Swannanoa Springtime

  Not the Swannanoa River this time, but the unincorporated town of the same name.

I sometimes visit a friend who lives there, and always wonder at some of the old beautiful homes. But a week or so ago, the homes also had spring blooms.

I believe these homes are part of Grovemont-on-Swannanoa, the nation’s pioneer planned community

It's the 100-Year anniversary of Grovemont !

It was the brainchild of developer E.W. Grove, who in 1924, was also building the Battery Park Hotel in Asheville.

In Asheville you also can visit the Grove Arcade (not a game room! but some upscale shops in a building originally designed for offices.) And you wouldn't want to miss the Grove Park Inn, a huge old inn with golf course and many restaurants as well. It certainly has been featured before in my blogs, for instance Here.

Today's quote:

 Annie Dillard said "... the impulse to keep to yourself what you have learned is not only shameful, it is destructive. Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes.”

New to me restaurant

 Well, here I was last Saturday, meeting friends at the Loott House in Swannanoa. It's in the same building and set-up as Native Kitchen was, which died with Covid or there-abouts. The old restaurant had good reviews and loyal customers, but the food is much the same in this new-edition. (I heard the same chef is in charge in the new restaurant.) The building has been painted black, now visible from Hwy 70, a two story black block all by itself. 

There's this strange wall hanging, which would probably be fun for young sticky fingered kids to tear apart, but I liked the tactile quality of it. Soft stuff, besides the plastic ferns.

We had a nice lounge room to ourselves ( probably because not heated)...but as we left we saw the high tops and bar were all busy with hungry people. 

Simple menu, but each serving was prepared with eye pleasing piles of food.

My Falafel Burger was delicious, though I deconstructed it to eat it with fork. Sweet potato waffle fries were good, but of course got cold by the time I finished them (and being an avid fan of them, I ate them cold anyway!) My friends got the crispy chicken sandwich which she didn't rave about (perhaps because she skipped the sauce), and another friend had the Loott Salad with added chicken...it looked really good and she ate every bite.

All in all, getting there early (11:30) on Saturday was a good thing, and we wouldn't have minded others in our area, but we sure could hear kids in the next dining room...they were having a lot of fun!

I hope if you're ever in the area you might want a lunch there. I'll definitely be back.

Today's quote:

Like a tree, our growth depends upon our ability to soften, loosen, and shed defenses we no longer need.

Swannanoa, NC

I'm posting just one picture of the former Beacon Blanket Factory, and will have more to say over here on my other blog, When I was Sixty Nine.
Today's a great chance to click on some links to go exploring!

Former site of the Beacon Blanket factory.