Archive for nature
October 2, 2009 at 5:08 am
· Filed under Asheville, Asheville activites, B&B alternative, Lovers' Loop Retreat, free things in Asheville, nature, vacation rental ·Tagged Asheville, Asheville activities, Asheville NC, Blue Ridge Parkway, free events, free stuff to do, free things to do, Lovers' Loop Retreat
The North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville hosts the annual bonsai expo Oct. 10-11. The arboretum has a growing collection of more than 100 specimens of bonsai, which are miniature trees, shrubs and vines. The collection includes Japanese maple, Chinese elm, tropical plants, American plants such as limber pine and species native to the Asheville area, such as the Eastern white pine.
The arboretum is a beautiful autumn drive of about 20 minutes along the Blue Ridge Parkway from Lovers’ Loop Retreat, our Asheville bed and breakfast alternative. The arboretum is worth every mile, and the bonsai expo is fascinating. The event honors the ages-old Asian tradition of cultivating miniature plants, shaping them in artistic ways and arranging them in distinctive containers.
The event is free once you pay the arboretum’s entrance fee of $6 per car. You also can access the arboretum for free by bike or on foot. The bonsai expo features the juried work of bonsai growers from clubs in a six-state region of the eastern United States. There will be educational programs, workshops and bonsai plants and tools for sale.
While you’re at the arboretum, take the opportunity to walk or bike on the many trails and to see the different gardens. It’s a great place to visit year-round when you stay at Lovers’ Loop Retreat, one of the Asheville vacation rentals.
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September 28, 2009 at 1:41 am
· Filed under Asheville, Asheville B&B, Asheville Weather, Asheville activites, Asheville seasons, B&B alternative, Fall Foliage, Lovers' Loop Retreat, nature, the weather, vacation rental ·Tagged alternative B&B, Asheville, Asheville NC, Lovers' Loop Retreat
With the shift into autumn last week and the weather changes it will bring, it’s a good time to note that our Lovers’ Loop Retreat Web site has a weather link on the home page that you can click to get a five-day forecast.
Whatever time of year you visit Lovers’ Loop Retreat, our Asheville vacation rental, you can get a glimpse of what to expect in terms of weather during your stay.
Some of our guests enjoy relaxing on the porch that’s available only to guests. Autumn is a great time to sit outside with the squirrels and birds and the insects that fill the night sky with their own symphony.
Lovers’ Loop Retreat is now on Twitter and Facebook , so look for us there.
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September 23, 2009 at 5:24 am
· Filed under Asheville, Asheville B&B, Asheville activites, Asheville art, Asheville seasons, B&B alternative, Fall Foliage, Lovers' Loop Retreat, free things in Asheville, nature, vacation rental ·Tagged alternative B&B, Asheville, Asheville activities, Asheville festivals, Asheville NC, Blue Ridge Parkway, Fall Foliage, free stuff to do, free things to do, Lovers' Loop Retreat
Lovers’ Loop Retreat October Muse-letter
October is one of the peak months for activities in Asheville, N.C., each year. And one of the peak activities is leaf-peeking. Our Lovers’ Loop Retreat, an Asheville bed and breakfast alternative, offers easy access to the multi-hued trees that await your eyes. With the Blue Ridge Parkway within two minutes of Lovers’ Loop Retreat, you can be on that non-commercial, scenic road in no time and head north or south to catch some color. The parkway is popular for hiking, biking and cruising by car, and in the fall you’ll find many beautiful photo opportunities for miles and miles. You can be a leaf-peeper for FREE! There’s no charge to use the parkway, so come and treat yourself to some eye candy.
It’s not just the trees that explode here in autumn. The Asheville area explodes with activities in October, including two of the year’s biggest events, both Oct. 15-18: the Lake Eden Arts Festival, or LEAF, and the Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands. You can find information about these and other happy happenings in October, through December and in 2010 on our Web site, http://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 vacation rentals. You can link to our blog, http://loversloopretreat.wordpress.com/, on the home page.
Some of the events in October are FREE. There’s bonsai (miniature trees), Bonnie Raitt and locally-made beer. You’ll find art fairs, apples and an animal fiber fair. There’s a nontraditional circus, nationally-known comedians and the annual LGBTQ festival. The fun goes on: a chili cook-off, lyric opera, Marianne Faithfull and a chrysanthemum show. Take your pick, or mix and match, but don’t miss out.
The Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands is a premier arts event that’s held twice a year in downtown Asheville. The fair offers an amazing variety of arts and crafts by members of the Asheville-based Southern Highland Craft Guild, which represents craft artists from multiple states. You’ll be dazzled.
The LEAF event in Black Mountain, an easy 15-minute drive from Lovers’ Loop Retreat, also is offered twice a year. LEAF features an array of performing and healing arts from around the world. In addition to live music, dance, poetry and visual art, LEAF has meditation, massage, yoga, tai chi, even hula hooping. Go whoop it up!
Check our Web site for a peek into November, which brings Leonard Cohen in concert Nov. 1 in Asheville, the Asheville Film Festival Nov. 5-8, Christmas at Biltmore Estate starting Nov. 6, Jackson Browne on Nov. 12, Nanci Griffith on Nov. 14 and George Winston on Nov. 21. Dig it!
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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September 18, 2009 at 11:23 pm
· Filed under Asheville, Asheville B&B, Asheville activites, Asheville seasons, B&B alternative, Lovers' Loop Retreat, free things in Asheville, nature, vacation rental ·Tagged alternative B&B, Asheville, Asheville activities, Asheville NC, Blue Ridge Parkway, free stuff to do, free things to do
Once you get to Asheville, you don’t have to pay anything for the mountain views and leaf-peeping you can enjoy in the autumn season. Our Lovers’ Loop Retreat, one of the Asheville vacation rentals, is a great base for your road tripping, hiking, biking, kayaking and photography excursions in the fall.
Fall at Lovers' Loop Retreat
There’s a reason people flock to Asheville in autumn: it’s beautiful. From late September into November, you can find pretty foliage somewhere in the area, depending on elevation and weather. There’s no guarantee about how the colors will play out this fall because it depends on rainfall and temperatures, but you’re sure to find some lovely red, yellow and orange leaves somewhere in the area.
Lovers’ Loop Retreat is a stone’s throw from the Blue Ridge Parkway, one of the best places to enjoy leaf season in Western North Carolina. You can take the scenic parkway south and north to find inspiring vistas that will take your breath.
We usually have some pretty coloration here at Lovers’ Loop Retreat every fall, too, with the dogwoods, oaks, serviceberries, sourwoods, tulip poplars and other trees changing color whenever their time comes. And guests who visit Lovers’ Loop Retreat after about mid-November have mountain views to enjoy once the leaves have fallen.
Stay at our Asheville bed and breakfast alternative this fall to color your world!
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July 21, 2009 at 5:44 am
· Filed under Asheville, Asheville activites, B&B alternative, Green Living, Lovers' Loop Retreat, free things in Asheville, nature, vacation rental ·Tagged alternative B&B, Asheville activities, Asheville NC, Asheville night life, free events, free stuff to do, free things to do, Lovers' Loop Retreat, outdoor music
One of our summertime treats at Lovers’ Loop Retreat, our Asheville bed and breakfast alternative, is the free firefly festival performed here each night. Our large yard is a stage for these blinking, winged firecrackers.
The guest porch at our vacation rental is a perfect place to sit at dusk and relax with the silent light show. Do yourself a favor, and check it out when you visit. We enjoy crashing the firefly party in the annual neon mating ritual. Our acre is deep with the dreams of the fireflies as they look for their perfect match. May we all be so lucky!
Another treat at Lovers’ Loop Retreat for much of the year, morning, noon and night, is the bird calls we hear. Mourning doves, crows, sparrows, chickadees, nut hatches, cardinals, finches, woodpeckers and more. The different species don’t have to compete for the airwaves – they just get their songs out there. It’s great to feel connected with nature at our guest suite, and most visitors comment when they arrive on what a refreshing refuge it is.
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July 2, 2009 at 4:58 am
· Filed under Asheville, Asheville activites, Asheville art, B&B alternative, Lovers' Loop Retreat, free things in Asheville, nature ·Tagged alternative B&B, Asheville, Asheville festivals, Asheville NC, Bele Chere, bluegrass music, folk dancing, folk music, free concerts, free events, free music, Lovers' Loop Retreat, Shindig on the Green
If it’s July, it’s festival time in Asheville, N.C., so guests at our Lovers’ Loop Retreat vacation rental in Asheville have plenty of fun adventures waiting. A few of the area’s biggest annual events occur in July — Bele Chere, supposedly the largest street festival in the Southeast, the Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands, and Folkmoot, an international folk dance and music festival.
And to top it off, the fireflies are back at Lovers’ Loop Retreat for their summertime mating ritual. Yes, we’ve learned the wisdom of finding pleasure in small things, and so we peer outside at the nightly light show in the yard. It’s a beautiful spectacle, and it’s yours to watch for free when you stay at our Asheville bed and breakfast alternative.
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.
July 4 kicks off the annual Shindig on the Green free outdoor music series near downtown Asheville with folk and bluegrass and dancing. It’s held on most Saturday nights through early September, a real community event.
The weekend of July 10-12 will offer a bunch of activities: the Asheville women’s roller derby team bout, the annual bamboo festival, an Asheville Puppetry Alliance performance, the Big Crafty art show.
The following week, July 16-20, is busy, too. There’s a comedy festival, Folkmoot performances and the Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands, which fills the Asheville Civic Center with work by crafters from multiple states.
July 24-26 is the Bele Chere phenomenon, which features large amounts and varieties of music and food and lots of blissed people.
The Mountain Dance and Folk Festival July 30-Aug. 1 is a big deal for those who enjoy bluegrass and folk music and clogging.
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, where the lovely lavender hostas are starting to bloom! See you in Asheville!
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May 1, 2009 at 7:05 am
· Filed under Asheville, Asheville B&B, Asheville activites, Asheville adventures, Asheville art, Asheville seasons, B&B alternative, NC, free things in Asheville, nature, poetry events, vacation rental ·Tagged alternative B&B, Asheville, Asheville activities, Asheville NC, free events, Indigo Girls in Asheville, Lovers' Loop Retreat, poetry
It’s a colorful spring here at Lovers’ Loop Retreat, our Asheville, N.C., vacation rental: azaleas in white and several shades of red, pink and pinker rhododendrons, lacy white dogwoods. The backyard is filling in with foliage. Our tomato and pea plants are humming along, and little basil plants are starting to grow. A thrill of our spring so far was seeing five finches, including a goldfinch, on the feeder at once, afeat unrepeated since, alas (but we keep looking).
All of this is yours to behold when you stay at our Asheville bed and breakfast alternative. Many guests enjoy sitting on the porch to commune with the squirrels and birds that own the trees and air space here. As usual, there’s a range of activities happening in the area in May, too. Visit our Web site at www.loversloopretreat.com to see a list of events we update regularly. We have events posted all the way to December, so you can see what’s going on whenever you plan your trip to Asheville. You can link directly to our blog at http://loversloopretreat.wordpress.com, or from the home page. There is also a link to another Asheville blog on the home page with YouTube links to videos about Asheville.
This spring, we’ve done some of our favorite activities — hiking at Mount Mitchell, the tallest peak in the U.S. east of the Mississippi River, just 30 miles from Lovers’ Loop Retreat — and some things we haven’t done before — taking a women’s history (herstory) tour of downtown Asheville and taking a wild ride on a zany, purple bus called LaZoom, a comedy tour of downtown Asheville. All of this is good stuff, and you may want to explore these activities when you visit.
The banquet of events in May includes rhododendron (May 2-3) and rose (May 30-31) shows at the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville, always a pretty place to visit. For more flowers, the Biltmore estate’s annual Festival of Flowers lasts through May 17. More rooms at the estate, the home originally of George Vanderbilt, have been opened to the public this year.
The annual Asheville Wordfest, April 30-May 3, is a poetry festival that includes internationally known and regional poets. Another literary event is the Blue Ridge Book and Author Showcase May 8-9 in nearby Hendersonville with workshops and talks by authors, sales and book signings.
One of the area’s biggest events is the Lake Eden Arts Festival (LEAF), held twice a year in Black Mountain, just east of Asheville. LEAF, May 7-10, features a slate of international dancers, musicians and visual artists.
For sports enthusiasts, a popular annual event in Asheville is the Mountain Sports Festival May 29-31. The festival has demonstrations, clinics and competitive events in rock climbing, kayaking, running, cycling, disc golf and backpacking.
A two-for-one comedy show May 30 in Asheville features Vickie Shaw and Jennie McNulty. And for a different type of comedy, not to mention lots of bravery and just sheer strength and stamina, there’s the Blue Ridge Roller Girls, Asheville’s roller derby team that has a bout May 30 at the civic center downtown.
Early June brings the second art gallery walk of the season June 5, a glimpse into the many art galleries in downtown Asheville. And June 5 is the season debut for the Montford Park Players, North Carolina’s oldest Shakespeare company. These are both free things to do in Asheville! The Montford Players appreciate donations, though, of course.
All of these events and more are listed on our Web site. And for Indigo Girls fans, the duo has rescheduled its April concert in Asheville to Sept. 17 at the Orange Peel downtown. We hope to be there.
Please pass along our muse-letter to your friends. And join us at Lovers’ Loop Retreat! See you in Asheville!
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April 28, 2009 at 6:16 am
· Filed under Asheville, Asheville Weather, Asheville activites, Asheville adventures, Asheville seasons, B&B alternative, Lovers' Loop Retreat, NC, free things in Asheville, nature, vacation rental
We celebrated a birthday last week by hiking to the top of Mount Mitchell, the highest point in the United States east of the Mississippi River. What a glorious day, beautiful enough to fall in love with.
Mount Mitchell is about 30 miles north of our Lovers’ Loop Retreat, an Asheville bed and breakfast alternative. It’s a lovely drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway to Mount Mitchell State Park. There are no entry fees. Because of the particular geography and elevation, the flora and fauna at Mount Mitchell are akin to those found in Canada, a sort of alpine environment.
On the trail to the peak, cool, soft moss covers rocks and fallen tree limbs, and hikers follow a trail lined with rocks and tree roots. The scent of the spruce-fir forest is enchanting all along the trail, and much of the path is shaded. When the path opens to views, the vistas of the mountains are wonderful.
At the top of Mount Mitchell is an observation tower that’s worth checking out. On a clear day, the views are magnificent. You can hike or drive to the tower.
This is one of our favorite destinations in Western North Carolina, and we encourage our guests at Lovers’ Loop Retreat, our Asheville vacation rental, to consider the trip.
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April 2, 2009 at 6:35 am
· Filed under Asheville, Asheville Weather, Asheville activites, Asheville art, Asheville seasons, B&B alternative, Lovers' Loop Retreat, NC, nature, the weather, vacation rental
Lovers’ Loop Retreat April ’09 muse-letter
In April here at Lovers’ Loop Retreat, our alternative bed and breakfast in Asheville, N.C., the serviceberry tree explodes into white blooms that resemble popcorn before the petals fall to the ground. There’s more to come with dogwoods and rhododendrons.
And when you leave our Asheville vacation rental, signs of spring abound elsewhere, in nature—redbud, pear and cherry trees, hyacinths and daffodils—and in activities. Visit our Web site at www.loversloopretreat.com to see a list of events we update regularly.
In April we’ll host some first-time visitors to Lovers’ Loop Retreat and more repeat guests, which always is a treat for us. They—and you— have a lot of entertainment options this month, in addition to the ever-present Blue Ridge Parkway with its hiking and biking opportunities a stone’s throw from our vacation rental and other outdoor recreational fun, including rock climbing and kayaking.
April 2-25 is Eve-Olution, a play about motherhood, at the Asheville Community Theatre downtown. April 3 is the first art gallery walk of the season in downtown Asheville. The many diverse galleries stay open later and offer refreshments to encourage browsers. You’ll see all types of art peepers at this lively and happening event. Art walks also will occur the first Friday in June, August and October.
April 4 starts the season for Asheville’s Blue Ridge Roller Girls, a roller derby team that elbows its way around the fast track at the civic center downtown. These whizzing warriors on skates are great competitors and hardy souls—if not a bit crazy—and they provide some drama and flashy outfits for the audience, too. Their bouts, which run from now until late fall, are way fun. Check our Web site for more information.
April also means the beginning of Biltmore estate’s annual Festival of Flowers, listed on our Web site, which lasts through May 17. There are tulips and other flowers galore at this beautiful estate, an easy 10-minute drive from Lovers’ Loop Retreat and the most popular historic attraction in North Carolina. Biltmore has just opened several more rooms to the public at the George Vanderbilt mansion that managers call America’s largest house.
April brings a new festival to Asheville, HATCHfest, April 15-19, an event that features films, performances, workshops, speakers and art exhibits around downtown on themes of architecture, fashion, visual art, music, design and technology and more. There’s a link on our Web site.
Comedian Kate Clinton will perform at the Diana Wortham Theatre downtown April 23. We’ve seen Kate more than once, and she’s still funny.
Peeking into early May, Saffire, the Uppity Blues Women perform May 1 in Asheville, apparently part of their final tour. The spring herb festival is May 1-3 at the Western North Carolina Farmers Market in Asheville, and the annual rhododendron show is May 2-3 at the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville. A popular event is the twice-a-year Lake Eden Arts Festival (LEAF) of visual and healing arts, dance and music in Black Mountain just east of Asheville May 8-10.
All these events and more are listed on our Web site. Join us at Lovers’ Loop Retreat! Please pass along our muse-letter to your friends. See you in Asheville!
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March 10, 2009 at 5:34 am
· Filed under Asheville, Asheville Weather, Asheville activites, Asheville seasons, B&B, NC, accommodations, nature, the weather, vacation rental
Lovers’ Loop Retreat March ’09 muse-letter
Hurray and yeeeeeoooowwww! March is our favorite month. And why not? It boasts the first day of spring and the beginning of Daylight Saving Time, when the days start to become longer.
By now, we don’t have to look far to see signs of spring at our Lovers’ Loop Retreat vacation rental here in Asheville, N.C. The forsythia in the backyard has started to sprout, and that’s one of our most treasured blooms: we love how it shouts out its yellowness, happy to be what it is. Daffodils are blooming down the street, and soon we’ll see them scattered sunny side up around our yard.
Though Asheville is hopping all year long, activities start to crank into a different gear in March. Be sure to visit our Web site, www.loversloopretreat.com, which contains lots of information, including a growing list of events in the area, photos of our Asheville bed and breakfast alternative and our contact information. Our home page has a YouTube link to videos about Asheville.
Food is big here. And there’s a new Foodtopian Society, which capitalizes on the area’s many farmers’ markets, independent restaurants, breweries, cooking classes, forest-to-table adventures, specialty food items, handcrafted kitchen wares and foodie souvenirs. That said, we’re happy to offer an affordable bed and breakfast alternative that gives our visitors the option of preparing meals in the guest suite.
Part of the ongoing food affair in Asheville is the first National Truffle Fest—who knew?— with cooking demonstrations, a cook-off and dinners at the Biltmore estate March 5-8. The Organic Growers School’s annual spring conference, which includes cooking workshops, is March 21-22 just south of Asheville. March also offers a variety of musical events, from the Asheville Symphony March 14 to Ani DiFranco March 13-14 and John Prine March 28, all in downtown Asheville. This is the month of the Grove Park Inn’s annual comedy classic weekend March 13-15. And for orchid lovers, the annual orchid show at the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville is March 27-28; it’s worth a visit to see those fascinating flowers! There’s a new festival on the block here, too. The first annual Asheville Jewish Film Festival is March 21-26. See more about all of these events on our Web site.
On a personal note, four members of the women’s poetry group we facilitate —including one of your hosts at Lovers’ Loop Retreat—will read their work at Holy Ground in Asheville on March 22.
Indigo Girls fans will appreciate a heads-up that the duo plans an appearance in Asheville on April 8. That’s on our Web site, too. The word is that one of the Indigo Girls has a sister who lives in Asheville, so they play here with some regularity.
Join us at Lovers’ Loop Retreat! Please pass along our muse-letter to your friends. And visit our Web site to check out upcoming events. See you in Asheville!
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