), held every year in April. Another renowned event is the annual Blue Ridge BBQ Festival, where some of the South's top competitive BBQ chefs compete for prizes.

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PHOTO COURTESY OF TOM STEELE, B93.7 HAWK 'N TOM SHOW (ABOVE) ERIK OLSEN PHOTO (LEFT)

Polk COUNTY creations. While the company is long gone, crafting businesses still boom in Tryon, and the recently opened Tryon Toy-Maker’s House Museum pays tribute to the town’s handmade traditions.

Tryon has also taken recent steps to celebrate the legacy of its most famous native, the late jazz and soul great Nina Simone, who was born here in 1933. The heart of downtown features Nina Simone Plaza, home to a striking bronze sculpture, dedicated in 2010, of Simone playing piano keys suspended in midair. Local volunteers are striving to preserve Simone’s childhood home, and in the fall of 2012, a group of her fans plans to stage the first annual Nina Simone International Music Festival.

The Lanier Library, founded in 1905, which today is one of the country’s few private member-funded libraries still in existence, highlights Tryon’s lively literary history.

Polk County is home to dozens of parks and recreation areas. In Saluda, the Green River Cove Recreation Area offers access points for fishing, tubing, kayaking,

Carolina, now celebrating its 66th year. The event is sponsored by the Tryon Riding & Hunt Club, which also stages horse shows throughout the year. What’s more, the Foothills Equestrian Nature Center offers regular equestrian events at its 400-arce facility in Tryon.

May brings the Saluda Arts and Music Festival, and in July, Saluda hosts the lively annual Coon Dog Day Festival, a barkfilled celebration of the mountains’ favorite canine that includes a classic car show and parade. The Art Trek Tryon Studio Tours, held each July, showcase the town’s many artists, as does the Tryon Arts & Crafts Fall Festival, in October.

On the food and drink front, each July, Tryon hosts the Blue Ridge BBQ Festival. The event includes the state barbecue championship, featuring some 90 competing teams. And several of the county’s wineries and vineyards host tours and feature tasting rooms.

A thermal belt location makes Polk County an ideal area for certain types of agriculture not practiced widely in the mountains. For example, with its three wineries, Polk is a pocket of Southern wine country. canoeing and hiking. Tryon’s 50-acre public park, Harmon Field, sits next to the Pacolet River and features wading areas, a playground, tennis courts, a walking track, sports fields and horse rings. There are scores of hiking trails, ranging from easy to moderate to strenuous, in the county, and Polk is noted for its numerous summer camps.

The county can rightly boast of hosting some of the finest public events and festivals in the region. In April, there’s the Block House Steeplechase, a day of races that’s the longest running steeplechase in North

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Yancey COUNTY

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Yancey is an elevated county with some of the highest mountains to be found in Western North Carolina (and in the eastern U.S., for that matter). It makes sense, then, that the county offers living situations and outdoor experiences that go above and beyond the norm.

The county is bordered

by Tennessee to the north and a stretch of the Appalachian Trail to the south. There are 11 townships in Yancey, the largest of which, Burnsville, is the county seat and has 1,700 residents. Located in the center of the county, Burnsville is 35 miles north of Asheville and 50 miles west of Johnson City, Tenn.

Just a few miles from Burnsville looms Mount Mitchell, the tallest peak east of the Mississippi, reaching to 6,684 feet above sea level. The mountain is surrounded by the 2,000-acre Mount Mitchell State Park, which is full of choice spots for hiking, camping, picnicking and outdoor education.

Several trails of varying lengths lead to the summit of Mount Mitchell, where a recently built observation deck offers the perfect perch for high-altitude sightseeing. The summit can also be reached via a short, paved, ADA-accessible path. Halfway to the summit, the Park Restaurant serves up vittles with a view.

Flowing right by the park is the Toe River, which offers premium trout fishing and whitewater rafting.

In addition to its peaks and valleys, Yancey County is known for its extraordinarily rich artistic output. The county boasts more that 400 full-time and 200 part-time working artists, including

basket makers, glassblowers, metalsmiths, painters, paper makers, potters, quilters, sculptors and weavers.

Twice a year, the Toe River Arts Council sponsors the Toe River Studio Tours, as scores of local artists, from both Yancey and neighboring Mitchell County, open their studios for a free, up-close look inside the creative process. And each August, downtown Burnsville comes alive

most popular writers of fiction, nonfiction and poetry.

The performing arts have a strong presence here as well. The Parkway Playhouse in Burnsville, founded in 1947, is the longest running community theater in North Carolina. It produces a wide range of performances, and has a special dramatic arts education program for children age 4 to 18. A nonprofit group, the Burnsville Little

Yancey County

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Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

The Toe River Arts Council hosts several events throughout the year focusing on the many artists and crafters in the Yancey County area. DONATED PHOTO

with local art at the Mt. Mitchell Crafts Fair, which has been celebrated for more than 50 years.

The Carolina Mountains Literary Festival is held in Burnsville each September. It started as a small gathering of authors and readers in 2005, and has blossomed into a full-fledged literary happening complete with readings, workshops, plays and seminars. The event is free, and draws some of the regions

Theatre, performs fundraising shows for various local nonprofits.

Another standout Burnsville’s institution is the Nu-Wray Inn, built in 1833. The oldest lodging house in the region, it’s hosted such notables as Mark Twain, Thomas Wolfe and Elvis Presley. The inn is known both for its historic charms and its signature Southern breakfasts, with most menu items sourced from local farms.

The John Wesley McElroy House was built around the same time, in 1840, and also plays an active part in saluting Burnsville’s heritage. McElroy, a local businessman and lawyer (and later a Confederate brigadier

Yancey COUNTY The observation deck at Mount Mitchell is 36 feet in diameter, 10-feet-tall and is reached by a curved 135-foot ramp. DONATED PHOTO

A few miles from Burnsville looms Mount Mitchell, the tallest peak east of the Mississippi, reaching to 6,684 feet above sea level. The mountain is surrounded by the 2,000-acre Mount Mitchell State Park, which is full of choice spots for hiking, camping, picnicking and outdoor education.

general) constructed the 3,000-square-foot home as a mountain mansion for his wife, Catherine. In later years, the family of William Moore, a state senator and Union Army officer, took residence in the home. In the early 1900s, it served as Burnsville’s first post office, before being abandoned and falling into disrepair over the decades. The home got a new lease on life in

1987, when a local historical association purchased it and established the Rush Ray Museum of Yancey County History.

Yancey is also home to one of the most unique communities in the South — Celo, a settlement and land trust founded in 1937. There, some 40 families adhere to a loosely defined humanist ethic and help run a collective farm and the Arthur Morgan School, a progressive middle school with roots in Quaker values and the Montessori educational approach.

While mountain traditions run deep in Yancey, the county is making some key modern advancements of late. In late 2012, the main highway through the county, U.S. 19E, will be expanded from two lanes to four, aiding travel to and from the area. That said, there’s actually one less reason to drive out the county, thanks to a recent development: In a 2010 referendum, Burnsville residents OK’d alcohol sales, so Yancey is no longer a dry county.

S i m p l i f y Yo u r M ove TWO MEN AND A TRUCKŽ offers home and business moving and packing services for local and long distance moves. Whether you’re moving across the state or the country — our services are tailored to fit your move. t Professional, trained and uniformed full-time movers to ensure that your belongings are safely moved from one location to the other. t Fully licensed, bonded and insured service that includes replacement of items at actual value. t 24 hour satellite-tracking of your belongings t Free, no obligation moving quotes. Flexible scheduling for your convenience.

828-681-5252 240 Rutledge Rd. Fletcher, NC 28732 Each franchise is independently owned and operated.

/$6$ $ t .$ t 64%05

Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

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DONATED PHOTOS

WNC

Brevard has distinguished itself as an epicenter for nearby outdoor adventures, education, art and music.

State Park and the 7,600acre Georges State Park.

Together, these offer myriad opportunities for biking, camping, climbing, hiking, horseback riding, paddling and sightseeing.

Another natural treasure, tucked within the Pisgah National Forest, is the Cradle of Forestry, site of the first forestry school in the United States. The national forest is also home to the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education, a state-run facility that hosts students of all ages to learn about the region’s unique biodiversity.

The headwaters of the French Broad River, one of the oldest rivers in the world, are located near Brevard. A few miles west of the town, the master guides at Headwaters Outfitters help residents and visitors alike take advantage of all the river has to offer. It’s a hot spot for tubing, canoeing, kayaking and fly-fishing.

Nearby, the Davidson River, another renowned trout-fishing destination, flows through the Pisgah National Forest.

There’s also plenty to enjoy in the heart of Brevard, a vibrant and walkable hub of independent shops, boutiques, galleries, pubs and eateries. Between April and December, the Fourth Friday Gallery Walks — a monthly celebration of local art, food, wine and music — offer an especially pleasant way to peruse local businesses and get to know neighbors. More local arts are

Brevard

B

Being a small town doesn’t mean you can’t offer some of the finest charms Western North Carolina has to offer. Just ask the 7,600 residents of Brevard, the county seat of Transylvania County. The town has distinguished itself as an epicenter for nearby outdoor adventures, education, art and music.

Transylvania can justly claim to be “The Land of Waterfalls,” as some 250 waterfalls exist in the county. Some are relatively small and gentle. Others take big, breathtaking plunges into mountain pools. Looking Glass Falls, for example, drops 60 feet amid a stunning crop of boulders and is one of the most-photographed waterfalls in the country. The wildly popular Sliding Rock is a natural waterslide where thousands of visitors slide down its long, slick surface into a 6-feet-deep pool at the bottom.

Remarkably, more than half of the land in Transylvania is publicly owned and protected, including 88,000 acres of Pisgah National Forest, the 10,000-acre DuPont

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highlighted on the Scenic 276 South Fine Art & Craft Corridor — a 13-mile stretch of state road that showcases numerous galleries and studios.

It’s a rare town that can boast of hosting an equal number of barbecue joints and Asian restaurants — and just as many ice cream parlors — but in Brevard it’s true.

The Brevard Music Center has hosted noted performers for the past 75 years. Its signature event is the annual Brevard Music Festival, which spans seven summer weeks and features more than 80 different acts.

Local music aficionados also take in shows at Brevard College’s Paul Porter Center for the Performing Arts.

Contributing to the town’s special character is Brevard College, a small liberal arts school founded in 1934 and located adjacent to downtown.

In March, the college hosts the world-touring Banff Mountain Film Festival, a big-screen celebration of films and documentaries about life and sports in the wild. In May, the town pays tribute its signature furry creature with the White Squirrel Festival.

White squirrels, you ask? As it happens, the Brevard area is home to a rare concentration of, well, white squirrels. The festival features a parade, free concerts, a “Squirrel Box Derby” and other, well, “nutty” amusements.

Come summer, Brevard’s Main Street becomes a prime place to cut a rug. Each Tuesday night, Old Time Street Dances are held to a soundtrack of live bluegrass.

WNC

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Chimney Rock

O STEVEN MCBRIDE PHOTO

develop both the park and the nearby resort town of Lake Lure.

After being privately owned for more than a century, the site was purchased by the state of North Carolina in 2007 and is presently in the midst of major upgrades.

In August there’s the Race to the Rock, which is actually two races: a 5K run and a 25-mile bike race, both of which end at Chimney Rock. In September, there’s the weekend-long Flock to the Rock, a celebration of area’s exemplary birding scene.

Nearby are the townships of Bat Cave and Chimney Rock Village. In Bat Cave, the Old Cider Mill sells mountain crafts and curios, and, during apple season, freshpressed cider. In Chimney Rock Village, Bubba O’Leary’s General Store offers a trip back in time to an era before chain stores and strip malls.

Hickory Nut Gorge hosts a wide range of lodging options, from short-term cabin rentals to stately mountain inns.

GARRET K. WOODWARD PHOTO

Off the beaten path, about 20 miles southeast of Asheville via Highway 74A, is a Western North Carolina community that enjoys spectacular views, an abundance of outdoor activities, a temperate climate and a unique ecosystem.

The expansive Hickory Nut Gorge, nestled between the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky mountains, feels like a land unto itself. The 14-mile mountain canyon is split by the Rocky Broad River, which ultimately flows into Lake Lure.

Four small townships are in the gorge: Gerton, Bat Cave, Chimney Rock Village and Lake Lure. Each has its own particular charms, but a common thread that benefits them all is the natural setting, which is famed for its biodiversity.

Hickory Nut George is home to 14 rare animal species and 36 rare plant species, and is a haven for biologists, geologists and birders. It’s teeming with streams and stunning rock formations, as well as Hickory Nut Falls, a waterfall with a 404foot drop that’s one of the biggest in the region. The falls made a big splash on the big screen, serving at the setting for a fight scene in the 1992 film “The Last of the Mohicans.”

The crown jewel of the gorge is the 4,000-acre Chimney Rock State Park,

home to a hulking granite monolith that the park is named after. A climb up the stairs to the top of 315foot-tall Chimney Rock (or an elevator ride there) is rewarded with panoramic views to spots as far as 75 miles away.

The park has an extensive network of hiking trails and ample opportunities for bouldering and rock climbing. And impressive as it is, Chimney Rock isn’t even the high point. Other easily accessed features above the rock include the Opera Box, a stone enclosure with a broad opening where you can sit and take in the stunning sights, Devil’s Head, a menacing rock “face” perched over the gorge, and Exclamation Point, the park’s highest point, some 200 feet above Chimney Rock.

The park has a rich history that gives it appropriately deep ties to the region. The land it sits on was bought and developed by a Missouri native, Lucius Moore, a doctor who was diagnosed with tuberculosis circa 1900. Moore moved here to clear his lungs with the mountain air, and went on to

Bat Cave’s Old Cider Mill sells mountain crafts and curios, and, during apple season, fresh-pressed cider.

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T Lake

GARRET K. WOODWARD PHOTO

Lure

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The town of Lake Lure and its namesake water feature date to the 1920s. That’s when Lucius Morse, a noted developer of his day, arranged to dam the Rocky Broad River and create the 720-acre lake that would be the centerpiece of a unique resort community Today, Morse’s vision lives on, and Lake Lure continues to provide a kind of laid-back luxury that’s in perfect tune its natural surroundings.

The mid-sized mountains of western Rutherford County are filled with forests, streams, striking vistas, stunning rock formations and gently winding roads and trails.

What’s more, Lake Lure features a large share of spacious homes ranging from the historic to the modern, from the somewhat rustic to the state-of-the-art.

With slightly more than 1,000 permanent residents, the community’s population surges to around 10,000 in summer and fall with small waves of tourists, water-

sports enthusiasts, and second-home owners.

The lake itself has much to offer, above and below the surface and along its 21 miles of shoreline.

Permitted residents can launch from the nicely outfitted Lake Lure Marina to enjoy waterskiing, jet skiing, leisure cruising, speed boating, paddling and swimming.

And Lake Lure’s clear mountain water is home to sizable stocks of blue gill, catfish and largemouth bass, making it a haven for anglers.

If parts of Lake Lure look familiar to first-time visitors, it’s no surprise.

The lake and several local properties were the prime shooting ground for a wildly popular movie, the 1987 romance “Dirty Dancing.” The film was set in the early 1960s, but even today, parts of Lake Lure feel like the lakeside stomping grounds of the two main characters, which were played

by Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze.

It’s a connection the town continues to celebrate with the annual Dirty Dancing Festival, launched in 2010 and held each September.

Also popular are Lake Lure’s longstanding annual events, including premier fireworks displays on the Fourth of July and the summertime Lure of the Dragons

WNC Race and Festival. The latter event brings “dragon boat” and other races to the lake, and raises money for local children’s charities. In May, there’s the Olympiad Fly Masters Tournament, hosted on both the lake and the Rocky Broad. In August, the Hickory Nut Gorge Olympiad beckons athletes from around the nation for footraces, a triathlon and tournaments in golf, pickleball, swimming, water skiing, basketball and other sports.

A lesser known, smaller body of water is Bald Mountain Lake, which adjoins Lake Lure and is nestled in Rumbling Bald Resort. The resort’s residents and guests have access to a marina and a recreation center featuring a host of outdoor amusements and sports, food and drink, and swimming areas both in the lake and in inland artificial pools.

At Lake Lure, outdoor activities await at pretty much every door. There are three scenic golf courses: Lake Lure Golf Course is a nine-hole course owned by the town that was designed by the great golf architect Donald Ross in 1929, making it

Lake Lure provides a kind of laid-back luxury that’s in perfect tune its natural surroundings. The lake itself has much to offer, above and below the surface and along its 21 miles of shoreline. one of the first in Western North Carolina.

The two full-length, semi-private courses — Bald Mountain Golf Course and Apple Valley Golf Course — each offer a unique take on mountain golfing.

Lake Lure and its environs offer no shortage of other amusements and something for just about everybody.

Nearby Chimney Rock Park features several hikes and unparalleled views. The mountain roads that weave around Lake Lure attract motorcyclists for cruises and rallies, and Cedar Creek Stables offers a

Locales

trail-ride experiences if you’d rather let a horse trek you around the mountain coves.

No center of leisure would be complete without good options for wining and dining, and Lake Lure satisfies in this respect as well. Local eateries run from the mid-range to the upper crust. A favorite among locals and visitors alike is the Geneva Riverside Tiki Bar & Grille, where you can take in what the establishment calls its “Key West, open air feel” right next to the lake.

Life at Lake Lure is hospitable above all else, for the resident or the visitor. A rich offering of bed and breakfast options circle the lake, as do a number of motels, hotels and condos. A mainstay of Lake Lure lodging is the Lake Lure Inn & Spa, which was founded along with the town in 1927 and continues to keep pace with the lake and town’s ever-growing options for recreation and relaxation. Like the community it calls home, the inn is rife with reminders of Lake Lure’s engaging past, and updated with signs of the town’s exciting future.

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BILTMORE PHOTO

LAKE EDEN ARTS FESTIVAL PHOTO

Calendar

Calendar of events > Jan. 4-6 — Best of Our State. Grove Park Inn. Asheville. 800.435.5800 | groveparkinn.com

The Bilttmore Estate (top left) is among the top attractions in Western North Carolina, but events like the Lake Eden Arts Festival (above) and the Shindig on the Green (left) add to the culturally exciting mix that make the region so popular. Outdoor adventure lovers flock to rides like Haywood County's Blue Ridge Breakaway (opposite page) and the dozens of other organized races and trail systems that make WNC a biking mecca.

> Feb. 9 — Asheville Symphony: Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto. Thomas Wolfe Auditorium.

Asheville. 828.259.5544 ashevillenc.gov/Departments/CivicCenter

> April 20 — Asheville Symphony: Mozart’s Requiem. Thomas Wolfe Auditorium. Asheville.

828.259.5544 ashevillenc.gov/Departments/CivicCenter

> Feb. 22-24 — Arts & Crafts Antique Show and Conference. Grove Park Inn. Asheville.

800.435.5800 | groveparkinn.com > March 8-12 — Southern Conference Basketball Championships. ExploreAsheville.com Arena.

Asheville. 828.259.5544 ashevillenc.gov/Departments/CivicCenter

> March 16 — Asheville Symphony: The American Four Seasons. Thomas Wolfe Auditorium.

Asheville. 828.259.5544 ashevillenc.gov/Departments/CivicCenter > March 21-May 19 — Festival of Flowers at Biltmore Estate in Asheville. Enjoy the beauty of tulips, azaleas and countless flowers as spring takes over this historic site. 828.225.1333 | biltmore.com > March 26 — Mélange of the Mountains in Waynesville. Experience the culinary talent of some of Western North Carolina’s most regarded

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> May 11 — Asheville Symphony: Rite of Spring.

Thomas Wolfe Auditorium. Asheville. 828.259.5544 ashevillenc.gov/Departments/CivicCenter

DONATED PHOTO

> March 8-10 — Comedy Classic Weekend at Grove Park Inn. 25th annual event features renowned comedians amid an intimate setting.

800.435.5800 | groveparkinn.com

> May 9-12 — Lake Eden Arts Festival. Held twice a year in Black Mountain, LEAF aims to connect cultures and create community through music and art in the great outdoors. Music, poetry, dancing, camping, kids activities and more. 828.686.8742 | theleaf.com

restaurants and vendors as chefs compete in categories ranging from salad to seafood to dessert. haywood-nc.com

> May 11-12 — Fiber Weekend at the Folk Art Center, located at Milepost 382 of the Blue Ridge Parkway, Asheville. Fiber craft demonstrations and hands-on activities. 828.298.7928 | craftguild.org

> March 30 — Harlem Globetrotters. ExploreAsheville.com Arena. 828.259.5544 ashevillenc.gov/Departments/CivicCenter

> May 27 — Sandburg Folk Music Festival, Carl Sandburg Home. Flat Rock. 828.693.4178 nps.gov/carl

> April 6-7 — Do Tell Storyfest, Flat Rock Playhouse Downtown Theatre. Listen to tales from rhymes to folk tales to history to modern personal stories from the region’s best performers.

828.388.0247 | dotellfestival.org

> June 14-15 — Blue Ridge Barbecue and Music Festival in Tryon. Considered one of the most popular sanctioned barbecue competitions in the United States. All proceeds benefit the local chamber of commerce. 828.859.7427 | blueridgebbqfestival.com

finest traditional music and dancing in the region.

828-452-1688 | smokymountainfolkfestival.com > Aug. 31 — Shindig on the Green on Pack Square Park, Asheville. Free traditional music concerts held outdoors in downtown. 828.258.6101, ext. 345 | folkheritage.org

GARRET K. WOODWARD PHOTO

> Sept. 6-15 — The NC Mountain State Fair at the Western North Carolina Agricultural Center in Fletcher. Celebrating mountain traditions with rides, exhibits, art, food, concerts and more.

828.687.1414 | mountainfair.org

> June 29 — Shindig on the Green on Pack Square Park, Asheville. Free traditional music concerts held outdoors in downtown. 828.258.6101, ext. 345 folkheritage.org

sweepers, dancers, balladeers and others have gathered the first weekend in August at the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival. 828.258.6101, ext. 345 folkheritage.org

> July 6 — Shindig on the Green on Pack Square Park, Asheville. Free traditional music concerts held outdoors in downtown. 828.258.6101, ext. 345 folkheritage.org

> Early August — Village Art and Craft Fair. A high quality art and craft fair held on the grounds of The Cathedral of All Souls in Biltmore Village. newmorninggallerync.com/avacf.html

> July 13 — Shindig on the Green on Pack Square Park, Asheville. Free traditional music concerts held outdoors in downtown. 828.258.6101, ext. 345 folkheritage.org

> Aug. 10 — Shindig on the Green on Pack Square Park, Asheville. Free traditional music concerts held outdoors in downtown. 828.258.6101, ext. 345 folkheritage.org

> July 17-28 — Folkmoot USA. Two-week international dance and music festival. Headquartered in Waynesville but held at venues throughout Western North Carolina. 828.452.2997 | folkmootusa.org

> Aug. 10-11 — Sourwood Festival in Black Mountain. Music, dancing, arts and crafts, super food, kid’s rides and games, face painting and more in a no alcohol environment, along with gourmet sourwood honey. 828.669.2300 | sourwoodfestival.com

> July 18-21 — Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands. Asheville Civic Center. 828.298.7928 craftguild.org > July 20 — Shindig on the Green on Pack Square Park, Asheville. Free traditional music concerts held outdoors in downtown. 828.258.6101, ext. 345 folkheritage.org > July 26-28 — Bele Chere street festival in downtown Asheville. The Southeast’s largest street festival brings more than 100,000 to downtown Asheville.

Music on several stages, food, children’s activities and more. 828.259.5800 | belecherefestival.com > Aug. 1-3 — Mountain Dance & Folk Festival at the Diana Wortham Theatre, in Asheville. Since 1928, mountain fiddlers, banjo pickers, dulcimer

> Aug. 17 — Shindig on the Green on Pack Square Park, Asheville. Free traditional music concerts held outdoors in downtown. 828.258.6101, ext. 345 folkheritage.org > Aug. 17 — Blue Ridge Breakaway at Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center. An annual cycling event in support of the initiatives of the Haywood County Chamber of Commerce. blueridgebreakaway.com > Aug. 24 — Shindig on the Green on Pack Square Park, Asheville. Free traditional music concerts held outdoors in downtown. 828.258.6101, ext. 345 folkheritage.org > Aug. 30-31 — Smoky Mountain Folk Festival at Lake Junaluska’s Stuart Auditorium. Two nights of the

> Sept. 13-14 — Mountain Song Festival at the Brevard Music Center. Food, local artists, children’s activities, nature exhibits, and more.

828.243.3496 | mountainsongfestival.com > Oct. 17-20 — Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands. Asheville Civic Center. 828.298.7928 craftguild.org > Oct. 17-20 — Lake Eden Arts Festival. Held twice a year in Black Mountain, LEAF aims to connect cultures and create community through music and art in the great outdoors. Music, camping, kids activities and more. Black Mountain. 828.686.8742 theleaf.com > Oct. 20 — HardLox Festival in Pack Square in Asheville. Jewish food and entertainment.

828.253.2282 | hardloxjewishfestival.org > Early November-Jan. 1 — Christmas at Biltmore Estate. The grand estate puts on a show every holiday season with lighting, lit fireplaces inside, special musical performances and other events. biltmore.com/visit/calendar/holiday.asp > Dec. 6/7, 13/14 — Dillsboro Luminaries & Lights. Jackson County town is lit with luminaries, stores host open houses, Santa, children’s activities, horse and buggy rides, music. 800.962.1911 visitdillsboro.org/specialevents.html > Mid-November-Jan. 2 — National Gingerbread House Competition viewing at the Grove Park Inn. Walk through the inn and see hundreds of intricate gingerbread creations and the award winners.

800.438.5800 | groveparkinn.com > Dec. 31 — First Night Asheville. Entertainment, games, fireworks in an alcohol-free atmosphere.

828.252.2711 | ashevilleparks.org

Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

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Voter Registration

> Buncombe County 35 Woodfin St., Asheville • 828-250-4200 > Haywood County 1233 N. Main St., Waynesville • 828-452-6633 > Henderson County 75 E. Central Ave., Hendersonville 828-697-4970 > Jackson County 401 Grindstaff Cove Road, Sylva • 828-586-7538 > Madison County 5707 Hwy. 25-70, Marshall • 828-649-3731 > Polk County 40 Courthouse St., Columbus • 828-894-8181 > Transylvania County 221 S. Gaston St., Brevard • 828-884-3114 > Yancey County 225 West Main St., Burnsville • 828-682-3950

Tax Offices

> Buncombe County Tax Office 828-250-4910 buncombecounty.org/governing/depts/Tax > Haywood County Tax Office 828-452-6643 • haywoodnc.net > Henderson County Tax Office 828-697-4870 • hendersoncountync.org/ca > Jackson County Tax Office 828-586-7550 • jacksonnc.org/tax-collector > Madison County Tax Office 828-649-3014 • madisoncounty.org/-tax > Polk County Tax Office 828-894-8500 • polknc.org/departments/taxassessor > Transylvania County Tax Office 828-884-3200 • transylvaniacounty.org/tax-administration > Yancey County Tax Office 828-682-2197 • yanceycountync.gov

Distances

(in miles)

ASHEVILLE HENDERSONVILLE WEAVERVILLE WAYNESVILLE Asheville Airport 15 12 22 36 GreenviIle/Spartanburg, SC 80 59 60 100 Charlotte, NC 124 111 138 153 Knoxville, TN 129 144 123 112 Columbia, SC 158 137 165 178 Atlanta, GA 208 187 215 169 Raleigh, NC 251 275 260 279 Charleston, SC 268 247 275 288 Myrtle Beach, SC 302 281 309 322 Savannah, GA 314 293 321 335 Wilmington, NC 360 339 366 380 Washington, DC 471 495 463 500 Orlando, FL 584 563 591 604 New York City, NY 691 714 682 719 Miami, FL 794 773 801 815

Drivers License Offices

Property taxes

Vehicle Registration Offices

Buncombe.................$0.525 Asheville .........................$0.42 Biltmore Forest................$0.33 Black Mountain ............$0.365 Montreat ........................$0.37 Weaverville...................$0.375 Woodfin........................$0.265 Haywood.................$0.5143 Canton............................$0.58 Clyde...............................$0.43 Maggie Valley .................$0.39 Waynesville ................$0.4082 Henderson...............$0.5136 Flat Rock.......................$0.084 Fletcher.........................$0.225 Hendersonville................$0.41 Laurel Park......................$0.36 Mills River...................$0.0224 Saluda (in Henderson) ....$0.55 Jackson .......................$0.28 Dillsboro .........................$0.21 Forest Hills ......................$0.15 Highlands (in Jackson)..$0.135 Sylva...............................$0.30 Webster ..........................$0.05 Madison......................$0.52 Hot Springs .....................$0.51 Mars Hill .........................$0.47 Marshall .........................$0.49 Polk ............................$0.52 Columbus........................$0.35 Saluda (in Polk) ..............$0.54 Tryon ..........................$0.4778 Rutherford ..............$0.6070 Lake Lure ......................$0.246 Transylvania............$0.3949 Brevard.......................$0.4325 Yancey ........................$0.45 Burnsville........................$0.50

> Buncombe County 85 Tunnel Road, Asheville • 828-252-8526 1624 Patton Ave., Asheville • 828-251-6065 > Haywood County 290 Lee Road, Clyde • 828-627-6969 > Henderson County 125 Baystone Drive, Hendersonville • 828-692-6915 > Jackson County 876 Skyland Drive, Sylva • 828-586-5413 > Madison County 164 N. Main St., Marshall • 828-649-2248 > Polk County 130 Ward St., Columbus, • 828-692-6915 > Transylvania County 50 Commerce St., Brevard • 828-883-2070 > Yancey County 116 N. Main St., Burnsville • 828-682-9619 > Buncombe County 85 Tunnel Road, Asheville • 828-252-8526 780 Hendersonville Road, Asheville • 828-667-2104 > Haywood County 478 Champion Drive, Canton • 828-646-3406 80 Waynesville Plaza, Waynesville • 828-452-1577 > Henderson County 145 Four Seasons Mall, Hendersonville • 828-692-0648 > Jackson County 454 E. Main St., Sylva • 828-586-3886 > Madison County 45 N. Main St., Marshall • 828-649-3528 > Transylvania County 69 New Hendersonville Hwy., Pisgah Forest • 828-883-3251 > Yancey County 14 Town Square, Burnsville • 828-682-2312

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Getting started

Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

BREVARD 20 56 132 152 157 183 283 267 301 314 359 503 583 722 793

Climate Jan. Feb. March April May June July Aug. Sept.

Oct. Nov. Dec.

AVG. HIGH 46 50 58 67 74 81 84 83 77 68 58 50

AVG. LOW 27 29 36 44 52 60 64 62 56 45 37 30

AVG. PRECIP. 3.07 3.19 3.83 3.16 3.53 3.24 2.97 3.34 3.01 2.40 2.93 2.59

Median Household Income 2000 Asheville City $33,091 Buncombe County $36,795 Haywood County $34,029 Henderson County $38,385 Madison County $31,065 $36,419 Asheville MSA* North Carolina $39,257 United States $42,257

2008 2012 PROJECTED $39,906 $44,325 $43,805 $49,216 $39,042 $45,764 $46,047 $50,597 $38,077 $40,840 $43,744 $48,603 $46,574 $54,370 $52,029 $52,723

*Asheville MSA includes Buncombe, Henderson, Haywood and Madison counties

Information

Helpful links Electricity

> Duke Energy duke-energy.com > Haywood EMC haywoodemc.com > Progress Energy progress-energy.com

Natural Gas

> Progress Energy progress-energy.com > PSNC Energy psncenergy.com/en

Public Utilities

> City of Asheville Water Resources ashevillenc.gov/departments/water > Metropolitan Sewerage District of Buncombe County msdbc.org > City of Asheville Sanitation ashevillenc.gov/departments/sanitation > Henderson County Utilities hendersoncountync.org

Cable/Internet/Phone

> > > > > > >

AT&T att.com Charter Communications charter.com DirecTV directv.com Mountain Area Information Network main.nc.us StarBand starband.com TDS Telecom tdstelecom.com Verizon verizon.com

Airports

> Asheville Regional Airport flyavl.com > Hendersonville Airport hendersonvilleairport.com

Trains

> Amtrak amtrak.com > Great Smoky Mountains Railroad gsmr.com

Public Transportation

> Buncombe County Transportation buncombecounty.org/governing/depts/Transportation

City/County Governments

> Buncombe County • buncombecounty.org Asheville • ashevillenc.gov Barnardsville • barnardsville.com Biltmore Forest • biltmoreforesttownhall.homestead.com Black Mountain • townofblackmountain.com Fletcher • fletchernc.org Montreat • townofmontreat.org Weaverville • weavervillenc.org > Haywood County • haywoodnc.net Canton • cantonnc.com Clyde • townofclyde.com Maggie Valley • townofmaggievalley.com Waynesville • townofwaynesville.org

> Henderson County • hendersoncountync.org Flat Rock Village • villageofflatrock.org Hendersonville • cityofhendersonville.org Laurel Park • laurelpark.org > Jackson County • jacksonnc.org Sylva • townofsylva.org > Madison County • madisoncountync.org Hot Springs • townofhotsprings.org Marshall • townofmarshall.org Mars Hill • townofmarshill.org > Polk County • polknc.org Columbus • columbusnc.com Tryon • tryon-nc.com > Rutherford County • rutherfordcountync.gov Lake Lure • townoflakelure.com > Transylvania County transylvaniacounty.org Brevard • cityofbrevard.com > Yancey County • main.nc.us/yancey Burnsville • townofburnsville.org

Chambers of Commerce > > > > > >

Asheville Area ashevillechamber.org Black Mountain-Swannanoa blackmountain.org Brevard/Transylvania brevardncchamber.org Cashiers Area cashiers-nc.com Carolina Foothills polkchamber.org Downtown Waynesville Association downtownwaynesville.com > Haywood County haywood-nc.com > Henderson County hendersoncountychamber.org > Jackson County mountainlovers.com > Madison County madisoncounty-nc.com > Maggie Valley maggievalley.org > Polk County polkchambernc.com > Saluda Business Association saluda.com > Yancey County yanceychamber.com

Tourism

> Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority exploreasheville.com > Cashiers cashiersnc.com > Dillsboro Merchants Association visitdillsboro.org > Haywood County Tourism Development Authority visitncsmokies.com > Henderson County Travel and Tourism historichendersonville.org > Jackson County Travel and Tourism mountainlovers.com > Lake Lure Tourism rutherfordtourism.com > Madison County visitmadisoncounty.com > Polk County nc-mountains.org > Transylvania County Tourism visitwaterfalls.com

> Weaverville Tourism visitweaverville.com > Yancey County visityancey.com

Schools > > > > > > > > > >

Asheville City ashevillecityschools.net Buncombe County buncombe.k12.nc.us Haywood County haywood.k12.nc.us Henderson County henderson.k12.nc.us Jackson County jcps.k12.nc.us Madison County Schools madisonk12.net Polk County polk.k12.nc.us Transylvania County Schools tcsnc.org Yancey County Schools yanceync.net North Carolina Public Schools ncpublicschools.org > North Carolina School Report Cards ncreportcards.org

Private Schools

> Asheville Catholic School ashevillecatholic.org > Asheville Christian Academy acacademy.org > Asheville Montessori School ashevillemontessorischool.com > Asheville School ashevilleschool.org > Bethel Baptist School bethelwarriors.org > Carolina Day School cdschool.org > Christ School christschool.org > Emmanuel Lutheran School emmanuellutheranschool.org > Fletcher Academy fletcheracademy.com > Hanger Hall School for Girls hangerhall.org > Immaculata Catholic School immac.org > Learning Community School thelearningcommunity.org > Mount Pisgah Academy pisgah.us > Nazarene Christian School ashevillefirstnazarene.org > Rainbow Mountain Children’s School rmcs.org > Veritas Christian Academy veritasnc.org

Charter Schools

> ArtSpace Charter School artspacecharter.org > Brevard Academy brevard.teamcfa.org > Evergreen Community Charter School evergreenccs.org > Francine Delany New School for Children fdnsc.net > Summit Charter School summitschool.org > The Mountain Community School tmcschool.org

Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

95

Helpful links CONTINUED

Colleges & Universities

> WYFF-TV 4 (NBC), Greenville wyff4.com > WLOS-TV 13 (ABC), Asheville wlos.com > WSPA-TV 7 (CBS), Greenville/Spartanburg wspa.com > WYCW-TV 62 (The CW), Greenville/Spartanburg carolinascw.com > WHNS-TV 21 (FOX), Greenville/Spartanburg foxcarolina.com

Learning Centers

FM Radio Stations

> Penland School of Crafts penland.org > Osher Lifelong Learning Institute olliasheville.com

Publications

> > > > > > > > >

Asheville Citizen-Times citizen-times.com Asheville Magazine ashevillemagazine.com Asheville Tribune thetribunepapers.com Black Mountain News blackmountainnews.com Crossroads Chronicle crossroadschronicle.com Hendersonville Times-News blueridgenow.com Mountain Xpress mountainx.com The Blue Banner thebluebanner.net The Mountaineer themountaineer.villagesoup.com > The Smoky Mountain News smokymountainnews.com > The Sylva Herald thesylvaherald.com > The Transylvania Times transylvaniatimes.com > The Tryon Daily Bulletin tryondailybulletin.com > Yancey County News yanceycountynews.com

Magazines > > > > > > >

96

Television Stations

> Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College abtech.edu > Blue Ridge Community College blueridge.edu > Brevard College brevard.edu > Haywood Community College haywood.edu > Mars Hill College mhc.edu > Montreat College montreat.edu > Shaw University Education Center shawuniversity.edu > South College southcollegenc.edu > Southwestern Community College southwesterncc.edu > University of North Carolina Asheville unca.edu > Warren Wilson College warren-wilson.edu > Western Carolina University wcu.edu

Blue Ridge Outdoors blueridgeoutdoors.com The Laurel of Asheville thelaurelofasheville.com Smoky Mountain Living smliv.com Sophie Magazine sophiemagazine.com Verve Magazine vervemag.com WNC Magazine wncmagazine.com WNC Woman wnc-woman.com

Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

AM Radio Stations

> > > > > >

570, WWNC, news radio wwnc.com 880, WPEK, news talk 880therevolution.com 920 WPTL, country, news talk wptlradio.net 1230, WSKY, Christian wilkinsradio.com 1310, WISE, sports, talk 1310bigwise.com 1450, WHKP, news, music whkp.com

> 88.1, 95.3, WCQS, NPR news, classic music wcqs.org > 88.7, WNCW, eclectic music, news wncw.org > 90.5, WWCU, Western Carolina University wwcufm.com > 92.5, WYFL, Bible Broadcasting Network bbnradio.org > 93.7, WFBC, top 40 b937online.com > 96.5, WOXL, lite rock 965woxl.com > 99.9, WKSF, Kiss Country 99kisscountry.com > 103.5, MAIN-FM, community programming main-fm.org > 104.9, WQNS, rock rock104rocks.com

Medical Centers

> Asheville Specialty Hospital missionhospitals.org > Blue Ridge Regional Hospital spchospital.org > Care Partners Rehabilitation Hospital carepartners.org > Henderson County Red Cross hcredcross.org > MedWest haymed.org > Mission Hospitals missionhospitals.org > Pardee Hospital pardeehospital.org > Park Ridge Hospital parkridgehealth.org > Sisters of Mercy Urgent Care urgentcares.com > St. Luke’s Hospital saintlukeshospital.com > Transylvania Regional Hospital trhospital.org > VA Medical Center asheville.va.gov

Places To Go

> Biltmore Estate biltmore.com > Blue Ridge Parkway blueridgeparkway.org > Botanical Gardens at Asheville ashevillebotanicalgardens.org > Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site nps.gov/carl/index.htm > Cataloochee Valley elk wildlifesouth.com > Cherokee North Carolina cherokee-nc.com > Chimney Rock State Park chimneyrockpark.com > Dupont State Forest dupontforest.com > Great Smoky Mountains National Park nps.gov/grsm/ > Great Smoky Mountain Railroad gsmr.com > Harrah’s Cherokee Casino harrahscherokee.com > Hot Springs hotspringsnc.org > Maggie Valley maggievalley.org > North Carolina Arboretum ncarboretum.org > Old Pressley Sapphire Mine oldpressleymine.com > Pack Place packplace.org > Pisgah National Forest fs.usda.gov/nfsnc > Smith McDowell House Museum wnchistory.org > Thomas Wolfe House wolfememorial.com > Western North Carolina Nature Center wildwnc.org

Tours

> Asheville Historic Trolley Tours ashevilletrolleytours.com > Brews Cruise Brewery Tour brewscruise.com > Lazoom Tours of Asheville lazoomtours.com > Segway Tours movingsidewalktours.com > Asheville Urban Trail romanticasheville.com > Walking Tours of Historic Asheville history-at-hand.com

Libraries

> Avery-Mitchell-Yancey Regional Library amyregionallibrary.org > Buncombe County Public Libraries buncombecounty.org/governing/depts/Library > Haywood County Public Library haywoodlibrary.org > Henderson County Public Library henderson.lib.nc.us > Jackson County Public Library fontanalib.org/sylva > Madison County Public Library madisoncountylibrary.org > Transylvania County Public Library library.transylvaniacounty.org

W HEN

BEING A NOBODY JUST WON ’ T DO .

“

My situation was truly unique and he knew exactly what was needed and how to obtain a mortgage that fit me.

Perry made the daunting task of financing a first home a true pleasure. He took the time to explain the details so they made sense.

Most mortgage professionals would have simply ignored my after-hours phone call. Even though Perry had already left the office, that didn’t mean he was done for the day.

“

His patience and guidance allowed me to become comfortable with the entire process.

— Joe Lyle & Ashley Seese

S E R V I C E S

Buyer Assurance Program

Our Buyer Assurance program approaches everybody as if they’re a somebody. Giving them the special attention they need to become confident home buyers whether they’re buying their first or fourth property. Nobody should depend upon a long distance phone call to a far away land when applying for a mortgage.

With our personal attention and Buyer Assurance Program you can search for your home in confidence—the kind of confidence that only comes after being somebody with full loan approval.

Contact one of our dedicated loan officers and find how to be a somebody.

Downtown Asheville 828.254.7221

South Asheville 828.684.8999

North Asheville 828.251.1800

Hendersonville 828.697.0515

beverly-hanks.com/mortgage

EQUAL HOUSING

OPPORTUNITY

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You C LIFE THE

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connect

Is our way of welcoming you to the Beverly-Hanks family and introducing you to the independently owned businesses and nonproďŹ ts across the region. Each month, we’ll email exclusive BeverlyHanks offers to some of our favorite

merchants, restaurants, and community organizations. We love sharing the very best of Western North Carolina.

To see our current offers:

beverly-hanks.com/clientconnect.

Downtown Asheville 300 Executive Park 828.254.7221

North Asheville 820 Merrimon Avenue 828.251.1800

South Asheville 1 Town Square Boulevard 828.684.8999

Waynesville 74 North Main Street 828.452.5809

Hendersonville 400 Beverly-Hanks Centre 828.697.0515

Lake Lure 109 Lake Lure 828.625.8846

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866.858.2257

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