Suggestions on my first visit to Asheville (Charlotte, Greenville: fit in, transplants)

[alikair]

I will be visiting Charlotte, Greenville, Asheville, Knoxville and maybe if I have the time Chattanooga this upcoming thanksgiving weekend.
A total of about 7 days.

I have learned a lot from asking questions on this forum and reading other people’s post.

Now is time for me to see first hand if I would like to move here.
One of my biggest concerns is the people, and more importantly will I fit in.
I am very much looking forward to experiencing this “southern hospitality”. But I am also concern that some of the towns, especially Greenville may be way to religious for me.
Even though I do not attend church, I like people that do.
But with statements like, “Greenville is the belt buckle of the Bible-belt” That maybe a little hardcore for me.

I plan on visiting some restaurants and walking around the main streets, and hitting the malls.
I also read that a lot of stores are closed on Sundays?

Other thing that is important to me is the great outdoors. With a big emphasis on the rivers. My hobbies are fishing and kayaking. Love whitewater, nothing crazy, class 2 or 3 tops.
Things like zoos or museums or tourist attractions, I will probable pass on unless they’re something really special.

Open to any suggestions on what to see and do. Thanks!

PS I will post this message in other cites as well.

[Cofga]

Well, if you're into outdoor sports then Asheville will be a good fit however I doubt you can do much in a day or 2 other than get oriented but you could jump on the parkway just south of town off Hendersonville Rd below I40 and at least drive down towards the Pisgah Inn. There is good trout fishing in the E. Fork Pigeon River about 20 min south and you could hike up to Black Balsam Bald for a great sunset. If you have time and they're still operating there are raft trips in some of the rivers and the French Broad flows through town with great smallmouth bass fishing.

As for the religion angle, you'll find everything from atheists to bible belt baptists in and around Asheville but around town things are pretty laid back as far as I've seen. Of course the further out you get the more conservative and more religious they'll be--to the point that in some areas if you don't go to church with them then don't expect to be accepted. You pretty much captured my impression of all of SC with your comment about Greenville. I've traveled all over that place from Saluda to Orangeburg and a lot around Columbia and the only thing I found worth remembering is the BBQ at Maurice's Piggy Park!

Have a good trip

[alikair]

I should point out, I will be only sightseeing. I don't have enough time to do any activities.

[stroupek]

Welcome to the Carolina mountains. I have lived in Charlotte, reared my children in Greenville, SC and now live on a lake near Tryon, NC between Asheville and Greenville. I love this area and hope you find it as beautiful. The Blue Ridge Parkway is probably your best bet for a quick overview but parts of it have been closed due to heavy rains and rock slides. We drove to Grandfather Mountain (a mile high peak) last week but called first and found out it would take about 2 1/2 hours with the parkway detours and about half that time on 40 and 221. There are so many waterfalls and great mountain peaks in the area it would be hard to choose one. By Thanksgiving it can be very windy and cold on the peaks so have very warm clothes. Downtown Asheville is unique with plenty of outstanding ethnic and vegetarian restaurants. It's better in the summer when the street musicians and drummers are out and you can eat outside. My family kayaks and canoes the Green River gorge near Saluda, NC but it would be cold at that time of year. Between Asheville and Greenville are The Pearls, the quaint little towns of Saluda, Tryon, Columbus, NC and Landrum, SC with little Mom and Pop shops and restaurants--no Walmarts here. Greenville, Asheville and Charlotte have the big chain stores and Atlanta is not that far away. The major tourist attraction in Asheville is the Biltmore Estate, like a huge castle with a winery and livestock. It's pretty amazing but I would prefer spending my time looking at mountains.

Greenville, SC has been revitalized and I think is great if you are into bigger city life. The footbridge area is nice to walk around and one of my favorite restaurants there is Chicora Alley. The city is home to Bob Jones University which is a source of a lot of the religious talk. It has a museum of ancient paintings that look like they should be in the Louvre. My son has a shop in Greenville and they open at 1 on Sundays which seems to be common. I would not say most stores are closed on Sunday as a whole. So many people have moved and are still coming into the entire area that the old ways are changing. I was in a Greenville grocery store in the late 70's and had to remove a vegetable brush from my groceries. They couldn't sell it to me on Sunday with the Blue Laws.

I would say there is a strong spirituality in the Asheville area. Maybe the mountains and living so close to nature are some of the force behind it. But it's not religious legalism or the I'm going to heaven and you're going to hell attitude. More awe for creation and respect for life I think. There is a lot of artistic expression going on here and so many outdoor activities.

I hope my ramblings are at least a bit helpful to you and that you fall in love with our Blue Ridge.

[organick]

Originally Posted by alikair

I will be visiting Charlotte, Greenville, Asheville, Knoxville and maybe if I have the time Chattanooga this upcoming thanksgiving weekend.
A total of about 7 days.

I have learned a lot from asking questions on this forum and reading other people’s post.

Now is time for me to see first hand if I would like to move here.
One of my biggest concerns is the people, and more importantly will I fit in.
I am very much looking forward to experiencing this “southern hospitality”. But I am also concern that some of the towns, especially Greenville may be way to religious for me.
Even though I do not attend church, I like people that do.


But with statements like, “Greenville is the belt buckle of the Bible-belt” That maybe a little hardcore for me.

I plan on visiting some restaurants and walking around the main streets, and hitting the malls.
I also read that a lot of stores are closed on Sundays?

Other thing that is important to me is the great outdoors. With a big emphasis on the rivers. My hobbies are fishing and kayaking. Love whitewater, nothing crazy, class 2 or 3 tops.
Things like zoos or museums or tourist attractions, I will probable pass on unless they’re something really special.

Open to any suggestions on what to see and do. Thanks!

PS I will post this message in other cites as well.

You won't really get a true feel of the south in Asheville city. Most people you will come in contact with are not southerners. You need to visit smaller towns and talk with people to get a feel of the true south. That being said the true south is also much much more religious than Asheville. In haywood county for example if I go inot 5 houses to do some work for people probably 2-3 of them will talk or ask about church and have religious things hanging in the house. However if its not your thing and you just respectively say so I have found 95% of people to be very respectful. They may pray for you when you leave but its not like they harass you.

Oh yeah many stores are closed on sundays......but religous or not isn't a nice restful day good for everyone?

[Cofga]

Originally Posted by organick

That being said the true south is also much much more religious than Asheville. In haywood county for example if I go inot 5 houses to do some work for people probably 2-3 of them will talk or ask about church and have religious things hanging in the house. However if its not your thing and you just respectively say so I have found 95% of people to be very respectful. They may pray for you when you leave but its not like they harass you.

This is very true. We were sitting outside of Well-Bred in Weaverville eating our lunch one day last month and were talking to the couple at the next table about our upcoming move to the area. The first thing they asked about was whether we were church going folks--I'm sure they hoped to recruit us. We politely let them know that we were not church goers and that was it. I'm sure they said a prayer for us but they didn't react negatively either. As someone said in another thread Weaveville has the largest concentration of Wiccans of anywhere in the USA but also has a very strong baptist populace (51% or those claiming to be religious). However it also has a lot of transplants that have a strong impact on the community feel which may not be true of smaller communities further away from Asheville.

[alikair]

Originally Posted by Cofga

This is very true. We were sitting outside of Well-Bred in Weaverville eating our lunch one day last month and were talking to the couple at the next table about our upcoming move to the area. The first thing they asked about was whether we were church going folks--I'm sure they hoped to recruit us. We politely let them know that we were not church goers and that was it. I'm sure they said a prayer for us but they didn't react negatively either. As someone said in another thread Weaveville has the largest concentration of Wiccans of anywhere in the USA but also has a very strong baptist populace (51% or those claiming to be religious). However it also has a lot of transplants that have a strong impact on the community feel which may not be true of smaller communities further away from Asheville.

Are you saying this town called weaveville has witches?

[Cofga]

Originally Posted by alikair

Are you saying this town called weaveville has witches?

Yes, some of my best friend are Wiccans. Now how can you not like a town that has a coven? Even the US military now accepts Wiccans as belonging to a recognized religion.