I learned a few things from my trip to Asheville, North Carolina this weekend.  Here is a summary.

The wifey and I needed a break.  Bad.  Caught up in the every day hustle and flow of life, we were fortunate enough to break away for a long weekend and really have a chance to unwind.  Rather than spend our time somewhere that we both had been before, we went somewhere new: Asheville, NC.  So, off with the things I learned:

1. Asheville, as I was told before hand, is an “artsy place”.  Rather than finding a Starbucks, Waffle House, or check cashing place every corner, I found some type of art gallery, store or exhibit.  Most noteable for me was the Woolworth Walk, which is an old Woolworth’s that has since been converted into an art market.  The wifey bought 5 small photos by Rebecca Tolk, that had been mounted on small wood frames along with a necklace.  I snagged an Asheville t-shirt as well as a set of framed prints by Cynthia Decker.  That was just one shop out of the many that we noticed pushing the arts.
2. Organic & natural foods are great!  The food in Asheville is much better than my home town, where fast food rules.  In Asheville, there is a large focus on organic and natural foods, which not only made the menus more interesting, but made us feel much better about ourselves after we ate.  We would get up, go for a swim, then walk wherever we wanted to go as our hotel was close enough to downtown.  Eating the better foods just made us feel at the top of our game and I believe gave us more energy.  On our last day, we started breakfast off right at the Over Easy Cafe, and had some of the best biscuits, eggs, home fries, and sausage I have had in quite a while. Time to change out the cook books.
3. Asheville is a lot like Athens.  Downtown Athens, Georgia is much like Asheville.  There is a noticeable group of homeless and eclectic buildings.  Though Asheville feels like it is on a larger scale, the two towns are very much similar, with Asheville taking the prize for coldest city.
4. I need to take more photos.  What I enjoyed most about Asheville, was the photo opportunities.  The city presented interesting landscapes and subjects for just about every type of photographer or artist.  If you want to take more urban shots, head in town.  If you want more scenic shots, then there are interesting nearby locations to satisfy that urge as well. As for me, I took about 230 photos and still feel like I should have taken more.  This Georgia boy was not quite used to the cold biting air so my hands and camera were not out as much as normal.
5. People are interesting in Asheville.  The entire place just felt like it was loaded with personality.  Of note was a photographer I briefly encountered while at the Biltmore House.  This photographer was out in front of the home taking photos with an old polaroid camera mounted on a tripod.  A beautiful camera taking some awesomely blurred photographs.  I would venture to say that the average person would see the photos and feel they were a waste.  Yet through the brief glimpse I saw at some of her photos, they were a wonderful collection of beauty.

I guess that about sums it up.  I am ready to go back.