Asheville Explorer's Guide App

If you are planning a trip to Asheville whether you stay at Treetop Mountain Vista or somewhere else, I encourage you to purchase this app for your Ipad or Iphone.  It is absolutely chocked full of photos, maps, links to every place of interest, shops, hikes, all outdoor events and so much more.  The app is "Asheville Explorer's Guide" and the author is Kay Holloway Cole.  It is available for a mere $2.99 and you won't find more information about the area anywhere.  Enjoy the multitude of gorgeous photos.  You're going to love this app so much that you'll want your trip to last longer!  Get it and be glad my fellow Asheville lovers!

POSANA CAFE

When dining in Asheville I look for restaurants that serve fresh, locally grown foods that are organic and hormone free. Well, that's a mighty tall order! But Asheville is a mecca for wonderful restaurants! I can usually find places that fulfill some, if not all of the above requisites. I plan to include examples here frequently and so here is the cafe I went to yesterday and will make it the first in what will hopefully become a long list of fine dining spots.

Posana's is downtown and right on the Square. In fact it is right next door to one of my other favorite cafe's, Bistro 1896. Posana's has a very intimate and cozy atmosphere and displays works by famous local artists. Recently Jonas Gerard had several of his beautiful paintings adorning the walls. While I have not been that fond of "modern art" in the past I am quickly becoming a fan and do thoroughly enjoy his work. One of my guests at Treetop Mountain Vista, having been inspired by the cabin atmosphere and Mr. Gerard is becoming a popular artist in his own right! (Well anyway I'd like to think my cabin had something to do with his inspiration:)

So, getting back to the food at Posana's, it is prepared from scratch and very fresh and tasty. I suggest you check out their website since I understand the menu changes frequently. www.posanacafe.com. Go see for yourself....you won't be sorry!

NAVITAT Canopy Adventures

This is the wrong time of year, (correction, it is that time of year already!) to post about this tourist attraction since they close for the season November 30th and reopen April 1, 2011, but this is when I feel moved to tell people about it. It is located just north of Asheville. I haven't actually done it myself but hope to and may have to get into a little better shape before trying it. Oh well, an inspired goal makes for good motivation:) Rather than try to explain it since I don't have first hand knowledge, I will send you to their website which explains it much better than I could anyway. All your questions will be thoroughly answered along with divine photos to help inspire you too! Their website can be found at www.navitat.com.

LIVE SHOWS, PLAYS, MUSIC

Want to know what's happening in Asheville and when?...Just go to this web site for up to the minute info. livewireasheville.com Once you've booked your Asheville reservation (hopefully at Treetop Mountain Vista:)you can plan to see some live entertainment!

Another Guest Shares!

I must admit...I truly love hearing from guests about how much they enjoyed their experience at Treetop Mountain Vista. It lets me know I'm doing something right:-) I especially like this one because it gives so many great recommendations for restaurants and places to visit in the area. As a long time resident here I sometimes overlook the gems in my own backyard. Happy vacationing!!!

Dear Nancy,
This is the first opportunity that I've had the chance to write to you about our fabulous experience in your lovely cabin. Wow, the peace, the energy there, the gorgeous views, and the wonderful hot tub.

I especially want to thank you for taking the time to make a truly accurate representation of your cabin on VRBO. I felt so prepared and so welcomed in your sweet cabin. Your blog was wonderful and I took many tips from it as well as some from your former guests who had written in your guest book. I read the entire thing!

I have some suggestions that I would like to share with you as well! We went BACK to My Father's Pizza but unfortunately, we didn't realize they weren't open on a Tuesday. However, we had lunch at the little restaurant across the street called, The Veranda. My, my, my! What a find! I had perhaps the best roast beef sandwich that I have ever had in my life! It was served on cibiatta bread with swiss cheese (or maybe it was provolone) and a generous wonderful horseradish sauce. I dipped it into the au jus for a little bit of heaven!

In downtown Asheville I had been instructed by a friend to pick up some brews at Bruisin Ales. They were a laugh riot in there as well as a big help getting some locally unattainable brews to bring home to my Ale Club. We also had dinner at a place called LAB (Lexington Ave Brewery). They don't sell anywhere but onsite and their chocolate stout was superb! All their brews were a paltry $3.50/pint! And the food, fabulous! My partner had the pork shank and it was falling off of the bone.

Lastly, on our trip to Brevard, we found a little place on Main St. called Marco Trattoria. This was perhaps one of the best meals that I have ever had. They serve their meals on artwork that the proprietor's wife makes herself! My partner had a seafood orcheitte that was enough food to serve 4 people! He said the scallops were to die for. I wanted to try one even though I am allergic! The salad we shared, a heart of romaine with a warm gorganzola & cherrywood bacon was sublime.

We definitely would like to return to Tree Top. We are dying to see the NC Arboretum in bloom. We enjoyed it immensely anyway but can only imagine what it looks like at the end of spring.

Thank you again, Nancy, for making such a glorious getaway for others to share.

With much appreciation,
Sage

A Guest's Impression!

It is with much delight that I include here a post about Treetop Mountain Vista from a blog by Jane Rochelle. Jane and her husband Frank have been guests at Treetop three times. Since their first visit Jane has been creating her own blog filled with lots of insights and folksey information about what's going on in her life. It is definitely worth taking a look and I include here a link to her wonderful blog: "Teeny Tiny Pieces". Jane, I want to thank you for putting into such eloquent words what I could not have done so well. You have a gift!

Searching for a place to stay when my husband and I are ready for a getaway is a tedious task. We are both hopeless romantics, and we each have our own (wonderful) way of dreaming up impossibly romantic weekends, and then driving ourselves a little crazy trying to find a place that meets our expectations. I scrutinize the listings on vrbo.com, playing detective, putting together a floorplan based on the clues I find in the photographs, and trying to determine how a place might feel. This can take days, sometimes weeks.

When we went to the mountains of NC in 2008 I knew exactly what I was looking for. I wanted lots of windows so that we could enjoy the mountain views. I wanted a hot tub with no roof overhead so that we could count the stars. I wanted a comfy place to cook and eat local food, and I wanted privacy, to enjoy all of the above.

For that particular trip, I found Treetop Mountain Vista, “Asheville’s Coziest Cabin.” It has become one of our favorite places on earth. When we visit, we venture away from the cabin during the day, for a hike on the parkway, a swim under waterfalls, a nap after a picnic lunch, or to pick blueberries. But we’re always happy to return to ‘our cabin’….the place where I found the courage to paint, and to write again. The place where my husband and I reconnect with each other, and with the source of our creation.

We sleep with the windows open…the crickets and frogs sing us to sleep. We awake in the morning to leaves rustling in the breeze, and birds singing outside the window. We lose count of hours in the hot tub as we watch shooting stars, and find ourselves in awe when we, once again, realize that the stars aren’t spinning, we are! We sit on the simple deck, bathed in candle-light, enjoying each morsel of food we’ve prepared together. Need I mention privacy?

There are times when I set myself up for disappointment by creating expectations that I’m not willing to work for. Maybe I even expect someone else to do the work, search the listings for me…I wind up frustrated. Then there are times when I know exactly what I want, and am willing to take the time to find it. Every now and then, when the stars are aligned and blessings abound, I discover something even better than I’d imagined.

(PS….even before Frank knew I was working on this post, he was chatting online with Nancy, the owner, about this coming weekend. We’re having a last-minute getaway, and there’ll be snow in the treetops! Can’t wait!)

More information about Treetop Mountain Vista can be found at:

http://www.vrbo.com/150727

Enjoy A Slideshow Tour Of Cabin

An Amazing Place: Bent Creek Experimental Forest.

If you love to hike and or mountain bike then this is the place for you. It is very easily accessible no matter what the weather and very easy to get to from Treetop Mountain Vista. The cabin will have a brochure with trails and lots of information about the area. There are 26 trails and connectors in the Bent Creek area and they are all labeled as to use. All are suitable for hiking and 23 can be used for biking. The map gives the miles, rating and color of blaze. Most of them are very short, but many of the trails inter-connect so you can plot your own course for the length desired. There are a few over 3 miles and a segment of the famous Shut-in Trail shown on the map is 13.9 miles. (The Shut-In Trail is mentioned in another post on this blog; "Winter Hiking"). The entrance to this area is accessed right before the NC. Arboretum (highlighted in a post of its' own on this blog)on Hwy 191. For more information about the Bent Creek Experimental Forest phone: 828-667-5261 or check out their web site by clicking on the title of this post above.

The North Carolina Arboretum

While visiting Asheville you simply must check out The North Carolina Arboretum. No matter what you came to the area for, you can get it all right here. The Arboretum has hiking and biking trails. A magnificent bonsai collection, numerous gardens, art exhibits, classes and too many other projects and items to mention here. Just go on their web site and be blown away with the pictures and raft of information. They also have a cafe and gift store. To get directions from Treetop Mountain Vista just use Google or Mapquest and put in starting point : 40 Little Stoney Fork, Candler, NC 28715 and destination : North Carolina Arboretum, Asheville . Depending on which search you use you will get directions using the Parkway (mapquest) or main hwys (google). Their web site also gives directions. There is a small parking fee of $6 per motor vehicle.

Max Patch Bald

So many guests at the cabin mention Max Patch Bald as one of their adventures that I think it must be time to put up some information about it. I have a link here to Max Patch. They say it better than I could. I have been up there many, many times and do love it. I have never done it at night though and I understand the stars are unbelievable. I'm going to do that soon and when I do I'll tell you all about it. Meanwhile, there are some other hikes in the area which are longer for all you serious hikers. Lemon gap is one and does however require a car shuttle. That is unless you can hike about 14 miles in one day. Then you could go out and back.