Day 4 started with a stop at the Asheville Welcome Center for a quick look around and to pick up our guide, Madeline, for the city tour. She was very good and very knowledgeable about Asheville. And man could she talk! And talk! And talk! Our first stop on the tour was the St Lawrence Basilica. It was a beautiful church!
This is the front alter.
This however is it's claim to fame. The picture doesn't do it justice but this circular ceiling is unsupported. I tried to get a picture of the outside so you could see how big it actually was but was never in a good spot.
It also had beautiful stained glass windows.
Quite a few. The man who designed the building was buried there. He died rather young and by the time his wife died they had changed the law and no one could be buried on public grounds. Just an interesting side note.
From here we went around downtown Asheville and then to The Grove Inn. It was an enormous building. Lots of famous people have stayed there. We just did a drive by. Next we went to their Farmer's Market. It was pretty neat. Wish I could have brought home some tomatoes and apples. They looked really good. But instead I bought apple butter and T.O.E. Jam. Too funny. Don't think Dan has tried it yet.
We went back downtown and Madeline told us about some places to eat. We decided on Tupelo Honey Cafe and we were not disappointed! They started everyone out with a home made biscuit and honey or jam. Yummo
I ordered grilled steak tip chili and a fresh salad with orange sesame dressing. It was wonderful!. Made our way back to the Arcade where we were to meet the bus.
Some musicians playing outside.
This is the Arcade building. It was beautiful. Click on it so you can really see all the wrought iron work. It was originally built as a mini mall with places for shops and cafes. During WWII it was confiscated by the government and used until about 10 years ago. It is back to little shops and cafes. Lots of North Carolina crafts.
After lunch we headed up the Blue Ridge Parkway. That is a fancy name for a really narrow winedy road to the top of a mountain. It kind of made Connie woosey and I (because of my fear of heights) couldn't look. When we got to the top the view was amazing but then you still have to come back down.
You can see why they are called the Blue Ridge Mountains. There was a blue haze in the distance . Obviously we made it down and to our supper at FATZ.
Again the name was a poser. The food was good but not what I was expecting. Back to the Hotel to get ready to head home tomorrow.
