U.S. Route 70 road trip moves on to Asheville

Continuing our journey on U.S. Route 70 across North Carolina from west to east, the second leg from Hot Springs to Asheville is about 35 miles. We cross over from Madison County to Buncombe. 

The majestic Biltmore Estate, with its 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms and 65 fireplaces, is enormous with “plenty of places to hide,” reports the “Atlas Obscura Guide To Asheville.” 

The Vanderbilts designed their palatial 180,000-square-foot home “with several concealed doors, hidden passageways and secret rooms, which blend in seamlessly with the decor so that they are not noticeable to the untrained eye.

The guidebook states: “In the late 19th century, these behind-the-scenes spaces were used to provide the Vanderbilts and their guests with some added privacy” as well as “to conceal the movement of servants” about the place. 

Entry to secret passages can be gained through the informal breakfast room, which leads to the butler’s pantry, and through the library, which leads to the guest bedrooms. Also within the library is a secret room known as the den. 

“From the billiards room, a secret passage leads to the smoking room, where the men would retire for brandy and cigars,” the guidebook adds. 

All the twists and turns are revealed in the “secret passage” tour package option. Is there a Biltmore “Clue” game in the gift store? 

Another attraction is the Asheville Pinball Museum, located in the old Battery Park Hotel downtown. Here “one entry fee lets you in the door, and the flipper, buzzer, flashing world can be your pinball playground, no quarters needed,” says Atlas Obscura.

 

With 75 machines available and a maximum of 70 patrons at a time, management says that “there is always a game available to play.” Could it be “Barb Wire,” manufactured in 1996 by D. Gottlieb & Co.? 

Edwin Wiley Grove is the fellow who built Asheville’s famous Grove Park Inn. He was a pharmacist in Paris, Tenn., who formulated a tasteless quinine to prevent malaria, a life-threatening disease that permeated the South in the 19th century. 

Grove’s Tasteless Chill Tonic was rolled out in the late 1890s. He sold more bottles than Coca-Cola and became a wealthy man. His Grove Park Inn opened in 1913. 

(In 1956, a secret deal between the hotel and the U.S. government mandated that in the event of a nuclear attack, the U.S. Supreme Court justices would be relocated to the Grove Park Inn and take over the entire property.) 

The 532-room hotel became The Omni Grove Park Inn in 2013. 

The contemporary flavor of Asheville is found today within the River Arts District, located along the French Broad River. Once the industrial part of town, it began to blossom in the 1970s as an arts enclave that encompasses several city blocks.

 

Asheville also appreciates its rich mountain heritage and culture. Visitors can savor it as well at the Folk Art Center, a museum of Appalachian arts and crafts on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It’s a partnership between the U.S. National Park Service and the Southern Highland Craft Guild. 

The collection of handmade items dates back to the 19th century. Three galleries showcase an assortment of woodworking, jewelry, glassmaking, pottery, sculptures, quilts and paintings. Crafters demonstrate mountain arts such as weaving, cabinetry and broom-making. 

You won’t want to miss Asheville’s Western North Carolina Nature Center, a 42-acre zoological park. It showcases some 60 species of wildlife indigenous to the Appalachians and is home to a pair of endangered red wolves, Garnet and Karma.