Andy grew up in Asheville. His parents, Glenn and Jody, are still living in the house he grew up in. We come up to visit often now that we live within striking distance, an hour and a half drive. His sister Grace and family also live here with a new addition, little Ronin, and that's reason enough to visit. He's super cute.
When I started coming to visit Asheville with Andy almost 10 years ago, Asheville was still in the "getting trendy" stage. Asheville today is a hub of music, arts, and eats and people speak of it fondly as the place to be. It has a vibe and charm of it's own that's hard to describe. You'll find all types of people from all walks of life visiting, but the locals carry a certain Ashvillian air that's quite unique, though a "real" native is rare.
Asheville pops up on national rankings for a variety of things: "a New Age Mecca" (CBS News' Eye On America, 1996), the "New Freak Capital of the U.S." (Rolling Stone, 2000), one of "The 50 Most Alive Places To Be" (Modern Maturity, 2000), the "Happiest City for Women" (Self, 2002), one of the "Best Places to Reinvent Your Life" (AARP Magazine, 2003), one of the "Best Outside Towns" (Outside Magazine, 2006), one of the "Top Seven Places to Live in the U.S." (Frommer's, 2007), one of the “10 Most Beautiful Places in America" (Good Morning America, 2011), one of the "25 Best Places for Business and Careers" (Forbes, 2012), and one of "20 Great Cities For Writers" (Flavorwire, 2013). Asheville has been listed as one of the "Top 25 Small Cities for Art" in AmericanStyle magazine's annual list from 2000 to 2012 and has reigned the champion "Beer City USA" each year from 2009 to 2012. Does that give you a better feel for Asheville life?
Today we headed into downtown for lunch and play.
Exploring a new feature called Splashville at Pack Square Park in Downtown Asheville. Pyper doesn't realize she is standing right on a gyser ready to go off.
I think every time we head into town I discover a little more of Andy's past. "We use to skate here when it was...." "I washed dishes here." "Wow, I can't believe that's still here." "If it was like this when I was younger, I wouldn't have ever left."
When you walk around downtown, you can visually see the old and new styles collide in a very overwhelming way as lots of old buildings are filled with new businesses. It seems like every time we visit there's 5 more new restaurants in town. It definitely makes choosing your meals difficult. We even had that issue today.
So although it's an old stomping ground, it's ever changing personality keeps it fresh and fun for everyone in the family.
Congratulations Auntie Pauline and Uncle Andy. Ronin is a cutie and Pyper seems to think he's a keeper.
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