"the new "freak" capital of the US" Asheville Favorite Tip by richiecdisc

Favorite thing: Asheville is known to most as the gateway to the Biltmore Estate but for me it's just a very cool town with great Art Deco architecture, a counter culture feel, a bustling music scene and one very can't miss pub in Jack of the Wood.

Fondest memory: Driving to Ashville for the second time was an exhilarating feeling. The first time had been as well but it was 12 years earlier and wrought with anticipation on finding a new utopia to call home. It wasn’t and I didn’t. This foray was merely for fun and represented a small portion of an already too short trip that my wife and I would have alone, being framed by visits to good old friends in Myrtle Beach and Georgia. My expectations where not nearly as high as on my virgin trip to what Rolling Stone has hailed the new ‘freak capital.” I knew a funky little town with lots of pubs and live music nestled into the Blue Ridge Mountains awaited us and I looked forward to exploring a new brewpub I’d read about but aside from that I was happy to wander the streets and show a new place to a new love that had not been in my life on my first trip.

We arrived later and hungrier than planned only to find the planned brewpub lunch stop not quite open. With only a five minute wait we did it right there and must have appeared ravenous beer groupies on entering a hallowed shrine after waiting what seemed an eternity. It was a great old wooden pub that recalled the best of Ireland with a funky counter culture twist sprinkled with a pinch of southern flair. We sat right at the bar which I love doing at brewpubs so I can speak with the bartender who I hope has some knowledge of beer. We were in luck and our man was not only in the know about beer but the town as well with a heavy dose of an entertaining personality as a bonus. (continued below in Fondest Memory)