Crabtree Falls

Sunday, May 27, 2012

The Big Crafty

Here's a downtown festival we went to a few weekends ago. Asheville is very artsy, and there's always something fascinating taking place. One of the reasons this city is so vibrant is the fact that people from all over the country are moving or traveling here. When you have a dynamic cross-section of people in one place, one of the pluses is that there's diverse thinking and living styles, and people bring their unique ideas and plug them into what's already here. This vibrancy is key to Asheville's lead in bouncing back from the economic malaise that hit the country a few years ago. Facebook and Google have built huge data centers in this region. Asheville is the country's beer city, and the number of micro-breweries is growing and growing. Tourism remains strong. National accolades and praise is certainly noteworthy. For me personally, living here is quite wonderful. Besides art fairs, film festivals and cool dining experiences, all of which I adore, Asheville, with the surrounding mountains and waterfalls and rivers, displays a natural beauty that I continue to find compelling. The natural bounty that surrounds this area is remarkable. Even when I have a bad day, I can always count on looking at those mountains and hiking to a waterfall. The pleasure I get from these "free" things not only sustains me, but enhances my outlook and reinvigorates me. Hats off to you, Asheville!

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