Archive for B&Bs

Asheville rated as top fall foliage leaf-peeping spot

October 8, 2010 at 5:38 am · Filed under Asheville, Asheville activites, Asheville B&B, Asheville seasons, B&Bs, Fall Foliage, free things in Asheville, Lovers' Loop Retreat, nature, vacation rental ·Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

It’s official, more or less. The best place in the country to see the really big show of autumn foliage is the Asheville area. That’s according to travelers surveyed by the travel site TripAdvisor.com, part of Expedia.com. Travelers ranked Asheville first in the U.S. among fall foliage destinations, partly for views along roadways including the Blue Ridge Parkway.

That’s perfect for guests at our Lovers’ Loop Retreat, an affordable Asheville bed and breakfast alternative. We’re located one minute from the parkway, which offers thrills to motorists, hikers, cyclists, photographers and others who use the road to catch autumn’s fever.

Fall foliage in Asheville

There’s a significant elevation difference in the Asheville area. Lovers’ Loop Retreat is at about a 2,000-foot elevation, and if you travel 30 minutes north on the Blue Ridge Parkway, you’ll reach Mount Mitchell, at about 6,700 feet, the highest peak in the U.S. east of the Mississippi River. That means that foliage changes occur at different times around Asheville. No guarantees with Mother Nature, but usually there’s pretty fall color to see as late as mid-November.

And after that, it’s still great at Lovers’ Loop Retreat because when the leaves are off the trees, we regain our mountain views until April.

Free things to do in Asheville

One of the best things about leaf-peeping is that it’s free if you use the Blue Ridge Parkway and other scenic roads around Asheville.

Visit us at Lovers’ Loop Retreat this fall, and enjoy a cheap thrill. Don’t miss the splendor of these beautiful mountains!

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Lovers’ Loop Retreat November muse-letter

October 24, 2009 at 5:57 am · Filed under Asheville, Asheville activites, Asheville B&B, B&B, B&B alternative, B&Bs, Fall Foliage, free things in Asheville, Lovers' Loop Retreat, newsletters, vacation rental ·Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Lovers’ Loop Retreat November muse-letter

The view from Lovers’ Loop Retreat here in Asheville, N.C., is looking like lollipops, with the trees doing the orange, yellow and red foliage dance, and our mountain views re-emerging as the leaves in the distance drop from their tethers. For the next few weeks, there should be nice color around our Asheville vacation rental and in the surrounding mountains, so it’s a great time to come and embrace Asheville’s autumn.

            The foliage, of course, is FREE to view, and Lovers’ Loop Retreat is within a minute of one of the very best viewing routes, the Blue Ridge Parkway. Treat yourself with a stay at our guest suite, and experience the splendor! We have events posted through December and into 2010 on our Web site, www.loversloopretreat.com. Use the Web site to check out what’s going on whenever you plan your trip to Asheville and Lovers’ Loop Retreat, an Asheville bed and breakfast alternative. You can link to our blog, http://loversloopretreat.wordpress.com, on the home page.

            In addition to the foliage and the Halloween happenings listed on our home page’s events calendar, November brings a cool mix of music to downtown Asheville. The Asheville Civic Center (and its Thomas Wolfe Auditorium) and the Diana Wortham Theatre host troubadours Leonard Cohen on Nov. 1, Jackson Browne on Nov. 12, Nanci Griffith on Nov. 14 and George Winston on Nov. 21.

            If film is your fancy, the Asheville Film Festival will be Nov. 5-8 with its diversity of films political and dramatic, quirky and comedic, weird and wonderful. This festival is growing and gaining acclaim, so come and enjoy the range of entertainment.

            Catch the holiday spirit at the “Christmas at Biltmore Estate” extravaganza, which runs Nov. 6- Jan. 3, 2010. This annual transformation of what claims to be America’s largest home draws lots of people who find magic in the setting and the decorations.

            For art lovers, the River Arts District Studio Stroll just outside downtown Asheville on Nov. 14-15 is a must-see, and it’s FREE. Dozens of artists open their studio doors to visitors, who can watch art being created and get some good deals sometimes, too. 

            If you’re ready for more Christmas events, the Asheville Lyric Opera’s annual Christmas concert will be Nov. 20 downtown. Asheville’s Montford Park Players perform “A Christmas Carol” Dec. 3-6 and Dec. 10-13, and there’s a Christmas festival Dec. 4-6 in the historic Biltmore Village outside downtown Asheville.   

            All of these events and activities and more are listed on our Web site. Please pass along our muse-letter to your friends. And join us at Lovers’ Loop Retreat. See you in Asheville!

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Lovers’ Loop Retreat August Muse-letter

July 30, 2009 at 4:39 am · Filed under Asheville, Asheville activites, Asheville B&B, B&B alternative, B&Bs, Lovers' Loop Retreat, newsletters, vacation rental ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

            August in Asheville, N.C., is a month of quilts, crafts, comedy, outdoor music events and street performers of all stripes downtown—plus the outdoor recreation that draws hikers, cyclists, rock climbers, kayakers, photographers and other visitors to our two rivers, national forests and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Guests at our Lovers’ Loop Retreat Asheville vacation rental are within 10 minutes or less of all of this fun.

            The best part is that most of this entertainment is FREE! One of the August headliner events in Asheville each year is Goombay, the free street festival of African-American and Caribbean cultures that features live music, dance, food and a great diversity of people. This year, Goombay will be Aug. 28-30.

            Our Asheville bed and breakfast alternative is stocked with information about restaurants and what to do when you’re here, and guests comment on how helpful our resources are. We also have wireless, so you can search the Internet and do e-mail while you’re here.

            Visit our Web site at www.loversloopretreat.com to see a list of events we update regularly. We’ve posted events through December, so you can see what’s going on whenever you plan your trip to Asheville and Lovers’ Loop Retreat. You can link to our blog, http://loversloopretreat.wordpress.com, on the home page.

            The Asheville Antiques Fair, one of the region’s largest and oldest, will be July 31-Aug. 2. The fair draws dealers from many states with a wealth of wares to sell. The fair, at the Asheville Civic Center downtown, has been offered for 60-some years.     

            The annual Village Art and Craft Fair, Aug. 1-2 in Asheville, is an upscale, longtime event that draws vendors from a wide area.

            Asheville’s bimonthly art gallery walk will be Aug. 7, and it’s fun to stroll among the many diverse galleries downtown and enjoy free refreshments. On the other end of town, the Asheville Quilt Guild will host its annual show Aug. 7-9 at the North Carolina Arboretum. We’ve been to this show, and it’s worth checking out, with a great array of quilts from multiple states exhibited.

            The popular and free Shindig on the Green, an outdoor music series in Asheville, continues every Saturday night in August—bluegrass and folk music and cloggers. It might be hard not to do some dancing yourself.

            Downtown After Five, another outdoor music series, continues in Asheville on Aug. 21. This is a free street festival that offers a range of music: rock, blues, jazz, world.

            And on Aug. 22, Asheville’s own Blue Ridge Roller Girls, a roller derby team, will shake things up at the civic center downtown. This is always an eye-opening event.

            If you need to get your laugh on, a late-night comedy series continues through Aug. 29 at Asheville Community Theatre downtown, and for more laughs, the Feral Chihuahuas perform in Asheville on Aug. 1, Aug. 14 and Aug. 15.

            The Asheville Tourists, a minor league baseball team, play through Sept. 3. And an interactive butterfly exhibit with hundreds of the winged creatures is at the WNC Nature Center, just around the corner from Lovers’ Loop Retreat, through Sept. 7.

              One more note: for Indigo Girls fans, the talented duo will play at the Orange Peel in downtown Asheville on Sept. 17. We’ve attended concerts at the Peel, and it’s a great venue for the Indigos.  

            All of these events and more are listed on our Web site. Please pass along our muse-letter to your friends. And join us at Lovers’ Loop Retreat! See you in Asheville!

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The F Month in Asheville

February 6, 2009 at 4:43 am · Filed under accommodations, Asheville, Asheville activites, Asheville adventures, Asheville B&B, Asheville seasons, Asheville Weather, B&B, B&Bs, free things in Asheville, vacation rental

Welcome to the F Month. When we lived in Massachusetts in the 1990s [during a couple of their “worst” (that is, messy) winters on record], some residents fed up with snow and ice labeled February the F Month. That label doesn’t fit Asheville, N.C., where winters are much milder. If we lack some of New England’s snow, we sure don’t lack a beautiful wintertime mountain view here at Lovers’ Loop Retreat. The mountains are to the east, which means our sunrises are that much prettier when they spill over the hills.

            There are many activities and fun things to do here in winter. This month, the options include a Mardi Gras party and parade in downtown Asheville, a bluegrass festival, a Beatlemania concert and funky, improvisational comedy. Be sure to visit our Web site, www.loversloopretreat.com, which contains lots of information, including a list of events in the area, and a few new photos of our Asheville bed and breakfast alternative. Our home page has a YouTube link to videos about Asheville.

             One fun pastime in winter is also free—gallery hopping. Asheville’s many art galleries offer an inspiring variety, and the Asheville area’s reputation as an arts destination brings many visitors. Most of Asheville’s galleries are downtown. But one of the best collections of art and crafts is at the Southern Highland Craft Guild gallery at the visitors’ center on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The visitors’ center and guild’s gallery are a scenic five-minute drive along the parkway from Lovers’ Loop Retreat.

            Asheville’s history reputation is significant, too. Biltmore Estate, just 10 minutes from Lovers’ Loop Retreat, again was ranked as the most visited historic attraction in North Carolina in 2008. Biltmore is the historic home and grounds of George Vanderbilt. The house and gardens are amazing. Also ranking high on the state list of historic attractions for 2008 were the North Carolina Arboretum, 10 miles down the Blue Ridge Parkway from Lovers’ Loop Retreat, and Chimney Rock Park, North Carolina’s newest state park, a pretty 30-minute drive from our vacation rental.  

            Another outdoor activity easily accessible from Lovers’ Loop Retreat is the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, a state park that will encompass 1,000 acres across North Carolina when it’s finished. Land is still being acquired for the trail, part of which already is in place along the Blue Ridge Parkway a stone’s throw from Lovers’ Loop Retreat.

            We’re happy to offer an affordable bed and breakfast alternative that gives guests the option of preparing meals in the guest suite. Asheville has several independently-owned grocery stores and food coops with a good selection of organic foods, and many of our guests have shopped at these stores.

            Join us at Lovers’ Loop Retreat! Please pass along our muse-letter to your friends. And remember to visit our Web site to check out upcoming events. See you in Asheville!

          

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Asheville Art Galleries

February 2, 2009 at 5:23 am · Filed under accommodations, Asheville, Asheville activites, Asheville art, Asheville B&B, B&B, B&Bs, vacation rental

Asheville is, among other things, a city of art galleries. Not only do the arts (dance, theater, literary arts, music—not just visual arts and crafts) significantly boost the area economy but they are a major tourist attraction.

            One nice thing about exploring Asheville’s art galleries is that it’s free—you don’t have to buy a thing. For many people who visit our Lovers’ Loop Retreat vacation rental in Asheville, it’s fun to browse the galleries, most of which are downtown or in the River Arts District, a collection of renovated warehouses made into art studios and galleries west of downtown. If you want to buy art here, there’s plenty to chose from: glasswork, jewelry, handcrafted furniture and other items, paintings, textiles and other media.

            Four times a year—April, June, August and October—people gallery hop during Asheville’s popular art walks, when galleries stay open later on a Friday night and serve refreshments as visitors view art.

            One of our favorite galleries is downtown’s Blue Spiral, which feels like a museum (in a good way). Blue Spiral focuses on high-quality art made in the Southeastern U.S. Another gallery, Ariel, across the street from Blue Spiral, is an artists’ collective that we enjoy. Grovewood Gallery is north of downtown beside the Grove Park Inn. Grovewood is among the more upscale galleries in Asheville and has a huge amount of display space, which includes a large showroom of handcrafted furniture. It’s hard not to have fun at New Morning Gallery, south of downtown in Biltmore Village. New Morning may have the largest variety of items—and prices—of any gallery in Asheville. It’s owned by the owner of Blue Spiral and has a large floor of handcrafted furniture.

            When you stay at our Asheville bed and breakfast alternative, consider adding gallery hopping to your agenda.

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