Asheville Cabin Rental Blog

Saluda Mountain Lake Retreat encourages all past guest to our cabins to post comments about their vacation on this blog. See the Menu Bar for instructions. You can also post any pictures you took on our Photo Gallery.

UNC Asheville’s Literature and Language Department will host a reading by noted North Carolina poet Al Maginnes at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16, at UNC Asheville’s Laurel Forum, Karpen Hall. He will read from his most recent collection,” Ghost Alphabet,” which was the winner of the White Pine Poetry Prize. The book will be published this fall. The event is free and open to the public.

Maginnes is the author of several collections of poetry, including “Taking Up Our Daily Tools,” “The Light in Our Houses” and “Film History.” His poems have also appeared in numerous journals, including Poetry, Shenandoah, The Georgia Review and Tar River Poetry. Maginnes holds a bachelor’s degree in English from East Carolina University and a master’s in creative writing from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. For the past 15 years, Maginnes has taught writing courses at Wake Technical Community College in Raleigh. He lives in Raleigh with his wife and daughter.

For more information, call UNC Asheville’s Literature & Language Department at 828/251-6411.

Judi Lampert, noted flutist and UNC Asheville adjunct music professor, will hold a recital at 4 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 13, in UNC Asheville’s Lipinsky Auditorium. Lampert will be joined by soprano Melodie Galloway, pianist Elsa O’Farrell, percussionist Matthew Richmond, and Vance Reese on double bass. The program will feature the debut of “Divertimento,” a new composition for flute and marimba by Richmond. Classical and jazz pieces by Boehm, Delibes and Bolling will round out the program. Admission is $5 at the door.

Lampert holds a master’s degree in music performance from Illinois State University. Upon graduation, she became a professional musician. She played with the Illinois Symphony for 20 years and soloed with several orchestras in Illinois and North Carolina. Lampert has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and Orchestra Hall in Chicago. A longtime resident of Asheville, Lampert has played with the Asheville and Greenville Symphonies as well as the Spartanburg Philharmonic, performs at Biltmore Estate as a soloist.

For more information 828/251-6432.

Asheville Arts Center South
Open House Fest
August 14

Free Sample Classes. Ballet, Irish Dance, Musical Theatre, Kindermusik, Acting, Parents Morning Out! Crafts for kids! Free 10-minute music lessons: guitar, voice, piano, and more. Experience the Arts Center’s diverse classes for all ages and meet instructors.
4-7 p.m.
Asheville Arts Center South , 9 Summit Ave, Suite B, near intersection of Hendersonville Rd and Long Shoals Rd.
Information and RSVP at 253-4000.

Parents Morning Out Open Houses
August 15

The Asheville Arts Center’s music & arts based Parents Morning Out program invites parents and children to experience the program and meet instructors.

Asheville Arts Center North, 366 Merrimon Ave. (behind Atlanta Bread)
9-11 a.m
ALSO
Arts Center South,  9 Summit Ave, Suite B, near intersection of Hendersonville Rd and Long Shoals Rd.
12-3 p.m.

Information, call 253-4000.

Asheville Arts Center Main Location
Open House
August 15

Free Sample Classes- Ballet, Irish Dance, Musical Theatre, Acting! Free Performances- Irish Dance, Rock Band, Musical Theatre. Crafts for kids! Free 10-minute music lessons for guitar, violin, drums, voice, piano, and more. Experience the Arts Center’s diverse classes for all ages and meet instructors.
5-8 p.m
Asheville Arts Center Main Location
308 Merrimon Ave.
Information and RSVP at 253-4000.

ASHEVILLE, NC—  Flood Gallery Fine Art Center is proud to present the first Asheville solo exhibition of artist Jim Buonaccorsi, entitled “No Fear of Content.”  Buonaccorsi’s work, on view August 23rd through September 27th, acts as salt in the open wound of complacency and translates life’s fears and meanings into a universal language. Essentially discrediting the idea of “art for art sake.”  Buonaccorsi’s work is saturated with historical references, and offers its viewers an opportunity to change history by not repeating it.

Buonaccorsi’s work has been included in over one hundred and thirty exhibitions, including solo exhibitions at City Gallery Chastain in Atlanta, Georgia, 621 Gallery in Tallahassee, Florida, Fugitive Art Center in Nashville, Tennessee and Marshall Arts in Memphis, Tennessee. His work has received numerous awards including the Reese Collection Annual Purchase Award at the University of Tennessee and The Martin and Doris Rosen Award at the Rosen Outdoor Sculpture Competition, Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina. He also received a Georgia State Council for the Arts Individual Artist Grant and the M.G. Michael Award for outstanding research and two Senior Faculty research grants at the University of Georgia.

Buonaccorsi is based in Farmington, Georgia with his wife and fellow artist, LeeAnn Mitchell, along with their Bull Terrier Cosimo.  Buonaccorsi received his B.A. from Rhode Island College in 1982 and his M.F.A. from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1984.  He is currently an Associate Professor with the University of Georgia.

“No Fear of Content” opens Saturday, August 23rd at 7pm and runs through September 27, 2008. The opening reception is free and open to the public, and will take place in the Flood Gallery located on the second floor of the Phil Mechanic Studios Building.

Asheville - Morsels Cupcakes, Asheville’s bake-to-order gourmet cupcake business, rocked the annual Mountain Farm Lavender Festival with its Lavender-Vanilla Cupcake on Saturday and Sunday.  “Most people were curious about how lavender would taste in cake,” said Nancy Corley, owner of Morsels.

The Lavender-Cream Brulée cupcake was a sellout. “ We infused the cream with Mountain Farm Lavender and it tastes fantastic. Many thanks to Jenny Kommit of Stovetrotters Restaurant for helping us develop it.”

“Mountain Farm also inspired a high bush blueberry-almond cupcake. We picked the blueberries less than 200 feet from our sales tent. That’s what I call fresh!” said Pam Hotch, Morsels Cupcakes’ festival coordinator.

“We felt fortunate to be a part of Mountain Farm’s Festival.. We like to buy local whenever possible, and Marilyn Cade’s work here makes it easy to do that.”

Every year on the last weekend in July Asheville holds it’s annual Bele Chere Festival, The biggest free music festival in the South East United States. People from all over the nation converege on Asheville, North Carolina to experience the unique city and the music.
For More Info Check Out Their Website

F.A.Q.

Where exactly is Bele Chere?
In the central downtown business area, with Pack Square roughly at the center.

When is Bele Chere?

July 25, 2008 from 12pm-to-11pm
July 26, 2008 from 10am-to-11pm
July 27, 2008 from Noon to 6 p.m.

What does the name mean?
Bele Chere really means “beautiful living” in old Scottish, not French like so many people think.

How do I get there?
You have a couple of options. You can drive to the festival or you can ride the Bele Chere Shuttle. If you drive, be aware parking is at a premium during peak times, but all the parking decks in the downtown area are open for business. The two shuttle routes - one from the east and one from the west - run approximately every 20 minutes and the cost is $3 roundtrip.

Where do I park my car?
Parking Decks are located at the Asheville Civic Center, on Wall Street on Rankin Avenue, and at the BB&T Bank. Several other lots will also be open, though most of them charge fees

A local Asheville woman, Michelle Gibson Ryans trimmed off tickets from various scratch off games and glued them back together to build herself a winning lotto ticket. The North Carolina Lottery Commission called the Asheville P.D. after she took the ticket into their office to claim the price.

Police have discovered that she formally used the name Michelle Joyce Gibson and had also been charged with murder and child abuse charges in the death of her eight year old son, though she was later acquitted. The child died from heat-stroke will locked in the car while she was at work.

And I’m not sure what kind of sentence you can get for forging a lottery ticket, I’m sure its a relatively long one.

Barack Obama has won enough delegates to secure the Democratic Nomination. Obama, the winner of the North Carolina Primary has secured enough delegates already in South Dakota, along with many national super delegates. He surpassed the 2,118 mark around nine o’ clock this afternoon. Mrs. Clinton is expected to concede shortly, though she has threatened to take her fight all the way to the convention. This could be a possibility if Obama does not offer her the Vice Presidential spot. Many believe that there is too much bad blood between the two for this to happen.