Why do the short hair lady, and older short haired lady yelling when their right next to each…read moreother. Just sooo loud for no reason

This is the library I use all the time! It is amazing! Everyone is super friendly and very helpful!…read moreGreat selection! Easy to get in and out of. I am unsure why they have two lower ratings... But this is a great library!

Sorry, but this is a review for the library's parking lot when all of the other parking garages…read morewere full on a busy Saturday in downtown AVL. According to the sign, there were six spaces left and we luckily snagged one. When we came back, we entered through the library, used the bathrooms, and our car was on the same floor. It took a bit longer to leave as a truck was blocking one of the exits.

The main branch of the Buncombe County library system, this is in downtown Asheville. Lots of…read moreseating, a fast free wifi and loads of books. Some of the tables have power outlets nearby. This was a great spot to get a brief peaceful rest and browse before continuing on to explore Asheville. Absolutely check out the used bookstore. Cheap, cheap, cheap! [Review 12704 overall, 16 of 2020.]

Excellent thing to see if you are into history. Or literature, or writers, or books. The museum is…read moreall about Thomas Wolfe and his life. Sit through the 22 minute video, it explains a lot. Lots of things to see and learn about here. They saw all of his books, and some other paraphernalia. You can do the House tour as well for a small fee. We opted out of that, but walked around the outside of the house instead. Very pretty old antebellum style house. I recommend this stop if you are in Asheville.

This was a Sunday and we didn't check the hours beforehand, but it was not open. It was during the…read moreshutdown, but very disappointed. The OPEN sign was in the door and we walked over and waited to see if staff had just left momentarily. They had not.

We enjoyed walking around the Visitor Center, learning more about Zebulon Vance and the area. We…read morealso enjoyed looking at the buildings on the grounds. Very nice historic site!

The Vance Birthplace is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Weaverville, NC. Admission to the…read moremuseum is free. With Covid, masks are required and the front entrance is closed. You enter through the back of the visitor's center. I did not know much about Vance before coming to his birthplace. I was familiar with Vance County and monument in Downtown Asheville and schools named after him. I wasn't aware that Vance was a NC Governor or in the US Senate just his white supremacy. I still have a difficult time figuring out why all these places were named after a man filled with hatred. The museum did do a great job of telling the history of both Vance and the enslaved people. The Vance family moved to the property once home to the Cherokees. The enslaved put in the labor for the Buncombe Turnpike and farm. The Vance family owned 18 slaves and Zebulon Vance owned 6 of them. Outside shows how life would be on the plantation.

It breaks my heart to still see this area recovering from the devastation of hurricane Helene. Many…read morebusinesses are already open and back in business while some store fronts are still working to recover. The area has so much charm and I'm looking forward to getting to visit again once everything is open again.

This "charming" area is located just outside and across the steet from the famous Biltmore Estate…read more This "village" was originally constructed to house the artisas, craftsman and builders whoe were working on the Biltmore Estate. Many of the buildings in Biltomre Village dae back to the days when Biltmore was being constructed. Today, the buildings house a varity of high-end retail shops with a spattering of unique craft and artisan shops. THe area also includes a variety of dining options. There is limited signage that explains the historic signifance of any of the building and littel evidence to connet to past with the present. IMHO, thi is a fancye, high-end retail complex that just happens to be housed in some old (poosbly hostroic) buildings.

Very pretty little Welcome Center with loads of free brochures, coupon books, and local attractions…read morebooklets. Clean bathrooms, plenty of green space across the street for pets. Nice picnic areas with both covered and uncovered seating.

Friendly employees, clean bathrooms and concessions. Great stopping place in an area where there…read moreare few options.

Trolley day hop on & night ghost tour tickets and board here! So excited to go 7 stops all around…read moreand I got the scoop on rooftop bars and sunset watching spots! On my way to iron district, river side, pack square etc

When I searched for a visitors center in Ashevile, NC., I kept coming up blank. I eventually…read morestumbled on the Asheville CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND VISITORS CENTER. So, if you're like me and can't find the visitors center - try searching for the Chamber of Commerce's site. _________ This is a large, well-staffed visitors center - catering not only to Asheville but to all of North Carolina. There is a large, FREE parking lot where you can leave your car for the day while taking a trolley tour of Asheville. The center has tons of travel literature and can assist with hotel/motel bookings and other travel stuff. There is also the requisite gift shops which does offer some uniquely North Carolina products. The staff was very pleasant and quite helpful. The parking was FREE and We caught the Grey Line "hop-on / hop-off" trolley here. Great place to start any visit to the Asheville area.

Do you like GHOST STORIES and tales of haunted places? Then Helen's Bridge will be of interest to…read moreyou. Also known as Zealandia Bridge, it was constructed in 1909 as a roadway to Zealandia Estate, where there is (or once was) a mansion that looks like a castle. According to Urban Legend, a woman by the name of Helen who lived near the mansion hung herself from the bridge after her daughter died in a fire. The same designer of the bridge (R.S. Smith) also worked on the design of Biltmore Estate and Kanuga Lake Club, now know as Kanuga Conference Center near Hendersonville, NC. Kanuga is a Cherokee name thought to mean "gathering place". He also designed the Henderson & Swain County courthouses. ~ THE EXPERIENCE & LEGEND We learned about this bridge from our hotels front desk staff, whom also used to be a ghost hunter. She said there are stories of people having mysterious handprints on their cars if they parked near the bridge overnight. Some even say their car wouldn't start or the locks wouldn't work. She said some have even seen the distressed ghost asking passers-by if they've seen her daughter. INTRIGUED, I searched for more of the story and found several. Here is the one I liked best: Helen was single mother in her mid-40's when a fire broke out while cooking. She ran upstairs to get her newborn daughter but was overwhelmed by smoke and fainted. The baby and Helen were rescued by fire fighters, however, the baby could not be resuscitated. Helen, drowning in grief, wandered into the woods where she found the bridge and committed suicide by hanging herself. She remains attached to the bridge to this day not wanting to leave her daughter. Another report says she was the mistress of the mansions owner and decided to kill herself when she discovered she was pregnant with his child. In any case it could not have been the original owner John E. Brown, since he died 14 years before the bridge was built. Near the top of the bridge there is niche in an outcrop of stone that has a few figurines places in it. Our hotel staff member said it was placed there after a car accident death OR maybe Helen is still trying to find her daughter. Whatever you choose to believe, the aging bridge and its legend still stand after more than 109 years. ~ HISTORY Zealandia Castle was built by John Evans Brown in 1889. John inherited the land from his father whom died in 1884. John was living in New Zealand at the time in an area he helped establish called Swannanoa, which he named after the Swannanoa Valley in North Carolina where his father lived. John left North Carolina in 1849 at age 22 to head out West during the days of the Gold Rush. He eventually migrated to New Zealand where he became a gold miner, farmer and a member of Parliament. Tragedy claimed his eldest and youngest sons, first wife and then his father back in the United States. After returning with his new wife he discovered isinglass on his newly inherited land. It was a popular mineral at the time used in making a variety of heating items such as stoves, lanterns and carriages, and made him even wealthier! He died in 1895 at 68 years of age. The castles new owner, Philip S. Henry, added to its size in 1908 making it a 62 room home, but it was reduced to 28 rooms in the 1950's after demolition of the original John E. Brown structure. Much of Mr. Henry's art collection was featured in the very first Art Museum of Asheville established in 1948. If you are a fan if the movie THE LONGEST RIDE (written by the author of The Notebook), then you no doubt remember the Black Mountain College art featured in the movie. THIS was that art! ~ FINAL THOUGHTS To an unsuspecting passerby it's just an old unused bridge. But it has so much more intricate history than that! Now you also know why there is a New Zealand town named after North Carolina, and a North Carolina estate named after New Zealand! Isn't history fascinating? 2018/68

I love a good ghost story or a haunted place! Do you? If…read moreyou're anything like me you'll love this bridge. Urban Legend says that a woman by the name of helen hung herself from this bridge after her daughter died in a fire. She lived in a mansion near by. All I can say is the feeling I got at this bridge felt .... heavy. Like hard to breathe. Definitely one of the creepiest feelings I've ever felt. You come around a corner and there's a deserted area right by the bridge that you can park at. Don't park on the street it's on a curve and people might not see your car turning. I crossed the bridge and cut through some of the bushes .. through the fence you can see a portion of the mansion that she lived in and you can still see the burns from the fire on it!