Asheville

Still going backwards in time...

I stopped in Asheville after leaving Washington, D.C., where I took a break from traveling for about a week.  I'd originally planned to visit Asheville as one of my last stops, but due to a last-minute schedule change, I stopped there early.  Fortunately, my godparents' son, Paul, and Paul's wife Heather, were very happy to host me.  They moved to Asheville within the past couple of years and love it there, and want everyone else to love it too.  And love it I did!

Heather and Paul

I thought I'd only stay for two nights, but wound up staying for four because I liked it so much, so Asheville turned into an impromptu "audition" city, and I spent some time checking it out to see if I might want to live there.  In short, Asheville seems like a really cool town.  Lots of art and artists, beautiful landscapes, affordable homes, places to eat, culture, all four seasons (with a short winter), etc.  It's maybe a little short on what I'd call "big city culture" like Broadway shows or major league sports teams (although there's a minor league baseball team).  And I also suspect that it's short on jobs.  At least professional-type jobs, which is what I'd probably look for.

For those who don't know, I used to live in North Carolina.  In Durham then Raleigh and I liked it a lot.  For a number of reasons, I chose not to make it my home 10 years ago, but I've always been fond of the state and might have thought about returning, except that nearly everyone I was friends with in the Triangle no longer lives there.  But one of those friends, Kenny, now lives and works in Asheville.  Through him, I got to meet a couple of other locals, all of whom seemed to like the area a lot, almost as much as Paul and Heather!  And with me knowing those three locals, I got to see a pretty wide and varied swath of the city and its suburbs.

Kenny, showing me around Asheville, including its half-a-skyscraper, on the left.

Like the Triangle, and like other places in the South and the Midwest, people were pretty friendly and laid-back.  And there is a definite liberal-leaning feeling to the area.  So I suspect I'd fit in personality wise.  True, Asheville is in the South, which would worry me a little, were it not for my previous experience living in North Carolina, which I know from experience is not too extreme when it comes to some of the, shall I say, less desirable qualities often associated with the South.

Aboard La Zoom, a funny little tour of Asheville.

So as of the writing of this post, I've now visited four of nine (and counting?) cities that were on my list of places to explore (plus this one which got added when I arrived).  Of the four, I'd say I like Ashville the best, with Des Moines a close second.  Philadelphia is still cool, although I see less reason to relocate there.  And Nashville, as I noted in a recent post, didn't feel like it was a good fit for me.  So in a few months, I'll check out the job opportunities in Asheville, and see if there's a chance it could keep me employed and become my next home!  Obviously, I still have many stops left, but Asheville is currently my favorite stop.  The only downside to my visit is that because I was doing a lot and spending time with people, I took fewer photos than usual.  Sorry!

Let me take this opportunity to plug my hosts, Heather and Paul.  Heather is a real live artist, whose work is awesome and can be found for sale in Asheville.  Please check out her website!  Paul is in the early stages of developing his business of making hand-crafted guitars.  I do not believe he has any for sale yet, but keep an eye out for him.  (Paul, tell me if I'm wrong.)  And here's a sample of one he made for himself:

It sounds as good as it looks.