Saturday, April 26, 2008

Two days in Asheville, NC - a picture tour

Last week I spent 2 days in Asheville with my sister.

Here are some pictures- in random order:


Cold Mountain, watercolor by Jim Michielsen

This is a beautiful watercolor painting I bought in a small town near Asheville, Black Mountain. I fell in love with this painting! The artist is local to NC, Jim Michielsen is his name.


My favorite gargoyle in the whole world- an artist gargoyle!

I found him at the top of a column at the Biltmore estate, the largest private home in America.




Crab apple trees in bloom.





Biltmore estate: tulips by the lattice.




A very cool gnarly grape vine at Biltmore.



an adorable angel holding grapes at the Biltmore.




This one captured my heart- its a dancing sprite with a small child. It is so heartwarming!




All along gravel walks at the Biltmore are rock walls with amazing fountains.




Another fountain.




A view of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains that surround Asheville.

Downtown Asheville- the Grove, which is a restored building with galleries, shops and restaurants.
The outside of the Grove Building and a cool lamppost.



We had lunch in an old converted Pharmacy. This is a shot of the counter and ceiling. We ate grilled pimento cheese sandwiches- can't get more Southern than that!!




This is a 3 story fireplace in the lobby of the Crown Plaza, where we stayed while in Asheville. Very nice! Its a golf resort just on the edge of Asheville.


This was just on the sidewalk and I thought is was a cool shot. Great use of a garbage can!




A grape arbor back at Biltmore estate.


More gargoyles at Biltmore



this is a head that is part of a door sill...amazing!


Thinking gargoyle!

3 comments:

NANCY LEFKO said...

wonderful photo essay of your trip....seems like it was a fun vacation !!

rebecca christiansen said...

Awesome! You have a good eye for photography. Thanks for sharing the
visuals!

http://justgiddy.typepad.com

Unknown said...

Hello,

I'm an old friend and collector of Jim Michielsen water colors. Would you mind telling me how much you paid for his painting? my email is framerjohn@gmail.com

thank you