Category Archives: Asheville Attractions

Sarah Palin signs books Dec. 6 at the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte. (Billy Graham Evangelistic Association)

CHARLOTTE – Merry Christmas spoken here.

That could have been the slogan at Sarah Palin’s book-signing on Friday at the Billy Graham Library. As she greeted admirers, surrounded by the lights, trees and decorations, her message came across loud and clear.

“She’s gorgeous,” someone said, after she appeared to loud applause from the crowd. And she was, dressed in black pants and a black patterned lace top – glasses on, hair up and pen ready.

Many of those waiting in line wore a pin that read “It’s OK to Wish Me a Merry Christmas,” carrying through the theme of Palin’s book “Good Tidings and Great Joy: Protecting the Heart of Christmas,” which sees the freedom to express the Christian values of the season under siege.

While some, including me, may believe stampede-triggering Thanksgiving Day sales more of a threat to those values than an innocently expressed greeting of “Happy Holidays,” the latter is indeed a problem, according to some in Friday’s enthusiastic crowd. (There were 68 cars

Article source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/wp/2013/12/09/why-sarah-palin-is-here-to-stay/ If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

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Originally published: December 9, 2013 2:24 PM
Updated: December 9, 2013 2:49 PM

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Photo credit: AP | The Biltmore in Asheville, N.C., features holiday displays through Jan. 12.

Article source: http://www.newsday.com/travel/notable-holiday-events-across-the-u-s-1.6570734 If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

CAPE TOWN, South Africa – Some remembered his kindnesses; others reminisced about his charity.

And at a special session of Parliament today, dedicated to paying tribute to the country’s first democratically elected president, all praised Nelson Mandela for his sacrifice, wisdom and humility.

“In a modern sense of an old-fashioned word, he was a saint,” said Kgalema Motlanthe, South Africa’s deputy president. He said that it’s important that the Mandela experience does not “fizzle out,” but “rather become the turning point for social change.”

Public capacity was reached before the ceremonies began. In one overflow room, people danced and sang songs from the struggle against apartheid.

Many wore somber Western-style suits or formal African dress. Yellow T-shirts from the African National Congress (ANC), Mandela’s party, were also popular.

A large number of women covered their heads with hats or scarves, representing traditions for both married Xhosa women and Western mourning customs.

“The icon of the world has gone to join his ancestors,” said Thandi Modise, premier of the North West Province, which was met with wide applause.

Numerous prominent Americans, including Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, Martin Luther King Jr., and Coretta Scott King were quoted by the leaders of South Africa’s government.

In addition to the large

Article source: http://www.citizen-times.com/usatoday/article/3925597 If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

MCADENVILLE — Back in August, a six-man crew began untangling the string of half a million Christmas lights, a web of twinkles and glimmers big enough to blanket the town in red, green and gold.

They tested every bulb, tossing out the duds.

They climbed into cherry-picker trucks and draped the strands over 375 trees, some of them 40 feet tall.

They worked three months to transform McAdenville into a yuletide version of the Las Vegas strip, a glittery attraction that draws 600,000 people a year, creating the world’s most festive traffic jam.

Then they threw the big switch.

“It’s just like a Maine Christmas!” raved Floyd Smith, a 68-year-old grandfather who traveled 900 miles for the sight. “Merry Christmas from a Yankee.”

With a population of just 651, this tiny town west of Charlotte manages to lure families in a mile-long line of cars, even on a Tuesday night, their children waving out of sun roofs and passenger windows.

In 2011, Yahoo.com ranked McAdenville No. 7 on its list of best Christmas light displays nationwide, putting the Gaston County mill town just behind New York, Walt Disney World and Branson, Mo.

No one

Article source: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/12/08/3445184/mcadenville-christmas-town-usa.html If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 7, Porter Center for Performing Arts at Brevard College. Free admission. 884-8211.

Today

Biltmore Village Dickens Festival, 1-5 p.m., Dec. 8, Biltmore Village. With musicians, choral groups, singers, dancers and Montford Park Players. With more than 300 roving performers, carriage rides, roasting chestnuts, more. Call 274-8788 or visit www.historicbiltmorevillage.com.

Hendersonville Community Band Christmas Concert, 3 p.m., Dec. 8. At Blue Ridge Community College Conference Hall in Flat Rock. Adults $10, students free. Call 696-2118.

“Sounds of the Season,” 3-5 p.m., Dec. 8, Bardo Arts Center at Western Carolina University, Cullowhee. Call 227-2479 or visit www.wcu.edu/bardoartscenter/.

UNC Asheville holiday concert, 4 p.m., Dec. 8, Lipinsky Hall Auditorium. Call 251-6432 or visit www.unca.edu.

Laurel Park Tree Lighting, 5:30 p.m., Dec. 8 at Laurel Green Park, corner of White Pine and Laurel Highway.

Tuesday Dec. 10

Blue Ridge Ringers concert, noon, Dec. 10, Transylvania County Library, South Gaston Street, Brevard.

Lighting of the Green, 6-8 p.m., Dec. 10. A-B Tech campus, Asheville. Tour Fernihurst, an 1870s mansion on campus, and Sunnicrest, once a rental cottage of

Article source: http://www.blackmountainnews.com/article/20131208/LIVING/312080030/-Asheville-area-holiday-calendar If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

SOWETO, South Africa â?? Thousands of South Africans came to this storied township on Sunday to celebrate the life of Nelson Mandela with loud, raucous parades and festivities outside the small red brick home where as a young lawyer he organized the fight against white rule.

With Mandela’s passing, Vilakazi Street in this overwhelmingly black township that is home to more than 1.2 million people became a magnet for South Africans on the official day of mourning declared by the government.

Families of local residents, and those who once lived in Soweto and return to renew ancestral ties, crowded in front of the home amid a circus-like atmosphere. Crowds grew larger as the day wore on and by afternoon cars jammed roads leading up a hill that was blocked to all but a few vehicles.

Papallo Molefe, 10, came from Pretoria with his mother, father and sisters to the neighborhood where they once lived and provided an eloquent explanation for how deeply Mandela remains in hearts here.

“He fought apartheid and he fought for our freedom and he made a big change in the world,” Papallo said when asked what the late leader means to him.

His mother, Queen Molefe, said she and her

Article source: http://www.citizen-times.com/usatoday/article/3908477 If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

Strolling along Ithaca Commons in upstate New York is a crash course in College Town, U.S.A. Spitting distance from both Cornell and Ithaca College, the four-block pedestrian area buzzes with vendors, cafés, festivals, and, of course, students around every bend.

But venture beyond, and there’s another Ithaca to be discovered, including one of the most intriguing wine regions in the country. Sure, big cities have their glitz, but it’s this kind of understated charm, diversity, and affordability that draws visitors to cool college towns.

For our first America’s Favorite Towns survey, we asked T+L fans and followers to post nominations on social media with the hashtag #TLTowns — and then to vote for the 744 towns in 55 categories. Ithaca and other popular college towns scored highly in categories like coffee, bars, and quirkiness (ahem, Asheville, N.C.), while Burlington, Vt., rose to the head of the class as the No. 1 college town.

But it’s not just East Coast college towns that made our list. San Luis Obispo, Calif., and Flagstaff, Ariz., also won over the T+L community. Read on to find out why these and others made the top 20 list.

–Beth Collins

More from

Article source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/travel-leisure/americas-best-college-tow_b_4393083.html If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com