Category Archives: Asheville Attractions

“These brewmasters are local and they’re making beers that taste good with the foods they eat, crawfish and oysters and cochon du lait. That’s the difference between Louisiana craft beer and the very good craft beer from Oregon or Boston for somewhere.”
Jay ducote, “Bite Booze” blogger

Beer and boudin proves a popular combination, says Ben Berthelot, who as head of the Lafayette tourism commission is charged with entertaining an increasing number of visiting food and travel writers to Acadiana.

New Orleans is the draw, what people come to Louisiana to see, Berthelot says, like what the Eiffel Tower or Louvre are for France. But food and travel shows are expanding their search for the colorful.

“We needed something unique. So we started driving them to some spots on the boudin trail and stopped by one of our breweries,” said Berthelot, president of the Lafayette Convention and Visitors Commission said. “It seemed a natural fit. And they like it.”

Busloads of tourists from Europe show up unannounced at local breweries. They arrive at places such as Bayou Teche Brewing in Arnaudville and Abita Brewing Co. in Abita Springs, looking to be shown around, maybe get a free sample, says Berthelot,

Article source: http://theadvocate.com/home/7130551-125/state-launches-craft-brewery-trail If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

Chances are you’ve never heard of Mr. Moon.

Which is a shame, because Mr. Moon is a golden god – in the realm of sports mascots, anyway, which is a group as eclectic as the contestants in a Miss America pageant. The difference is that, being a generally higher-I.Q. bunch, the mascots would likely be able to cobble together more coherent proposals for world peace.

The Asheville Tourists, a single-A  baseball team in North Carolina, are lucky enough to call Mr. Moon their own. His head looks more or less the way you would expect it to – it’s a giant moon, of course – with a vaguely creepy, sexual predator-type smile, and a blue cap cocked jauntily askew somewhere atop the Sea of Tranquility.

That a team called the Tourists boasts a giant moon-headed freak for a mascot doesn’t make a whole lot of sense; the moon has never been a tourist, and if it ever becomes one, then humanity’s days are probably numbered. In that event, you can be assured of three things: families will embrace each other sorrowfully on their front lawns as they gather to watch the collision; kooky religious groups will drink lots of Kool-Aid while wearing funny

Article source: http://www.journaltribune.com/articles/2013/09/21/columnist/doc523c569e06263745760570.txt If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

This weekend has gone to the dogs in Asheville!

On Saturday, Sept. 21 (yes, I am biased about this one) the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area will host Play Along the Parkway Day as part of the parkway Heritage Weekend.

I will meet with people and their dogs at 9 a.m. on Saturday for a short hike along the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, starting at the Parkway Visitor Center. This is the building at Milepost 384, near the intersection with U.S. 74 A (it’s 2 miles south of the Folk Art Center).

This is free! And the Asheville Humane Society’s Hiking Hounds will be there, too, so you can meet a potential new family member! Click here for today’s story:

Then on Sunday, Sept. 22, is the second annual Dog Day Afternoon Festival at Carrier Park on Amboy Road in Asheville to celebrate all things canine, and support local dog rescue organizations. 

The Asheville Humane Society and Brother Wolf Animal Rescue will be in attendance with large adoption areas showcasing dogs ready for adoption in hopes of matching these would-be pets with a loving foster or forever home. 

The event starts at 11:30

Article source: http://blogs2.citizen-times.com/outdoors/2013/09/20/get-the-dogs-out-in-asheville/ If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

A century after Flagstaff’s downtown merchants lived in apartments over their stores, mixed-use development is returning to the city in a big way.

A 23,550 square-foot REI store selling recreational equipment will be located at Aspen Place at the Sawmill at the corner of Lone Tree Road and Butler Avenue. Part of the latest phase of development at the shopping center, the store will be near downtown Flagstaff and Northern Arizona University.

Above it will be built 222 luxury apartments. And on either side will be 35,000 more square feet of retail space.

REI alone promises to hire 50 people, but at least one local sporting equipment retailer questions the need for another national chain store in Flagstaff.

$2 BILLION RETAIL CO-OP

According to Elaine Averitt, planning development manager for the city of Flagstaff, the site plan on the 1.43-acre site was approved on May 30 and construction began in August.

REI will be joining Cultured, Pita Jungle, and Some Burros as part of Phoenix-based RED Development’s efforts to make Aspen Place at the Sawmill a “lively and comfortable shopping and dining experience that complements the northern Arizona lifestyle.”

“We’re confident in creating a balanced mix of local and national retailers to serve the needs of the

Article source: http://azdailysun.com/news/local/rei-and-more/article_bfe0a1c0-21c4-11e3-9940-001a4bcf887a.html If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

Next Tuesday, Sept. 24, Asheville City Council will consider an overhaul of the city’s agricultural ordinances to allow for growing more food in more places. Council will also contemplate making official inquiries into partnering with private organizations to find an event to replace Bele Chere.

The overhaul of the city’s agricultural rules is part of an ongoing process, pushed especially over the last few years by the Asheville-Buncombe Food Policy Council, to try to create more opportunities for Ashevilleans in various neighborhoods to grow or buy their own fresh food. In 2009, city government relaxed rules on keeping some animals, including chickens and bees, within city limits. Last year, Council increased the number of places allowed to hold fresh food markets.

The new rules would allow urban agriculture across the city, while setting restrictions on the size of storage or other related structures as well as urban farmers opening market stalls or similar businesses.

Council will also consider inquiring about possible partners for a late July event to replace the recently-departed Bele Chere. As

Article source: http://www.mountainx.com/article/52892/Asheville-City-Council-preview-Of-food-and-festivals If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

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Article source: http://www.citizen-times.com/usatoday/article/2837303 If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com