Our Blog "A Local's Perspective"

Its many a year since the first ground was broken in Biltmore Park. Some still remember when this place was nothing but pastureland and scrub. No longer. Now, here in South Asheville, we’ve got one of the finest shopping and dining centers in town, combining downtown-style quality with easy parking and a quieter, less bustling tone. Over my many articles, I know I have touched on Biltmore Park, here and there. Sitting only ten minutes away from the luxurious Asheville Cottag

Many visit Asheville intending to spend most of their time hiking the Blue Ridge , drinking up that invigorating mountain air like landbound trout. And I’m all for some hiking , or kayaking, (even some bivouacking, perhaps) but no visit to Asheville is complete without a tour of our thriving downtown. Chock-full of awesome restaurants, and stylin’ cafes, there’s always a lot going on downtown. But somehow it still retains some of that sleepy, relaxed small-town feel.

Every time I bring up shopping , I feel obligated to preface with something along the lines of “Now I’m not much of a shopper but…” And yet, the fact is I’ve come back to the subject time and again. I’ve done my fieldwork. So now I wonder: maybe I am much of a shopper. Maybe my impulse to denigrate this subject is merely an instinct born from long boyhood hours of waiting around department stores, bored and baffled by the intricacies of modern commerce. But those days are l

Those who know me know I ain’t much of a shopper. Looking, browsing, wandering; all fine. But most of the time, it’d take a wedge and hammer to separate me from my hard won cash.  Now thrifting is an exception. Nothing springs me out of my anti-consumerist fugue faster than some vintage merchandise, gently used furniture, and a price tag that says, “Fifty percent off.”  What can I say? I got an eye for a deal. And in search of these deals, I’ve crisscrossed the whole of Ashev