A short trip to Asheville

Although I still consider myself an Asheville 'local' - envisioning myself there on a daily basis - I actually relocated to our Chapel Hill office about 2 months ago. Since Carolina Mornings has our home base in Asheville, those of us here in the center of the state get to regularly spend time up in the mountains. It's a pretty nice arrangement (and it keeps me from leaving here and running away back to Asheville for good)!

I was lucky enough to be in town about a month ago, and stayed in one of our East Asheville hideaways, Deer Run. This time around I'll be with Asheville friends from Monday evening - Thursday evening, and thought I would share my personal itinerary, all the favorite things I'm dying to do as a former local and some new things I haven't gotten to try yet.

Martini Mondays at Temptations
Temptations has pretty good specials each night of the week, but Mondays are my favorite - $5 martinis all night long. They make a really great dirty martini with garlic stuffed olives, and also have a list of intriguing novelty martinis (of which I enjoy the Dirty Girl Scout).
Location: Downtown on Biltmore Ave, near Pack Place

Eat, drink micro brews, and watch a movie
Option 1: Asheville Pizza & Brewing Company. Highlights include great pizza, micro brews, and $3 movies. There's an open restaurant in the front, or a theater in the back where you can order from the full menu while you watch the movie (staff shouts your name when food is ready). Who can resist that combo? Movies change weekly and can be found on the Web site.
Location: Merrimon Ave - look for the big building painted with movie scenes. Photo from the Asheville Pizza & Brewing Company Web site.

Option 2: Cinebarre. Highlights include amazing popcorn, beer & wine, and newly released movies. A 'fancier' version of Asheville Pizza (higher prices too). Multiple theaters means multiple movies, and a waitstaff to take orders from your seats and bring you food and drinks during the movie.
Location: Biltmore Square Mall, West Asheville

Eat out. A lot.
Tupelo Honey Cafe is, hands down, my favorite place to eat. (I also love Sunday brunch at Corner Kitchen, which I'll miss this time around. Carolina Mornings offers a lot of specials with Corner Kitchen, as it's regularly recommended by national publications, locals, and visitors.)
Instead of my favorite regular sushi restaurant, Green Tea, I'll probably try Kubo's (see the Sushi post).
Since I haven't been yet, I'll try the French Broad Chocolate Lounge for their famed liquid truffles.
And finally, I will definitely go get an éclair (the size of my head!) at Well-Bred Bakery in Weaverville.

For more to do in Asheville and the surrounding area, see links in the sidebar and scroll through our previous posts!

Good Wi-Fi spots for visitors

Although many of our properties at Carolina Mornings have high-speed Internet, there may be several reasons a visitor (or even a local) might want or need to know about the best Wi-Fi coffee shops in town. So here's a list:

The Dripolator-
Easy to find, downtown on Biltmore Ave.
Great atmosphere, great coffee, great food.
There is a free parking lot, but it's likely to be full, this place is popular.

Gourmet Perks-
I add this with some unfortunate reluctance. Until the past few months this was my favorite place to grab a great cup of coffee, really tasty and cheap breakfast sandwich, and settle in to get some good work done. But I've had a series of negative experiences, mostly involving the staff and some quality control issues (man, burnt croissants taste really awful). I keep thinking - desperately hoping - it will get more reliable again!
Regardless, it's a convenient location (on Merrimon Ave, between UNCA's campus and downtown) and a spot to grab free wireless and a decent cup of coffee.

Mountain Java-
(Used to be Port City Java, not a great chain but better than this independent version. An employee easily confessed with a tone, I noticed, of bitterness, that the owner de-franchised himself to get more money.)
Convenient with several locations, covering every side of town. Sub par drinks, but great tables for spreading out and getting some work done. Can't lose if you're looking for a cup of hot tea, a muffin, and lots of elbow room.

Well-Bred Bakery-
A perfect choice for anyone on the Weaverville side of things. Really great deserts and pastries, good specialty side dishes (quiche, salad, veggies, etc) that make a good meal or snack. Plus the drinks are consistently good. The place is really cozy and the Wi-Fi reliable. Keep in mind your cell phone may not work, Weaverville in general has spotty phone service (Verizon appears to be the best).

BlogAsheville also has a good entry on this topic, with some helpful comments.