Asheville

Hope you enjoy our town! There are several coffee shops and roasters around downtown. There are a variety of different vibes around town besides breweries, but we certainly have some good ones of those as well. I don't know where you will be staying but there are plenty of things to do and places to relax as well and is an easy walk around downtown.

 

Hi-Wire. I miss the hell out of that place.

 

I think we're staying at the Four Points on the north end of downtown. It looks like most everything downtown is walkable.

 

Thats where I stayed while I was there, and I didn't get in my car once in the 4-5 days we were there. Most everything is walkable, although it is somewhat of a hike to the further out places like Green Man (absolutely worth the trip though).

 

French Broad Coffee Lounge is fairly close and has great coffee from what I remember. Good space for hanging out too. If you're willing to travel a little farther, Waking Life in West Asheville has fantastic coffee. Fairly expensive but worth it if you want excellent coffee. Also has lounging area, somewhat small though.

 

Go to French Broad. They are good friends of mine.

 

We stayed there about 3 weeks ago, you can hit all the downtown breweries by foot. Do a tour at Sierra Nevada, beautiful place, and you taste just about all they have there.

 

Four Points is kind of on the opposite corner of Downtown from the side where all the breweries people are talking about are located. But its really not a very far hike anyway. I know LAB gets a bad rap really, and its not the best one, but its closer to you and you can brewery hop your way down toward Green Man and the Funk and Burial.

As for Sierra Nevada, you will have to drive there and based on traffic its at least 20 minutes outside of town near the airport. Its a beautiful and very lavish new facility but just be prepared to drive a little bit. Also if you are driving, Pisgah on other side of Asheville is a great choice as well, they often have concerts and pretty decent ones, its in Black Mountain actually, but about the same distance as Sierra Nevada from Downtown in a car.

 

Ah, we walked to all of those over multiple days, and we both are close to Social Security. It is not that far or hilly.

Sierra Nevada is a drive of course, and I did enjoy how the brewery was finished out, the acutual brew house is unique, and there is a lot of technology most will miss.

 

Glad your are spry for your age. Just pointing out the facts. Four Points is a good 3/4 mile walk up and down hills if you stick to the main pathways. Trust me there are a few side streets you don't want to venture into, even in Asheville, especially on the South slope.

 

Yea, for sure Wicked Weed downstairs wouldn't be a problem or Burial as they have larger "tables" to spread out on and don't seem to mind. I've seen it time and time again at these places. Greenman would be more difficult, but not impossible. WW's Funketorium, np... One World isn't that busy with plenty of tables, I bet they wouldn't mind. Hi Wire would be tougher, much like Green Man. Dress real warm and you could hang out at Wedge, but its only outdoor if you bring a laptop (hence the dress real warm). You could spread out at Highland, there is plenty of space in there and they wouldn't care.

 

Aloft is clutch

 

I was wondering if anybody was going to mention Highland, the patriarch of all of the Asheville brewing scene--especially since the prospect of driving has been broached. No, it's not right downtown in the middle of all the newer breweries and taprooms, and that is by choice. Yes, they have plenty of room to spread out and they welcome families and have a wonderful outdoor space on a sunny day. Nobody would bat an eye if you wanted to come in and grab a table and work on your laptop. However, the beer doesn't start flowing until about 3:30 or 4.

 

No worries on walking anywhere downtown, at least in my case. It looks like most of the downtown breweries are within a mile of my hotel, which isn't far at all especially in an urban area. I'm street smart enough not to do anything stupid.

The prospect of walking everywhere is very appealing to me. Although I'd like to do some hiking and touristy stuff like the Biltmore Estate, so I'll at least be driving a little bit.

 

Bm me when you are coming down, I have tickets for the Biltmore if you'd like to look at the house.

 

Hey, I had to check the local bar we walk to is 0.6 mi, the brewery is 0.7 mi. We walked to the brewery last night, the snow and ice made it more challenging. The hills in Asheville getting to the South Slope were not so bad, compared to some places we go to, or the gut buster of a hill we had walking back to our flat in Germany.

I am sure Asheville has some dodgy areas, all cities do. For reference, we get down to Detroit fairly often, so Asheville did not look intimidating.

 

Thanks to all of you for contributing to this thread! My wife has set me the task of coming up with a list of places to check out and this helps a lot. Any more ideas for unique food options? We are pretty adventurous eaters and like local (non-chain) places when we travel.

 

Once you hit Burial, I would be real careful if you decide to walk a bit further South. There is an area that gets real sketchy, so stick to either of the East or West of Burial main roads if you want to head South toward say Biltmore Village area, don't go in between!

 

Look up "LaZoom Tours" and do that with your wife... Funny as hell and informative about Asheville, best part the pick up is right outside Wicked Weed. Edit: Oh and its B.Y.O.B, so head into Wicked Weed grabs some brews, hit the tour!