Beyond the pale On Saturday, June 16, arts patrons painted the town (downtown Asheville, that is) white in honor of the Asheville Area Arts Council’s White Ball fundraiser. Lavish parties, eclectic entertainment and food and drink from area restaurants added to the atmosphere but the evening was really about turning out in the best snowy-hued … Read more
Sit on the banks of a healthy trout stream for several minutes and you’ll start to see an entire world. In one cold pool of water the size of a pickup-truck bed, you can watch life begin and end as thousands of insects from dozens of different species hatch, mate and die. Fish battle the … Read more
During most of Homo sapiens’ time on earth, things didn’t change that fast. Thomas Jefferson, a quintessential man of the Enlightenment, rode to his 1802 presidential inaugural on a horse—the same transportation technology in use for the previous 2,500 years. Outstanding in his field: The author rearranged his thinking when he returned to his former … Read more
The Grove Park Inn recently held a series of gala events to introduce its new branded wines: a crisp, oak-free 2005 chardonnay and a richly berried 2004 cabernet sauvignon, developed by Grove Park in partnership with master winemaker Kerry Damskey of Sonoma County. Speaking at a dinner last Friday night, Damskey took pains to distinguish … Read more
Flavor: Erratic interpretation of all-American fare Ambiance: Family-friendly casual dining When places like Harvest, the restaurant which opened earlier this year in the Eastwood Village space vacated by Trillium Bistro, are touting their copper-penny carrots, it’s clear that local (or at least local-sounding) foods are having a moment. The tailgate market—and the chi-chi supermarkets that … Read more
Land sakes: The nonprofit Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy has done its part to preserve open space and rein in sprawl since 1994, work that’s added up to a very considerable 16,200 of protected acres in these parts. This year, the organization is teaming up with Diamond Brand Outdoors to offer a $20 gift card to … Read more
Set your soul free: It’s time to get back to the land by way of the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association’s 12th annual Mountain Farm and Garden Tour. Twenty-five local farms in Madison, Yancey, Buncombe, Haywood and Henderson counties are participating this time around. The goal of the event is to increase awareness and support for … Read more
What would have happened if Inman had lived? If you saw the movie Cold Mountain or read Charles Frazier’s book, you probably asked this question. Inman was the wounded Confederate soldier who left a military hospital in Raleigh, walked across the state to his mountain home and his beloved Ada, only to have his life … Read more
The city of Asheville should pull the plug on plans to build a National Guard armory in Richmond Hill Park. It’s becoming increasingly clear that this is simply the wrong place to put such a facility. The land given to the National Guard in exchange for grading work includes several hundred feet of Smith Creek, … Read more
I would like to point out several inaccuracies in the article “Council Considers Partisan Elections, Steps Back from Steep Slopes” by Brian Postelle [“Just the Facts,” May 16]. The article stated: “Trying to better illustrate what the slopes in question look like, Carroll trotted out landscape designer Martin Kocott, who, bearing a tape measure and … Read more
