Asheville Live Cam

Image via Wikipedia

On your mark, get set, go!

Registration is on for the 12th Annual Asheville Citizen-Times 5k and Half Marathon. Early bird registration runs now through March 31. The race starts and finishes at the Asheville Citizen Times at the historic Grove Arcade on September 18, 2011.

Race Highlights

• The half marathon course winds through downtown Asheville, through historic neighborhoods, great vistas and around  Beaver Lake
• The 5k race goes through downtown Asheville
• Friendly cheering section
• Challenging half marathon course
• 5k course is great for walkers, joggers, and runners
• 12 aid stations
• Music enroute
• Each runner rewarded with  Highland Brewing‘s micro-brews

New for 2011

• The cap for runners is now 1,750
• Race Expo at a new location on Thursday and Friday of race week. 
• Can’t pick up your packet before the race? For $20, you can have your bib and shirt mailed to you. 
• Bag drop near the Start/Finish line
• Post-race food will offer healthy choices 

The 2011 races are presented in partnership with Mission Health System. Proceeds benefit the Youths Fit for Life and Energize programs of the YMCA and YWCA of Western North Carolina. In 2010, $40,000 was donated to these programs to help children who are overweight and their families to develop healthier lifestyles.

Asheville is a laid back mecca for those in search of the arts, spirituality, fabulous, boutique shopping, hiking, biking, and world class spas. In fact, it seems like everyone is talking about Asheville.

According to WikiTravel

• Often referred to as the Paris of the South or the San Francisco of the East
• Money Magazine calls Asheville on of the best places to retire
• AARP says Asheville is one of the best places to reinvent your life
• Rolling Stone has chosen Asheville as the New Freak Capital
• PETA recommends Asheville as the Best Vegetarian Friendly City
• Author Lee Pantas describes Asheville as “A city not easily forgotten once visited.”
• AmericanStyle has named Asheville the Top Small City for the Arts

Between the kid and community spaces, like center of the city Splashville and the Blue Ridge Parkway, to outdoor pursuits on the Blue Ridge Parkway, which slices through the edge of town, connecting South Asheville with East Asheville, to a plethora of restaurants, taverns, bars, and entertainment venues, Asheville is a small city brimming over with big city amenities.

Lively conversations mix between new age hippies and college intellectuals at downtown cafes. UNCA, Montreat College, Mars Hill College, and AB Tech create a cauldron for ideas.

What’s your favorite part of Asheville? Did we miss it? Let us know, and we might include it in another blog.

The Biltmore House is a wonderful escape from the busyness of day to day life, whether your visiting from Asheville or Anchorage. On cold days, America’s largest private residence is a warm haven. Spring days afford visitors with a chance to wander the gardens and explore the trails, as long as tour the home.

A visit to the Biltmore House just got better- by half. Book your tickets online 7 days in advance of your visit, and an adult ticket is $29. Children under 16 get in free. Hurry, this special expires March 31.

Upcoming and Current Events

• Winter at Biltmore- enjoy off season rates
• Now- March 31
• Orchid Display
• Now-March
• Visit the Conservatory Room where 70 orchids are in full bloom.
• Festival of Flowers
• The Gardens designed by Frederick Law Olmsted are bursting with color. Tulips and azaleas are the stars of the magnificent gardens.
• April 2-May 15
• Tiffany at Biltmore
• See iconic Tiffany Lamps in this exhibit organized by The Neustadt Collection of Tiffany Glass in New York City. The Biltmore House celebrates the visit with Tiffany touches in the gardens.
• July 1- October 23
• Biltmore Outdoor Concert Series
• Enjoy soon to be announced outdoor performances rain or shine. Watch this space for the line up of Outdoor Concerts.
• July-September

Visit www.biltmore.com for special rates and to plan your trip.

Image via Wikipedia

This year, 1000 Asheville residents will hear, “You have cancer.”  The creative folks at Cupcakes for Cures are raising funds for the American Cancer Society’s research for cures. For a suggested donation of $25, you can get a ticket for the event with 10 cupcake coupons. One coupon is worth a mini cupcake, and 2 coupons are worth a regular sized cupcake. Take home boxes will be available!

From Cupcakes for Cures:

Cupcakes for Cureswas started by two couples in Asheville as our Relay for Life team. Relay For Life is the American Cancer Society’s signature event to celebrate survivorship and raise money for research and programs in the fight against cancer. It represents the hope that those lost to cancer will never be forgotten, that those who face cancer will be supported, and that one day cancer will be eliminated. After you enjoy Cupcakes For Cures on March 26th, 2011 at the Grove Park Inn, we also invite you to join us at the Relay For Life of Asheville on June 3 at Reynolds High School. You might even get another chance to eat your favorite cupcake.

Tickets are available now. Don’t miss out on the sugary goodness!

Event Information:

The event will be held

• At the Grove Park Inn
• Saturday, March 26
• From 1:00 to 3:00 PM

The event is sponsored by the Grove Park Inn and Spa, Bake it Pretty, Sophie Magazine, and the French Broad Chocolate Lounge.

Image by Peachy Tex via Flickr

In a list of Top 10 Best Green Restaurants in the country, Asheville’s very own Tupelo Honey Cafe rounded out the list. The combination of food with flair and using Farm to Table local ingredients made Tupelo Honey Cafe a favorite with the Treehugger.com crowd.

Tupelo Honey Cafein downtown Asheville, North Carolina, offers a fresh take on Southern cuisine. The restaurant also sells a cookbook that benefits Manna FoodBank and the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project.

“Wonderful service, too,” adds readers Stephanie Sanders-Cunningham.

Tupelo Honey Cafe has two locations, the downtown location on Prichard Park at 12 College Street offers great people watching. The new location at 1829 Hendersonville Road is a newly built location designed with the same charm- decorated with screen doors and hanging windows.

The food is delicious and creative, a wonderful place to bring out of town guests. I recently had my best friend in from the Outer Banks. I knew I had to take her somewhere great, because she and her husband own the Kill Devil Grill in the Outer Banks. Her husband is the fabulous chef who is constantly on the look out for new variations on Southern favorites. Their food is over the top scrumptious and well priced.

Problems? There were plenty. First- What to order? She finally narrowed it down to 5 dishes, filling her side of the table and mind with dishes, like a Chinese restaurant where you share meals. She moved from bites of the heavenly biscuits with blueberry jam to salad to cornbread to chicken to grilled cheese sandwich, delighted with each dish. The second problem was what to finish and what to bring home. We had plenty of left-overs for the rest of the week.

I’ve tried both locations, each quite a few times, and my favorite is the downtown location. When a friend told me he had tried the new location and didn’t think the food tasted the same, I didn’t believe him. But after numerous comparisons, I have to say it’s true. The food is just a little bit better at the College Street location. Maybe, as my friend theorized, it’s the age of the grill. But what the new location has is more tables and the friendliest staff in all of Asheville. Try both and see what you think.

Image by anoldent via Flickr

After Hours Cabaret at the Diana Wortham

The benefit for ArtSpace Charter School in Swannanoa has something for everyone. The evening’s entertainment includes Grammy Award winning folk musicians All Petteway and Amy White, West African drumming and dancing by BoomChix, and the Swayback Sisters, Asheville’s own all female singing groups.

Kate Steinbeck and David Novak bring flute and storytelling. Claire Dima heats up the stage with bellydancing. Tongue and Groove brings jazz styling and folk music.

Improv. fans will enjoy comedy with Mondy Carter and Karen Stobbe. Mark Guest will delight with jazz guitar. Americana folk is performed by the Porch Dragons.

The benefit for ArtSpace, a charter school in Swannanoa focusing on integrating the arts with every subject, will have a cash bar with a selection of wines from the Wine Studio. Local breweries are donating beer.

In addition to fine entertainment, peruse the many items available at the Silent Auction, and maybe place a bid.  

ArtSpace Charter School is a tuition-free public school offering a creative, arts-integrated approach to a complete education.

The school offers a complete education through integrated curricula based on the visual and performing arts, utilizing an experiential approach. We believe in a family oriented, cooperative approach to education that encourages parental involvement and community relationships to nurture responsive citizenship.

Doors open at 6:00 PM on February 18. Performances begin at 7:00 PM.

Ticket prices are $20, and include food.   

Contact ArtSpace Charter School: (828) 298-2787 or Diana Wortham Theatre: (828) 257-4350

Location

Diana Wortham Theatre
2 S. Pack Square
Asheville , NC 28801