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[NickNack]

@ECBG   I'm always interested when you post about the Craft Fair in Asheville.  I would love to go this summer and have been Googling information about it.

Is the one that you like called the Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands?  I've posted an excerpt of what I've found below.  I am interested in going in July and would probably only attend one day.

I'm also interested in doing a restaurant tour and would like to stay somewhere that's not too inconvenient for both.  The Grove Park Inn is more than I want to spend, but I do want somewhere nice.  I will be going with my sister.  Do you have any recommendations?

I would really appreciate your input.  Thank you very much.

From the Romantic Asheville Website

July 21-24 & October 13-16, 2022

Don't miss our favorite craft show of the year, celebrating 74 years in 2022! Every exhibitor is the artist (no salespersons selling someone else's art), and these artists are the finest in the South! For four days each July and October, the Harrah's Cherokee Center in downtown Asheville (formally the U.S. Cellular Center) comes alive with fine traditional and contemporary crafts. The Fairs showcase the work of members of the Southern Highland Craft Guild and feature craft demonstrations, regional music, and entertainment.

Wear comfortable walking shoes! More than 200 craftspeople fill the two levels of the Civic Center selling their works of clay, fiber, glass, leather, metal, mixed media, natural materials, paper, wood and jewelry. As members of the Southern Highland Craft Guild, the exhibiting artists have passed a rigorous jury process to become a part of the organization. Membership is open to artists who live in the mountain counties of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, the Carolinas, Tennessee, and the Virginias.

[ECBG]

@NickNack 

I would suggest you go on the first day of the fair so you can go back, or you can get your hand stamped, go to one of the 3? cafes within a block of the civic center.

Grove Park Inn, where we hid German generals during the Wold Wars, is a master example of the Arts and Crafts movement.  You could go there and have lunch on the massive front porch and tour the first floor with the walk in fireplace.  Good Morning America always featured the Christmas Gingerbread Competition from there. 

For the rest of the afternoon, I would suggest you shop Biltmore Village and the Antique Barn on River Road a street  north of the Biltmore McDonalds which had to be built to blend in with Biltmore.

I suggest you leave a day for Biltmore House and pay for the head set so you will know what you are looking at.  The fireplace surround in the upstairs Breakfast room is Wedgewood tiles.

If you have any time left, I would suggest Chimney Rock Park where Last Of The Mohican's was filmed with Daniel Day Lewis and Madeline Stowe.

I would want to stay in a hotel in Biltmore where you are central to everything except the Chimney Rock Park.

There is a Doubletree Hilton, Holiday Inn and Suites,  and Courtyard by Marriott all together within walking distance of Biltmore Village.  I would ask to stay away from the road.

You do need to drive onto Biltmore House grounds and I would suggest you get tickets ahead of time.  During heavy house traffic, entry to the house is timed.

Let me know if I can be of any more help.

[NickNack]

@ECBG  Thank you so much!  I'm going to copy this and keep it in my notes.  I've probably been to Biltmore three or four times, even at Christmas, which was beautiful.  I doubt I'll go there again.  I've also been when the gardens are in bloom and so gorgeous.  I'm in East TN so it's not that far.  It's been a long time since I've been to Asheville though.

I will definitely try to do everything else you suggested.  Lunch at Grove Park Inn sounds very nice.  I really appreciate your suggestions.

[ECBG]

@NickNack 

OH!  Then you have probably been to Biltmore for the unbelieveable "Festival Of Flowers"!  I always timed the visits of my Interior Design students so they would get that little extra bit of design!

If you come, I'd like to meet you for lunch if you have time.