Travel Thursday: Asheville

A little bit of downtown Asheville

What is it about Asheville that gets me so much, to the point where my wife and I try to make sure we visit every time we go to North Carolina?

The best word I can come up with to describe the city is "cool." It's a very nice-looking city, especially in the downtown. It's weird and artsy and funky. And even though they weren't they the first couple times we went to visit, my wife and I even have cool friends there now.

But there are plenty of cool places. For beauty, it's hard to beat Vancouver. Weird, artsy and funky ... have you ever been to Austin, Texas ... or Provincetown, MA, for that matter? And even if that's not your style, it's hard not to get caught up in the seemingly endless party that's New Orleans or London.

So what is it, exactly?

I wouldn't call myself a "pork dork," but ... yum!

Asheville is a couple hours west of Charlotte, about four hours west of Raleigh, not quite a couple hours east of Pigeon Forge, TN (think Dollywood) or Knoxville. But it's not really near any of them, or seemingly much of anything else.

Instead, it's splendidly isolated, an oasis of awesome in the mountains. Not only does it seem like it's not near anything, I've never felt a need to be anywhere else when I'm there, even the time my wife and I were looking for a store and the best thing on the radio was John Tesh's radio show.

Maybe it's the classic nice place to visit where I wouldn't be able to live, but being there and walking around and taking in the atmosphere after dropping off the rest of the world at the foot of the mountains seems so ...

... cool.