Category Archives: Asheville Attractions

Seasonlong events

Christmas at Biltmore, through Jan. 12, Biltmore Estate. Regular admission applies until dusk. Additional charge for Candlelight Christmas Evenings, through Jan. 4. Visit www.biltmore.com.

National Gingerbread House Competition, viewing of winners and other entries through Jan. 2, The Omni Grove Park Inn Resort and Spa, 290 Macon Ave., Asheville. Community viewing Sunday-Thursday. Parking $10, with proceeds going to six area charities. Call 800-438-0050, ext. 1281.

Holidays for Hospice. Asheville Mall hosts the CarePartners Garden of Memories. For details on memorial ornaments, visit www.carepartnersfoundation.org. Call 277-4815.

“The Polar Express,” through Dec. 29, Bryson City. Travel through the wilderness to the North Pole on Great Smoky Mountains Railroad. Santa will board the train, greet each child and give children a silver bell as in “The Polar Express.” Times and dates vary. Tickets start at $40 for adults, $26 for ages 2-12. Visit www.gsmr.com or call 800-872-4681.

Shadrack’s Christmas Wonderland light and music show, dusk-10 p.m. through Jan. 1, WNC Ag Center, Fletcher. Drive-thru, synchronized LED light and Christmas show. Santa, children’s activities, food for extra fee. $20 for cars or family vans, $30 van/mini bus/limo, $75 bus.

Article source: http://www.blackmountainnews.com/article/20131224/LIVING/312240032/Christmas-activities-events-more-Asheville-area If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

I first heard one of my now favorite Christmas stories on NPR on Christmas Eve, 10 years ago.

I was driving home from work, and let’s just say I was not in a receptive mood for any nonsense about sweetness and light. Don’t get me wrong, working at the bookstore through the holiday is wonderful – you get to be Santa Claus hour after hour, day after day. But after a month of this, Santa can get tuckered out.

By 6 o’clock this particular Christmas Eve I was dog tired and not at all looking forward to our usual holiday rituals of opening presents and a big family dinner. Like Ebeneezer Scrooge, all I wanted to do was crawl into bed, sleep and be left alone. Looking for some help in staying awake on my 20-minute drive, I turned on the radio.

The man on WUNC had a familiar Southern voice, but I couldn’t quite place it. He was telling a story, in the first person, of a socially awkward loner named Verne who was managing a pet shop in a mall, somewhere along an interstate in North Carolina.

Article source: http://www.thedurhamnews.com/2013/12/23/3482084/books-my-favorite-christmas-tale.html If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

Article source: http://www.wilmingtonbiz.com/entrepreneurs/2013/02/01/michelle_and_zach_richards_franchising_child_care_brand/11212 If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

User Score

Article source: http://www.mountainx.com/article/55083/History-Center-to-sponsor-trip-to-Charlotte-museum If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

SANFORD LIONS CLUB

The Sanford Lions Club celebrated the Christmas season with its annual Christmas Ladies Night Thursday, Dec. 12, with dinner and entertainment at the Lions Fairgrounds. President Richard Holshouser presided while Lion Mike Womble was program chairman.

More than 80 attended the event including club members, spouses and guests. A Christmas tree and festive table decorations including colorful poinsettias and Christmas cactuses brightened the commercial exhibit hall which serves as the Lions’ Den. The food committee prepared a table full of hors d’oeuvres enjoyed during a social period prior to the dinner and program. Tail Twister Bonita Cox set the spirit of the evening with some thoughtful observations on life and the season.

President Holshouser praised the work of Lions Bucky Phillips and Lindsay Jones for organizing the annual Christmas Cheer program for some 30 blind and visually impaired citizens of Lee County. Each recipient gets $100 in gift cards for food and gifts. Club members distribute the cards and are rewarded by the warm spirit of the season during their visits with the blind and visually impaired. Lions who are ill and some who are homebound were remembered with the club being asked to keep them in their prayers. Womble

Article source: http://www.sanfordherald.com/features/x1401024562/Club-News If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

Folkmoot Festival Generates $9.2 million—Organization Releases Results of 2013 Economic Impact Survey

The results of an economic impact study conducted by Tom Tveidt of SYNEVA Economics demonstrate that Folkmoot USA had a $9.2 million impact on Western North Carolina in 2013. The firm conducts economic impact assessments for clients throughout the United States, and has most recently completed studies for UNC Asheville, the Boy Scouts of America’s National Scouting Center, and the Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport. Only overnight and outside day-trip visitors were included in Folkmoot’s study. “By tracking Festival spending as it moves through the local economy, we were able to measure the important role it plays in supporting jobs, adding income and generating tax revenues,” noted Mr. Tveidt.

This news comes at a positive time in the organization’s history. Folkmoot Executive Director Karen Babcock sees a great future for Folkmoot’s cultural exchange activities, “We are thrilled that our efforts to bring the world’s cultures to Western North Carolina have a positive economic impact on communities. The $9.2 million impact has far exceeded all expectations.”

After 30 years of focusing on the annual summer festival, Folkmoot is becoming a more sustainable organization with plans to offer year-round programs. The expanded cultural

Article source: http://www.mountainx.com/article/55049/Economic-impact-study-Folkmoot-Festival-generates-9.2-million If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

Travel volume represents an increase of 48,500 total travelers compared to last year. An estimated 2,559,700, or 90.5 percent of total travelers, plan to drive to their destination. North Carolina travelers are expected to log an average trip of 965 miles from home, a significant increase from 765 miles last year.

Although she has no specific holiday tourism numbers, Beth Carden, executive director of the Hendersonville Visitors Center, said 2013 was “a spectacular year,” for tourism. “From January to October we’ve already had 120,000 people come to our Visitors Center, about 30,000 to 40,000 more than the year before. Many local retailers have told us their business is the best it’s been in years.”

Carden credits increased marketing efforts in major metropolitan areas, including Atlanta and Charleston, for bringing additional visitors to the area.

“We started a winter getaway card program, and we’ve gotten some good response that’s driving traffic between November and March. The getaway program is trying to provide a deal or added value to get people here and have them do their Christmas shopping here and stay overnight, maybe go to a concert, go shopping or have dinner,” she said.

Winter getaway cards are free at the Visitors

Article source: http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20131221/ARTICLES/131229985/1042/news?Title=Holiday-travel-in-NC-expected-to-set-record If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com