So much to see in Asheville, NC

 What a difference a day makes.  Remember those gorgeous views from yesterday?  Well the fog settled in last night and this morning poof they were gone.

But never fear this was not going to alter our plans one bit.  Unlike when we were stuck in Sheboygan in all that fog, we have a vehicle here so after breakfast we headed out to do some exploring.

We knew that we were going to start out at the visitors center and take the trolley around town.  We have found this service to be very helpful when visiting a larger town.  You pay one fee for the day (this time it actually covered two days) and you can get off an on at any of the stops during the day.  By the time we arrived at the visitors center the fog had started to burn off.

Sun was beginning to shine

A fun sculpture outside the visitors center

We boarded the bus at 10:00 and took the complete tour which lasted about and hour and 45 minutes. Then remained on the trolley so it could take us back to the sections we wanted to see.  Below are some of the the many things we enjoyed learning about on the ride and exploring on our own.

Dozens of Grand Victorian Homes

Even one now that was painted lavendar

Silly sculpture

The Omni Grove Park Inn

The building on the left are condos, they start at 1.2 million (for the million dollar view)

A gory detail about this building I guess after the stock market crash that started
the great depression several folks chose this building to commit suicide from. 

Government buildings

Random art

Street performers

Awesome architecture 

Down by the tracks

A sign on one of the local BBQ joints

All I could think of is wow what I could make with all that junk

Looks like a castle to me

One sweet little machine

One massive victorian

Another beauty that pulled up next to us

The dome on this cathedral is made from ceramic tiles colored to look like a rich patina.

A metal work of Thomas Wolf

Okay this one caught my eye and guess who it made me think of?

The Flat Iron building

Street musicians outside the Flat Iron Building

A view from inside the Grove Arcade

Regional baskets

My lunch date

We stopped and enjoyed an outdoor lunch then Mike took me over to the old Woolworth building which was turned into a gallery, but they kept the soda fountain.  So we had sundaes for dessert then walked around the gallery to enjoy all the beautiful creations.

Textural wall tiles

The stair case at the old Woolworths

Multiple artists showing their creations

We ended the day touring the arcade museum.  If we would have had the time (and money) Mike would have spent the whole day there.  It was amusing though there was a small "lounge" area off to one side that I saw several women just sitting around.  I assumed their husbands, boyfriends, significant others were playing pinball.

It was a wonderful day touring around downtown Asheville, tomorrow we are heading for Tennessee.  But tonight we have already come up with some ideas of revamping the camper now that we have lived in it for almost two weeks.  We are always making revisions to something.  Night all.