Adventure 3: Asheville

© 2008 Dub Scroggin

We finally made it to North Carolina and started this leg of our adventure by touring the entire city of Asheville before settling in the downtown area for a thorough walk-about. A weekend festival made it extra exciting but proved problematic in getting lunch. We finally found a table at Hannah Flanagan’s Irish Pub.

© 2008 Dub Scroggin

I think we saw and photographed every church in Asheville with their wonderful spires, landscaping, and fascinating architecture. At the beautiful Basilica St. Lawrence, a kind parishioner took us on an unofficial tour.

We walked the trails at the Asheville Botanical Gardens and found gorgeous plants as well as one of two letterboxes hidden here.

This is one of my black-and-white photography practice efforts taken at Riverside Cemetery, a place dedicated to the memory of Thomas Wolfe. One thing about old southern cemeteries, there are lots of references to the Civil War to be seen inscribed on the weather- and time-worn headstones.

© 2008 Dub Scroggin

“Historic Helping Hands” is a letterbox find at this cemetery. One of many reasons letterboxing fascinates me is discovering the stories behind some of the sites we’re led to explore. This one has a story, too, which connects Riverside with a historic cemetery in Charlotte, N.C.

© 2008 Dub Scroggin

Thomas Wolfe is just one of many southern writing legends; we visited his mother’s Victorian boardinghouse Old Kentucky Home where he lived for a period of time. The house is now operated as a North Carolina State Historic Site.

Did you know that Southerners like to paint their porch ceilings with “Haint Blue” as it wards off evil spirits? Apparently Mr. Wolfe’s mother felt the same need. When I move back to the south, I’m painting my porch ceiling haint blue, too.

© 2008 Dub Scroggin

And here I am with my feet in his shoes (size 13), a bronzed pair in a plaque in front of the house.

North Carolina’s rich literary tradition interests me enormously, so I bought this recently released book to learn more about writers in this part of the state.

Another day had the entire family touring the enormous Biltmore estate. The house and property are simply gorgeous but quite overwhelming.

© 2008 Dub Scroggin

Touring the Biltmore House involves shuffling along in huge lines of folks up and down innumerable stairs all over the house, quite tiring. I took advantage of one of their porch rockers; a bit of rest and a root beer float helped refresh me for the family letterboxing endeavor at the Biltmore.

One of the clues led us to the temple and statue of Diana and on to a nearby wooded area where I stepped on a snake camouflaged in the leaf-littered ground. This brought an abrupt end to my interest in tracking down this particular letterbox. I do not like snakes. Later we did find the “George” box at the Biltmore Outdoor Center and pronounced our Asheville visit complete.