Call it summer love: I was nineteen when I fell hard for Asheville, the mountainous urban anchor of Western North Carolina. As an interning reporter at the newspaper in the nearby town where my grandparents lived, I slipped away to Asheville every weekend I, a cool-air-loving plant in the same family (the tea family) as camellias. Native to the South, species known as “mountain camellia” and “silky camellia” bloom in summer. Right around the Fourth of July, I tagged along with a naturalist who knew just where to look and stood in reverence when I saw the flower’s purple center surrounded by tender white petals unfurled in the shade. ¶ Since that summer fourteen years ago, Asheville has expanded, too, from a quiet mountain town to the brewery capital of the country, with award-worthy restaurants and chic new hotels. The city and surrounding Buncombe County now beckon a steady stream of visitors—including, most recently, an influx of big-city escapees seeking fresh air during the pandemic—and locals have responded with new options for dining, drinking, and lodging. ¶ And yet for all that growth, Asheville still manages to feel like its own pocket of personality, a city completely sure of its own identity as a place that supports dreamers—artisans, musicians, chefs, and nature lovers alike. You’ll find a fly-fishing paradise along the French Broad River; on a walk downtown, you may hear mountain music from a classic venue such as the Grey Eagle, or a new band at the cocktail lounge Crow & Quill; in the South Slope neighborhood, restaurants, breweries, and even an innovative distillery might surprise you with Carolina flavors; burgeoning West Asheville’s trails will put you outside in the breeze; and clusters of antique stores and artist studios around the River Arts District will tempt you to take a piece of Asheville home with you. ¶ Even though I’ve traveled often over the years back there from Charleston, South Carolina, where I now live and write about gardens across the South for G—in all this time, I’ve never again seen that native camellia. So I set out on an adventure this spring: Here’s how I recently spent an ideal weekend in Asheville searching for my new favorite restaurants, mountain antiques, and one elusive flower.
