Asheville is consistently named one the nation’s top art-friendly small cities, and for good reason: Check out all the art-related events going on in June in the Asheville, Black Mountain and Old Fort area:
| Eastern Whip-poor-will [photo credit: National Audubon Society] |
Many evenings during the week in May and June, at precisely 9pm (OK, maybe not precisely…sometimes at 9:04pm), guests of the Inn on Mill Creek B&B and North Carolina Birding Trail site are treated to short symphony by the Eastern Whip-poor-wills. Since it is a May mainstay in our neck of the woods, we’re bestowing the Whip-poor-will with the honor of being our May 2014 bird in our 12 Months of Birding at the Inn series on the blog.
| Wicked Weed Brewing in Asheville [photo credit: boabeerblog] |
We’re told that Asheville, NC, has more breweries per capita than any other city in the United States. And we believe it. Currently, there are 16 craft breweries (and counting), and Asheville has something like 80,000 residents, so there is plenty of brew for Ashevillians and visitors alike. Favorites of ours include the Black Mocha Stout from Highland Brewing Company in Asheville, Green Man IPA from Green Man Brewery in Asheville, and the GFY Scotch Ale from Lookout Brewing Company in Black Mountain. And we love so many others as well.
We are improving garden spaces at the Inn on Mill Creek B&B this year, and have created a new garden called our Guest Favorites Garden. The GFG, located along the driveway heading to the north side of the property, is going to be a collection of shrubs and flowers that our guests have told us are their faves.
| Biltmore Azaleas, early May 2014 |
We headed over to Biltmore Estate on May 6, to walk through the Azalea Garden and were treated to a beautiful sight, and of course, we had to share it with you. The Azalea Garden at Biltmore is in a park-like setting and sits below the formal Walled Garden. If you visit Biltmore in springtime, we recommend walking through the Walled Garden to the Conservatory:
| [photo credit: BM Tailgate Market Facebook Page] |
Many people who visit the mountains of North Carolina have “go to a farmers’ market” on their list of things to do. And for good reason: an abundance of small, family-owned farms are in the mountains, many of them organic, and many of them make their items available for sale at local tailgate markets. Seriously, what’s better than farm fresh strawberries, tomatoes and other fruits and veggies, beautiful cut flowers, and delicious local honey?
| [Swainson’s Warbler, image from the National Audubon Society] |
Spring marks the migration of warblers to the Appalachians, where they spend the summer hanging out and raising families. We thus dedicate the month of April in our 12 Months of Birding at the Inn blog series to one warbler who likes to make Pisgah National Forest its spring and summer destination: the Swainson’s Warbler.
| Last year’s Festival [photo credit: Painters Greenhouse Facebook Page] |
Since the Inn on Mill Creek Bed & Breakfast is getting a little herb garden makeover this year (more on that later this month), we are super excited about the 10th Annual Painters Greenhouse Herb Festival, the weekend of April 12-13, 2014. Painters Greenhouse is one of our favorite locally-owned nurseries, located near the Inn on Mill Creek, in Old Fort, NC.
| Photo Credit: Swannanoa Valley Museum |
If you’re a history geek like your Inn on Mill Creek innkeepers, we have news for you: The Swannanoa Valley Museum in the town of Black Mountain opens for the season on Saturday, April 12, 2014. Buncombe County and Western North Carolina have a diverse and interesting history, with early settlement by Native Americans followed by American colonists around the time of the Revolutionary War, the growth of farming and agriculture that influences our foodtopian society today, the significant impact of the railroad’s construction through the mountains, the area’s beauty inspiring the arrival of many religious and spiritual retreats, manufacturing and development, important historical figures being born, having lived in, and having relocated to the area shaping history, and so on. And the Swannanoa Valley Museum is a terrific place to learn all about it.
