The first thing I noticed coming down I-26 into Asheville was the dogwoods. They were blooming white along the highway all the way up the mountain from Columbus, and the tulip poplars on the ridges had that pale new green that only lasts a week or two. I said so out loud. Wes said, "Yep," and kept his eyes on the curves, which is about the best review a view gets from him.
We went up Friday, April 10, and came home Sunday the 12th. This trip had been on my list since the fall after Hurricane Helene, when I kept reading the same advice from people in western North Carolina: when things reopen, come back, and spend your money with us. We didn't want to go poke around somebody else's hardest year. We wanted to stay in a local room, eat in local places and buy a few things from people who make them.
The roads we took
From Maxton it's about 230 miles, a little under four hours. We went west on US-74 through Rockingham, Wadesboro and south of Charlotte, then out past Shelby and up to I-26 near Columbus. That route climbs the escarpment gradually and avoids most of the worst curves for my stomach.
Before we left I checked the state DOT travel map and the park service's Blue Ridge Parkway road status page. Repairs were still going on in places in the mountains, and some roads and trails were open while others weren't. I'd tell anyone going up there to check both the week you go and again the morning you leave. It changes, and the folks working on those roads don't need us driving around barricades.
What we found open
Downtown Asheville felt like downtown Asheville: busy sidewalks, street musicians, bookstores, too many places to eat. We walked it Friday evening and most of Saturday morning. The River Arts District along the French Broad was where the flood hit hardest, and the change there was easy to see. Some studios were back in business, some had moved, and some buildings were still being worked on. We went into every open studio we passed. I bought a small hand-thrown pottery bowl for $18, which is the most I've ever paid for a bowl and the one I'll keep longest.
Saturday afternoon we drove up a short stretch of the Parkway that was open north of town and walked a trail to an overlook. The views were back to what I remembered, though you could see scars in the hillsides from slides. Wes drove. I looked out the window and didn't read a thing.
We stayed both nights in a locally owned motel on the east side of town, $89 a night before tax, $202 for both nights after tax. It had a little breakfast in the mornings, and the woman at the desk told us which restaurants had just reopened and were hoping people would come back. We took her advice for Saturday supper and had trout and a burger for $38 with tip.
Gas went up, so we trimmed
Gas has crept up this spring. We paid $3.29 at the cheapest station I could find in Lumberton before leaving, and about the same in the mountains. The full drive came to about 490 miles, and in the mountains the CR-V gets about 29 miles per gallon, so roughly 17 gallons and $55.
That price is why we didn't add the side trip I'd wanted, a drive farther up the Parkway on Sunday. We came straight home instead and saved maybe 80 miles.
- Gas: $55
- Motel, two nights with tax: $202
- Saturday supper: $38
- Pottery bowl: $18
- Coffee and a pastry in the River Arts District: $5
- Admission and parking: $0
- Total: $318
That's $18 over our target, and I'm at peace with it. Nearly every dollar went to a business in the mountains that had a rough year and a half: the motel, the supper, the potter, the coffee shop. If you've been waiting to go back, I'd say go. Check the roads, be patient where crews are working, and spend a little more than you would at a chain.
The bowl is on our kitchen counter now, holding the trip envelope's receipts until I enter them. Wes says it's too nice for receipts. He's probably right, but I like seeing it there.
