Festival season begins

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Bluegrass and barbecue

Local musicians perform this past weekend at the BBQ Cookoff and Bluegrass Festival at the WNC Farmers Market.

When the weather turns warm, it means festival season has begun in Asheville and the rest of Western North Carolina.

Bluegrass and barbecue set the tone this past weekend at the N.C. Farmers Market near Asheville. The free festival featured two things dear to mountain folks’ hearts: pickin’ and pulled pig.Guests at Inn on Main Street in Weaverville get a kick out of finding an authentic slice of Americana while they explore the area. We’ve got your Americana right here.

Here’s a sampling of the festivals to come:

Festival of Flowers at Biltmore Estate through May 31 - This isn’t so much a festival as an ongoing theme, a sea of blooms both growing and in over-the-top arrangements at America’s largest private residence. We sell tickets.

Weaverville Art Safari April 26-28 – Dear to our hearts, this is a fun fun fun self-guided studio tour.

The Best Firkin Beer Festival, April 27 – Highland Brewery is hosting this tasting of old-school cask beer. This is your great-grandpa’s brew.

The 24th Annual Herb Festival, May 3-5 – The best place to pick up starter plants of all sorts, as well as try handmade herbal cosmetics, salves and supplements.

Lake Eden Arts Festival, or LEAF, May 9-12 – Becoming known as one of the premier music festivals in the Southeast.

The 10th Annual Montford Music and Arts Festival, May 18 – The name says it all.

The 13th Annual Mountain Sports Festival, May 26 – A perennial favorite for mountain bikers and everyone else seeking a challenge in the great outdoors.

Asheville Beer Week, May 25-June 1 – A weeklong celebration of local libations culminating with the 4th annual Beer City Festival on June 1.

Those are just the festivals close to Weaverville and just those through May. Plenty more is going on. We’ll fill you in on more options when you get here.

Renewal at the old B&B

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A warm khaki paint job now gives the parlor a fresh and simpler look.

 

The rich burgundy of the dining room has a less busy look than the paisley wallpaper.

The past couple of years in January, we took a month-long break during Asheville‘s slow season for tourism, and became tourists ourselves in Mexico. OK, so we weren’t just tourists; we also got our teeth fixed at this great dentist.

This year, our off-season wish list of projects at Inn on Main Street got too long to take a month off, so after a too-short week of kayaking and cycling around Cedar Key in Florida, we put on the grubby clothes and dug in.

We stripped wallpaper and painted the parlor, rearranging the furnishings to obey the feng shui expertise of a friend. We were afraid of altering the Victorian authenticity of those rooms, but after we finished the parlor re-do, we realized that it doesn’t hurt to let go of some of that antique excess.

That redecorating felt so good, we decided to tear out the reddish paisley wallpaper in the dining room, and paint that room in a similar deep burgundy color. The result was startling, even though the color scheme didn’t change. The rich, dark walls show off the artwork and add to the warmth of the room. One guest said he felt like he was in an art gallery.

At that point, Nancy was unstoppable, and repainted the pink Monroe room in a light gray with very subtle pink undertones. The walls now project a rich and understated feel very different from the girly froufrou that we enjoyed, but found overwhelming. Now Nancy is eyeing the Ayers room for a similar treatment.

After 14 years as innkeepers here in Weaverville, we fight any tendency to get tired, or to let our inn look tired. A bed and breakfast should look historic, yet fresh. We especially want to keep the experience for returning guests comfortable and familiar, yet new and surprising.

As the weather warms and the back porch beckons, we hope that, like our rooms, familiar faces will return with new stories to tell.

Love and Chocolate in Weaverville

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Some scientists tell us that chocolate is an aphrodesiac. Guests of Inn on Main Street say the same thing about our rooms.

Put them together this Valentine’s weekend with a deal your heart and stomach can’t refuse. Stay two nights in a king, twins or cottage room on Valentine’s weekend (Feb. 15 and 16), and we’ll throw in a free gift certificate for some decadent goodies at French Broad Chocolate Lounge. Best of all, this deal can be combined with our regular packages like the Soaking Soulmates spa-and-Biltmore combo. Or add roses or one of our seasonal bouquet in a handmade mug.

All of the rooms eligilbe for this package include a fireplace and bathroom with a tub, a whirlpool in three of them. They’re all a great place to snuggle up on a brisk February day.

Winter B&B Deal

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Biltmore Estate orchids

Orchids at the Biltmore Estate conservatory give us our tropical fix each winter.

Things get pretty quiet around here in the winter.

The gardens are all dormant at the Biltmore Estate. The rafts and zipline gear are put up until spring. Sidewalks are cleared of cafe tables.

The biggest attraction is romance with your mate in front of the fireplace at Inn on Main Street in Weaverville. To help make that even more attractive, we’re giving you a pair of two-day tickets to the Biltmore Estate or a third night free with a two-night stay in a king or cottage room between Jan. 1 and April 4. That’s worth up to $179. The exception for that deal is Valentine’s weekend, Feb. 15 and 16, but if you come that weekend we’ll give you a free hour soak at Hot Springs Spa.

Winter is actually our favorite time at the Biltmore mansion. We get in our tropical fix at the conservatory, communing with the orchids, palms and banana trees. I keep threatening to bring in my own rum drink in coconut with a paper parasol and relax beneath the jungle canopy there, but Nancy refuses to join me.

Winter is also the time to avoid the tourist throngs in Asheville. The Biltmore is uncrowded, you don’t need reservations for any restaurants, and even the most popular hiking trails are yours alone. In fact, winter hiking is the best. Visibility is great with the leaves off the trees, and the crisp air sure beats the summer sweat weather.

Come see what makes the four seasons here all worth savoring. We’ll leave the light on.

 

Walk to a rocking New Year’s Eve

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Jackomo

Jackomo plays Dec. 31 at Jack of Hearts in Weaverville.

Two blocks to a rockin’ New Year’s Party – Our treat

Weaverville’s Inn on Main Street has always been a great place to stay during the holidays.

We have five rooms with fireplaces, romantic whirlpool tubs for two and a flexible breakfast schedule. We’re on the way to the tubs and massages at Hot Springs Spa, yet only 10 minutes from downtown Asheville.

But New Year’s Eve has always been a problem for us because our guests who want to party at midnight had to take a cab to Asheville or stay sober, and snow could complicate the trip.

We’ve always had restaurants open a stroll away, but they tended to quit serving around 9 p.m.

This year, Jack of Hearts Pub, which is only about two blocks from here, will have its rockin’ hometown Cajun band, Jackomo, playing until well after midnight. We’ve arranged to set aside tickets for our guests, and we’ll pick up the cover charge. You can choose to eat dinner at the pub, or stroll a bit farther down the street to Glass Onion for some fine Italian fare. We can make your reservations.

Who needs a designated driver when you’re only two blocks from your room? And snow? Forget about it. Book directly with Dan or Nancy, or online.

Pumpkin Muffins at Inn on Main Street

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pumpkin muffins are an Inn on Main Street specialty

Pumpkin muffins are an Inn on Main Street specialty

They’re chewy and definitely not your bakery-bought fluffy muffins. Inn on Main Street’s from-scratch pumpkin muffins, which are a whole lot like our sweet potato muffins, always are a favorite.

In mountain culture, there’s hog-slaughtering time when the frost comes. Since we don’t serve any variations of hog meat here at the inn, I think of it as pumpkin-slaughtering time in Weaverville. We cut up the pumpkins we put out for Halloweeen (but didn’t carve), and bake the chunks until the flesh is soft. We run the peeled chunks through the grater blade on the food processor and put up several bags of frozen pumpkin pulp, enough to make muffins and pumpkin bisque until the daffodils bloom. Yum.

The Grove Park Inn in Asheville has its gingerbread house tours around Christmas. Our own tradition is to put the ginger into something fun to eat.

I tend to use a lot of fruit in any muffins I make, so they tend to be pretty dense and chewy. Guests seem to like that, though I’m sure it would shock Betty Crocker. In any case, here’s one of the most requested recipes from Inn on Main Street.

Measurement and ingredient list (in order of use):

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup mashed pumpkin

1 Tbsp. unsulfured molasses

1 tsp. pure vanilla

2 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1/2 cup canola oil

1 egg

1 cup buttermilk

2 cups white unbleached all-purpose flour

Mix brown sugar, pumpkin pulp, molasses, vanilla and dry ingredients except flour. Mix in oil, egg and buttermilk. Add flour and mix as little as possible to blend ingredients. Spoon batter into muffin tins sprayed with vegetable oil. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until tops brown. Makes about a dozen muffins.

Let me know if this works out for you. Email dan@innonmain.com or visit us on Facebook.

Gotta love a Weaverville parade

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Hillbilly Tractor Pullers

Hillbilly Tractor Pullers mow down Main Street during our Weaverville Christmas parade

We joined our neighbors for a parade party today.

Macy’s may have its huge balloons in New York, but I’m willing to bet their Hillbilly Tractor Pullers convoy isn’t nearly as cute as Weaverville’s. And forget about their Future Farmers of America members waving their Christmas greetings from the bucket of a front-end loader. Bet they don’t even have FFA there.

And critters play a big role in our parade. In the past folks have brought pooches, but this time all the dogs were in laps in old cars or held by the arms that weren’t waving from floats. The horses were there again, though. Big magnificent work horses and mules, decked out in reindeer splendor, pulled wagons and carriages. And behind them in an ATV came a crew of city employees with a shovel. Way to go, Weaverville!

Our neighbors, Craig and Carolyn, hosted quite a potluck, with chicken chili and more kids than I’ve seen since we baby boombers ruled the streets. Their party lent even more of a flavor of old-fashioned, down-to-earth, celebration of humanity.

We at Inn on Main Street bed and breakfast wish everyone such a Christmas.

Craig and Carolyn's parade party

Party goers had streetside views and first dibs on candy tossed from floats.

 

 

Weaverville’s Candlelight Stroll returns

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Weaverville Christmas Candlelight Stroll carolers

Weaverville Christmas Candlelight Stroll carolers

Old-fashioned holiday fun is returning Dec. 7 with the Weaverville Candlelight Christmas Stroll. The immensely popular event is a free celebration of music, treats, and small-town shopping experience, focused on Weaverville’s historic downtown on Main Street.

Entertainment will be provided by the Montford Park Players, Southern Connection Cloggers, Asheville Choral Society, North Buncombe Middle School Band, Weaverville Dance Academy, and Sweet Adelines. Sponsors include Inn on Main Street bed and breakfast.

Other attractions include horse-and-buggy rides, a tree-lighting ceremony starring Santa Claus, and free hot chocolate. Local shops will be open and hosting strolling carolers, actors and other entertainers.

 

Grove Park Inn opens gingerbread display

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Edible architecture is again on display at the Grove Park Inn, which is exhibiting its annual gingerbread competition entries through Jan. 2.

As in years past, those who aren’t guests of the Asheville inn are allowed to visit on weekdays only. Staff there looked the other way, though, when guests of Inn on Main Street bed and breakfast went over on a Saturday or Sunday. This year, however, the inn said it was enforcing its guests-only policy on weekends. I’m not sure how they tell a guest from a non-guest, so you might wear a bathrobe so you appear to be heading from your room to the spa. Just kidding!

Another development that has locals upset is that the Grove Park Inn will charge non-guests $10-15 for parking this year. All the more reason to take the Asheville Trolley and jump off for an hour to take in the sights.

While you’re here to see the gingerbread, why not visit the Biltmore Estate for Candlelight Christmas tours? Adding the mystical reservation-only tour costs $20 on top of our two-day $55 pass, for a total of $75 per person. We have lots of openings here in Weaverville between now and New Year. You can book online if you like.

Downtown B&B is relative

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A mountain view and two blocks to cafes

A mountain view and a two-block stroll to cafes make Inn on Main Street a great place to be when the snow falls. Leave the car in the lot and snuggle up by the fire.

One of our biggest challenges is to get the word out that the most convenient place to stay in the Asheville area isn’t always in the Montford or Chestnut Hill neighborhoods of the city. Folks always ask us if we’re close to “downtown,” usually meaning the restaurant district of Asheville.

Our downtown Weaverville is only two blocks away, and features five fun and unique cafes, three of which offer live music. All offer a nice selection of craft beers and good wines. Why would anyone want to walk a half mile or more from their Montford B&B to find a place to eat?

If you plan to drive anyway, we are only 10 minutes from downtown Asheville, or maybe five more than it will take you to drive from your Montford B&B and park. Even then, parking is free and plentiful in downtown Weaverville, and only a mile away from us is the Stoney Knob Cafe, one of the most popular destinations for diners from – you guessed it – Asheville.

We love the Montford and Chestnut Hill B&Bs for their architecture and styles of service, but surely can’t understand the perception that they are more conveniently located. Here at Inn on Main Street, you can enjoy views of the mountains, a quiet and safe stroll to cafes and our famous craft galleries, plus all the charm and personal attention that comes natural in a small town.

If you don’t believe us, check out what our guests say on TripAdvisor, where we are ranked first among Weaverville bed and breakfasts.