New Videos: Three Waterfalls Along the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina

Crabtree Falls is accessed via a three-mile hike from the Blue Ridge Parkway Milepost 339.4. While the Crabtree Falls campground, picnic area and visitor center are closed this year, the hiking trail is open! See more at www.romanticasheville.com/crabtree_falls.htm.

Setrock Creek Falls is just a few miles off the Blue Ridge Parkway in Pisgah National Forest, at the base of Mt. Mitchell. It’s a one-mile easy roundtrip hike from the parking area at the Black Mountain Campground. See our new guide at www.romanticasheville.com/setrock_creek_falls.htm.

Roaring Fork Falls is a 100-foot long cascade near Setrock Creek Falls. Take the easy one-mile hiking trail to enjoy. It’s especially impressive after a big rain. See our new guide at www.romanticasheville.com/roaring_fork_falls.htm.

These three waterfalls are near Linville Falls, perhaps the most photographed waterfall in North Carolina. For more, see our Top 25 Waterfalls near Asheville and our comprehensive Blue Ridge Parkway Guide. Enjoy your visit in the Land of the Waterfalls in the mountains of western North Carolina.

Memorial Day Weekend Festival & Events in Asheville & NC Mountains

Mountain Sports Festival

On Memorial Day Weekend, kick off the summer season in Asheville and the scenic North Carolina mountains  with some great festivals and events (in addition to all of the outdoor activities):

May 25-26: White Squirrel Festival (TOP PICK!)
Go nuts at the White Squirrel Festival in downtown Brevard that features a parade, plenty of live music, food, arts and much. It’s one of the mountains best free North Carolina music festivals of the year, giving prominence to national who are connected locally Transylvania County. Events include the  Squirrel Box Derby, guided white squirrel tours, “Memorial Day” Parade (Saturday at 9 AM), food and plenty of arts and crafts. Street Festival is Saturday 10 AM-6 PM and Sunday 12 Nooon-6 PM. Free admission. Read more about the White Squirrel Festival.

May 24-26: Mountain Sports Festival
Whether you’re a hardcore athlete or a newbie trying an event for the first time, the Mountain Sports Festival in West Asheville offers something for you while celebrating community, athletics and local business. The festival showcases the terrain, environment and unique culture of Asheville and the surrounding mountains. It’s organized by a volunteer group of community oriented citizens dedicated to the presenting of a well-balanced series of events that encourages participation on all levels. Live music and vendors in the Festival Village with free admission. Read more about the Mountain Sports Festival.

May 25-26: NC Arboretum Rose Show
The fragrant and vivid world of roses will be on display at the NC Arboretum. The annual Asheville-Blue Ridge Rose Society Exhibition features award-winning roses of every color and size. Experts answer questions and provide information about the selection, care, and history of roses. Educational programs will be offered throughout the weekend, including a special lecture presented by Paul Zimmerman, rose expert and author of the best-selling book, “Everyday Roses”, and a presentation by Biltmore Rosarian and Arboretum Board member, Lucas Jack, on the roses of Biltmore Estate. Free admission with typical parking fee. Read more about the Rose Show.

May 25-26,: Kenilworth Artists Open Studio Tour
Explore this neighborhood just five minutes from downtown Asheville, home to 20+ jewelers, painters, glass-workers, fabric artists, potters, woodworkers, photographers, and more that open their studio doors for sales and demonstrations. 10 AM-5 PM. Read more about the Kenilworth Art Studio Tour Guide.

May 25-26: Garden Jubilee Festival
This downtown Hendersonville festival is the ideal event for passionate gardeners searching for the perfect plants and unique lawn & garden accessories and arts & crafts, 10 AM-6 PM. It features more than 200 vendors, garden talks and food. Free admission. Read more about Downtown Hendersonville & Garden Jubilee.

May 25-June 1: Asheville Beer Week
Memorial Day Weekend kicks off Asheville Beer Week, with keynote speakers, education, tastings, dinners, and other beer-centric events. See our Asheville Beer Week Guide.

For more ideas for outdoor fun, go to our Top 100 Outdoors Guide.

For more upcoming festivals, see our Top 50 Asheville Summer Festivals & Events.

Ramps Ready at Asheville Restaurants

Ramps fans rejoice: Harvest time is ramping up for the North Carolina mountain’s beloved early-spring vegetables, which are found growing wild in forests and cultivated on forest land. According to ASAP (Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project), their harvest is short—only two to three weeks. But, that won’t stop area Appalachian Grown™ partner restaurants in the Asheville area from reveling in ramps this month. Ramps’ flavor can be described as a mix of onion and garlic. How better to enjoy local food of the mountains?

“We’ll feature ramps as much as possible in the coming weeks,” says Jen Pearson of Guadalupe Cafe in Sylva. “They’ll be on our brunch menu, in nighttime specials, and—if they last until strawberries arrive—in a grilled ramps, fresh strawberry, and gorgonzola dish we like to do.”

Nate Allen, chef/co-owner of Knife & Fork, takes the same approach. “We do everything we possibly can with ramps: We make a pesto, we tempura batter and deep fry them, create flatbreads, sauté them with morels and serve over cheesy grits, you name it.”

Kaighn Raymond, executive chef/owner of Frogs Leap Public House in Waynesville, has been busy creating at least four new ramps dishes for the season, including skillet blackened Sunburst Trout with a spring succotash and grilled ramp broth, spring potato and ramp vichyssoise with local baby arugula, potato-ramp pancakes with a ramp crème fraîche, and a local morel and ramp pesto flatbread.

From pesto to pickles: Chestnut in downtown Asheville plans to pickle the piquant delicacy for use in their bar items, then grill local ramps for use throughout their kitchen dishes.

Elizabeth Button of Asheville’s Cúrate shares that ramps are very similar to calçots, an early-spring Spanish scallion. Cúrate plans to serve up the Southern staple Spanish-style with a Romesco sauce.

Highland Lake Inn in Flat Rock is also going the route of a special sauce; they’re blending local ramps into a béarnaise to serve with grilled asparagus as a side dish. They’re also making ramp butter to garnish their Sunburst Trout dinner dishes. How? “We clean the ramps well; toss them with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper; grill them lightly, purée with a little cream, and finish with softened butter in a mixer with a paddle attachment,” shares Sous Chef Matt Lineback.

Enjoy! See our list of Favorite Asheville restaurants.

Thanks to ASAP for the delicious looking photo!

Learning / Educational Summer Vacation with Asheville Artists

The Village Potters

Come for a week of arts fun as Asheville artists offer hands-on classes and workshops on June 24-29, 2013 at the Riverview Station and Village Potters in the River Arts District. The building is home to 24+ working artists. An educational or learning vacation gives you a fantastic souvenir to take home: a new skill and hobby. Learn about pottery, jewelry-making, basketry, painting, and/or woodturning.

At The Village Potters, Sarah Wells Rolland and Karen Dubois will lead a three-day wheel class entitled “Bowl Beautiful.” Judi Harwood will guide students in a hands-on raku experience, and in a second class she will demonstrate the making of her sonorous ceramic drums, with each student making their own before the drum class ends in a rousing jam session. As an added bonus, Cat Jarosz will teach a special Saturday Session on creating her singular ‘rat fink’ plush toy that is often seen peeking around pots in their gallery.

Other offerings at Riverview Station include workshops in Oils and Encaustics at River’s Edge Studio, woodturning at MH Libman Woodturning Studio, creating unique sterling silver and copper jewelry at Copper Fish Metal Arts, and basketry at River Oaks Studio.

The Village Potters is a fully equipped pottery housing the working studios of seven professional resident potters, and includes an exquisite gallery exhibiting and selling their fine, contemporary ceramic art, open Monday-Saturday. The Village Potters Teaching Center offers ongoing classes for adults, and children’s art camps and classes.

These mini-sessions and workshops are perfect for a memorable vacation to Asheville as you try their hands at a craft under the guidance of a professional instructor. With all studios at the same location, participants can enjoy multiple sessions, and families can find something to suit every taste over the course of the week. Class sizes are limited, and registration is required. More information is available at www.thevillagepotters.com or by calling 828-253-2424.

Asheville Tailgate Farmers Markets to Open for 2013

Asheville Farmer’s Market

Asheville NC Mountain Farmers Markets

It’s spring! Tailgate tents are going up, and Asheville area farmers markets are opening outdoors for the harvest season. At spring tailgates, expect fresh greens, spring onions and asparagus; meats, cheeses, baked goods, value-added farm items like preserves, and a wide selection of plant starts. Produce offerings will differ from market to market based on the location of vendor farms—microclimates vary greatly in the region.

Below is a list of spring tailgate opening days. Markets listed are all members of the Mountain Tailgate Market Association (MTMA), a collaborative group of farmer- and vendor-only area markets. For a complete list of the 90+ tailgates in the region, including their season start dates (a new feature for 2013!), visit ASAP’s online Local Food Guide at appalachiangrown.org. The 2013 print guide hits stands in late April.

Asheville City Market: April 6, Saturdays 8 am-1 pm

Asheville City Market South: April 3, Wednesdays 1-5 pm

Bakersville Farmers Market: May 25, Saturdays 8 am-12 pm

Black Mountain Tailgate Market: May 4, Saturdays 9 am-12 pm

East Asheville Tailgate Market: May 17, Fridays 3-6 pm

Flat Rock Tailgate Market: May 2, Thursdays 3-6 pm

French Broad Food Co-op Wednesday Tailgate Market: April 3, Wednesdays 2-6 pm

Haywood’s Historic Farmers Market: April 20, Wednesdays/Saturdays 8 am-12 pm

Henderson County Tailgate Market: early spring TBA, Saturdays 7 am-12 pm

Historic Marion Tailgate Market: May 14, Tuesdays 3-6 pm, Saturdays 9 am-12 pm

Leicester Farmers Market: March 30, Saturdays 9 am-2 pm

Madison County Farmers & Artisans Market: April 6, Saturdays 9 am-1 pm

Mills River Farmers Market: May 4, Saturdays 8 am-12 pm

Montford Farmers Market: May 1, Wednesdays 2-6 pm

North Asheville Tailgate Market: April 13, Saturdays 8 am-12 pm

Oakley Farmers Market: May 9, Thursdays 3:30-6:30 pm

Spruce Pine Farmers Market: May 1, Wednesdays 2-5 pm

Transylvania Tailgate Market: April 20, Saturdays 8 am-12:30 pm

Waynesville Tailgate Market: May 15, Wednesdays/Saturdays 8 am-12 pm

Weaverville Tailgate Market: April 10, Wednesdays 2:30-6:30 pm

West Asheville Tailgate Market: April 9, Tuesdays 3:30-6:30 pm

Yancey County Farmers Market: April 20, Saturdays 8:30 am-12:30 pm

The big Western North Carolina Farmers Market is open every day in Asheville, year round.

See our Local Food Guide for Asheville and western North Carolina.

Biltmore House Festival Of Flowers Quick Highlights

Winter Garden inside Biltmore House

Biltmore Estate Festival of Flowers Guide

From March 21 through May 31, 2013, Biltmore Blooms promises a huge variety of spring flowers as Biltmore Estate awakes from winter with a steady progression of floral color. Spring is when Biltmore House celebrates the legacy of Frederick Law Olmsted and his final project – George Vanderbilt’s magnificent gardens. Here are some highlights:

• This festival of flowers begins with the bright golden yellow of daffodils and forsythia in the gardens, coinciding with an opulent display of potted tropical plants, orchids and lavish flowers inside Biltmore House.

• The season continues with a massive 100,000-tulip bloom across the estate, multi-colored azaleas, rhododendron and roses in the Historic Rose Garden. Native mountain laurels and vertical gardens of succulents continue long into summer.

• For the first time ever, step into the Winter Garden through April 7, normally roped off, to enjoy a display of exotic orchids just as George and Edith Vanderbilt’s guests might have. The plants will include the same species plants that were planned for the Biltmore Conservatory in 1894.

• Throughout the House, floral displays repeat the rich jewel tones found in the orchids in glass-domed cloches and reproduction Wardian Cases, which look like miniature greenhouses. These cases served as microclimates for the plants’ transport from far-flung exotic places to conservatories of horticulturalists, plant collectors and enthusiasts in Europe and the United States. At the turn of the century, plant collecting brought the romance and danger of distant places into the home parlor, greenhouse and the great conservatories.

• On the weekends, visit “Ask a Gardener” stations in the Walled Garden hosted by Biltmore’s horticulture experts.

• Attend free, daily horticulture seminars in A Gardener’s Place: Smell-Good Plants, 1 p.m.; Terrariums: Gardening Under Glass, 2 p.m.; and Organic Fertilizing, 3 p.m.

• Enjoy live music daily in the Conservatory and Biltmore House. Weekends feature bands in Antler Hill Village and Grape Stomps for children at the Winery.

• The Winery offers daily tastings of its Biltmore Spring Seasonal Wine (a rosé of Pinot Grigio) and wine seminars.

• The estate’s annual Easter Egg Hunt takes place on Easter Sunday, March 31, on the front lawn of Biltmore House. Enjoy children’s music and stories, magic shows, games and take photos with the Easter Rabbit. Activities at Antler Hill Village will include music and a Grape Stomp at the Winery from 2 to 5 p.m. Hunts begin at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Registration begins two hours before each hunt.

• “The Vanderbilts At Home and Abroad” exhibition, featuring rarely seen objects in the Vanderbilt collection, continues in the Biltmore Legacy Building in Antler Hill Village.

• Throughout the spring, estate admission is half the price of adult admission. Purchase estate admission tickets seven days in advance of visit and receive $15 off; $10 off if purchased one to six days in advance.

Read more in our Biltmore Blooms Festival of Flowers Guide.

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Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Finishes Expansion

Harrahs Cherokee Casino

Harrah’s Cherokee Casino News

Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort is celebrating the completion of its spectacular $650 million dollar expansion. An enterprise of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation, located in the heart of the Great Smoky Mountains of Western North Carolina near Asheville, Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort now includes 1,100 luxury guest hotel rooms, 4,000 games including traditional slots and table games, 10 restaurants, entertainment venues, and the Mandara Spa.

To help celebrate the opening, sold out performances by Darius Rucker and Blake Shelton will take place on March 22nd and 23rd in the resort’s state-of-the-art Events Center. Comedian Jon Reep of Last Comic Standing will perform at a private event on March 22nd. Superstar Alicia Keys will appear March 27th.

The festivities will culminate Saturday, March 23rd with free entertainment in the Grand Rotunda and Essence Lounge. DJ Aaron Michael of 104.3 FM will take the stage in the Rotunda from 8:00 pm to 2:00 am and live entertainment will be featured in the Essence Lounge during the same times.

Resort guests will also have a chance at winning a tax-free share of $150,000 by participating in the $150K Free Slot Play Giveaway. Playing with their Total Rewards card or swiping at a promotion kiosk between10 am and 9 pm on March 23rd will automatically enter guests into the 10 pm drawing.

The Casino has 150,000 square feet of gaming space and offers 3,800 slot machines and over 100 traditional table games such as black jack, roulette and craps. The property also features the Le Fu Men gaming area, the Essence Lounge, a 3,000 seat Event Center, the luxurious 18,000 square feet Mandara Spa and eight retail shops. In addition to the 56-acre property, guests have privileged access to the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation-owned Sequoyah National Golf Club, named one of Golf Magazine’s best new golf courses.

The casino revenue has meant wonderful benefits for the Cherokee area and tribal members (in addition to the many jobs and spending by many tourists). The Tribal Government’s General Fund (about $100 million/year) and Cherokee Preservation Foundation (given $58 million since 2002) have funded a variety of community projects, including a new $120 million K-12 school campus. Read more about Harrahs and things to do in Cherokee.