Category Archives: Asheville Attractions

Biltmore again tops NC tourism list

Published in Asheville Attractions on February 26, 2014

Biltmore again tops NC tourism list!

Raleigh, N.C. — The Biltmore House in Asheville was again the most-visited attraction in North Carolina in 2013, according to Matthews-based Carolina Publishing Associates prompting the headline: Biltmore again tops NC tourism list.

Biltmore again tops NC tourism list

Biltmore Estate, 1890–1895, Asheville, North Carolina, Richard Morris Hunt, architect (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The former estate of the wealthy Vanderbilt family drew more than 1.2 million visitors for the year. The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh also topped the million-visitor mark and the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro had a respectable 739,943 guests.

The Triangle claims seven of the top 30 most-visited attractions in the state.

Most-visited museums and attractions, 2013 

1. Biltmore, Asheville, 1,210,138.

2. NC Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh, 1,026,177.

3. North Carolina Zoo, Asheboro, 739,943.

4. Fort Macon State Park, Atlantic Beach, 722,260.

5. Discovery Place, Charlotte, 705,845.

6. Marbles Kids Museum, Raleigh. 648,450.

7. Fort Fisher State Historic Site, Kure Beach. 614,158.

8.Wright Brothers National Memorial, Kill Devil Hills, 489,123.

9. NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher, Kure Beach, 447,892.

10. Museum of Life and Science, Durham, 421,095.

11. NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores, 389,

Article source: http://www.wral.com/biltmore-again-tops-nc-tourism-list/13424854/ If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

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Waiving the fee for Entrance to the Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center

Published in Asheville Attractions, Asheville History on February 26, 2014

“As an institution that adds to and thrives within Asheville’s amazing cultural offerings, we thought that a proper celebration of our 20 years as a museum and the 80 year anniversary of the opening of Black Mountain College would include free admission to our unique exhibits,” said Board Chair Dr. Brian Butler in a press release issued Sunday afternoon. “We think of this as both a thank you to our community and as a gentle invite to anyone who has not already stopped in to learn about our exhibitions and events.”

alice sebrell, of black mountain college museu...

alice sebrell, of black mountain college museum and arts center, shows me (and siena!) mary parks washington’s histcollage titled “black mountain college” (Photo credit: davidsilver)

The move grants all visitors free access to ongoing exhibitions in the museum’s Broadway Street gallery space. Some special events, such as lectures, film screening and poetry readings, among other programs, may still have one-time ticket fees. As for the financial difference, the board’s goal, according to Alice Sebrell, BMCM+AC’s program director, is to balance out potential loss

Article source: http://www.mountainx.com/article/56566/Waiving-the-fee If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

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Sierra Nevada gets closer to rolling out beer and opening

Published in Asheville Attractions, Asheville Local News, North Carolina News on February 24, 2014

While there still is more work to do before full-scale production commences, Sierra Nevada has achieved a spot-on flavor match between its two top-selling brands produced in Mills River and at the company’s Chico, Calif. brewery.

Sierra Nevada Pale AleSierra Nevada Pale Ale and Torpedo Extra IPA — the No. 2-selling craft beer in the U.S. and top-selling IPA in the country, respectively — are now being brewed and bottled at the Mills River plant, but company spokesman Ryan Arnold said they are “still probably a couple of months out before we’re really pushing things out the door.”

Sierra Nevada’s quality-control process is a rigorous one, with up to 150 checks conducted in its high-tech research and development lab. The company says it tests everything from raw ingredients and water chemistry to full-spectrum molecular analysis to determine if its beer “has a potential for off-flavors before it ever makes it out of the kettle or fermenter.” The company also is splitting shipments of malt and hops between Mills River and Chico to eliminate variability from batch to batch and ensure

Article source: http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20140219/ARTICLES/140219855 If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

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Two properties conserved along Blue Ridge Parkway

Published in Asheville Attractions, Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina News on February 24, 2014

English: Black Balsam Knob as seen at sunrise ...

Raleigh, N.C. – The Conservation Trust for North Carolina (CTNC) purchased a 123-acre property that adjoins the Blue Ridge Parkway between mileposts 446 and 450 in Jackson County. The land, made up of three smaller tracts, contains a significant section of Woodfin Creek upstream of the Woodfin Cascades. It also borders the Mountains-to-Sea Trail which hikers can access directly off the Parkway near Woodfin Cascades Overlook. It adjoins a 31-acre property on Bear Creek which CTNC conserved in May 2013.

The property rises to 6,000-feet elevation, hosts a healthy population of native spruce, and lies completely within the Mount Lyn Lowry/Campbell Creek Significant Natural Heritage Area as designated by the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The property is part of a growing area of contiguous, protected land that is intended to become the Waterrock Knob/Plott-Balsams Park along the Parkway.

CTNC also purchased a 54-acre property at milepost 440 on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Waynesville in

Article source: http://www.mountainx.com/article/56464/Two-properties-conserved-along-Blue-Ridge-Parkway If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

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Asheville welcomes 27th Arts & Crafts Conference

Published in Asheville Attractions, Asheville Local News on February 24, 2014

ASHEVILLE — Fairview’s Bruce Johnson is nationally known as the spokesman for Minwax furniture refinishing products. Locally, he’s highly visible as the organizer of this weekend’s Arts and Crafts Conference that showcases Mission-style furniture and brings several thousand visitors to the Omni Grove Park Inn each February.

But who knew that this fine furniture man once committed a youthful act of family furniture disrespect?

Growing up in Illinois, the teenage Bruce covered the lid of his father’s Arts and Crafts drop front desk with decals of his favorite baseball teams, ruining the finish.

“Years later I retrieved it from my parents’ attic and carefully restored it,” Johnson said earlier this week. Seven moves and four decades later, “it sits right here in my office,” he said, “a daily reminder of how important it is to save and restore our family heirlooms for future generations.”

Thinking historically

As this year’s Arts and Crafts Conference gets underway Friday, Johnson is also thinking historically. “In 1988, I started a three-day conference, thinking it was a one year deal,” he said, “and lo and behold, here we are 27 years later.”

That first effort drew 300

Article source: http://www.blackmountainnews.com/article/20140219/NEWS/302190035/Asheville-welcomes-27th-Arts-Crafts-Conference If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

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Wildlife spectacle lies just over Smokies

Published in Asheville Attractions, Asheville Local News on February 24, 2014

The four of us met in Asheville that morning bound for the wildlife spectacle along the Hiwassee River in southwestern Tennessee. Many of the local lakes were still frozen, so the largest concentration of sandhill cranes in the Southeastern United States (outside Florida) was not in the wildlife refuge but along the shores off the Hiwassee River.

The cranes, along with thousands of ducks, were standing around on the sand bars or feeding along the semi-frozen shoreline.

Hundreds were also feeding in the nearby fields among the cattle — a quite amazing sight really. Not quite the African savanna, but almost. Small flocks of American pipits also fed in the fields, and large flocks of red-winged blackbirds wheeled and landed amongst the unconcerned livestock.

A new visitor center had been built down on the end of Blyth’s Ferry Road honoring the Cherokee removal along the Trail of Tears, which was a peaceful site to spend a little time before heading to the new overlook high on a bluff over the Hiwassee River. The cranes were still distant, so we looked for a closer vantage point on the other side of the river (another part of Blyth’s Ferry Road).

The rest of the late afternoon

Article source: http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20140223/COLUMNISTS/402231002 If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

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Blue Ridge Parkway open through Asheville today

Published in Asheville Attractions, Blue Ridge Parkway on February 19, 2014

After last week’s snowstorm of epic proportions inthe Asheville area, tThe Blue Ridge Parkway was closed for much of its stretch through North Carolina. But with the rapidly warming weather, a short stretch through the Asheville corridor is open today, Tuesday, Feb. 18.

Most of the Blue Ridge Parkway is closed today.

Most of the Blue Ridge Parkway is closed today.

The rest of the parkway, though, in North Carolina is closed for snow, ice, and dangerous road conditions.

The parkway is open at Mileposts 389 at Hendersonville Road/U.S. 25 in South Asheville, through U.S. 74 near the Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center, up to MP 382 at U.S. 70/Tunnel Road at the Folk Art Center, which are both open today. This is where the parkway is closed, though.

In places where the parkway is gated, you can park off to the side, and access the parkway in most places by foot to walk, hike, snowshoe, cross-country ski, walk the dog or bicycle.

For more up to date road information on the parkway, visit www.nps.gov/blri or call the parkway visitor center at 828-298-5330.

Article source: http://blogs2.citizen-times.com/outdoors/2014/02/18/blue-ridge-parkway-open-through-asheville-today/ If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

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