Day Trips From Hendersonville, NC
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Asheville Community Theatre
Asheville Community Theatre
35 East Walnut Street
Asheville, NC 28801
(828) 254-1320
Asheville Community Theatre is locally known as ACT and is located at 35 East Walton Street. ACT is the oldest continuously operating theatre in Asheville and one of the oldest community theatres in the nation.
In July of each year the Asheville Community Theatre presents a week of fund raising called Dramarama. One Dramarama event is Costume Drama - a fashion show where models show apparels made from unusual materials such as paper, flowers, and plastic. The costumes are modeled on stage and the audiences vote by ballot to select the best in each category and the best in show. The show was a sell-out in 2013.
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Downtown Asheville NC
Asheville is 26 miles and 30 minutes from Hendersonville.
Asheville is a unique city, surrounded by beautiful mountains, and has many attractions. The Biltmore Estates, the largest home in the United States with 250 rooms and 178,900 square feet in living space, is very popular with visitors. Once 125,000 acres, there is 75 acres remaining that include a formal gardens, a conservatory, a winery, and a 213 room hotel. Hiking trails, biking trails, a lake, horseback riding, and several restaurants provide other attractions.
Another popular attraction in Asheville is the Grove Park Inn and Spa.
Asheville provides multiple accesses to the Blue Ridge Parkway. One convenient access that is 5.5 miles from in town Asheville is Tunnel Road (Hwy. 70) East about 0.5 miles pass the VA Hospital on the left.
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Biltmore Estate
Biltmore Estate
Biltmore Estate
Biltmore Estate
Asheville, NC 28803
Monday - Sunday: 9:00a - 5:00p
The Biltmore House is a four-story French Renaissance manor which was built between 1889 and 1895. It is the largest privately owned house in the United States. The house has 178,926 square feet of floor space and 135,280 square feet of living area, which covers about 4 acres. The exterior walls are Indiana limestone. The steeply pitched roof has a copper roofline with Vanderbilt's initials repeatedly inscribed along the crest. The estate has 8,000 acres.
There is a total of 250 rooms. When bathrooms were unheard of, Biltmore House had 43. There are 65 fireplaces and three kitchens, along with 34 bedrooms, a grand Banquet Hall and a Library containing 10,000 volumes. The staircase is one of the more prominent features with its three-story winding balustrades with carved statures. There are 16 chimneys and are covered with slate tiles. 
The Banquet Hall is the largest room in the house, measuring 42 feet wide and 72 feet long, with a 70-foot-high barrel-vaulted ceiling. The table could seat 64 guests.
There is additional living space on the second floor with the more lavish guest bedrooms and suites. The third floor have additional guest rooms. The forth floor has 21 bedrooms for the housemaids, laundresses, and other female servants. Male servants were housed in rooms above the stable and complex.
Located in the basement level included an indoor 70,000 gallon heated swimming pool with underwater lighting, a bowling alley, and a gymnasium with once state-of-the-art fitness equipment. There was also a pastry kitchen, rotisserie kitchen, walk-in refrigerators, servants' dining hall, laundry rooms and additional bedrooms for staff.
Biltmore Estates hosts a musical festival each year. Visit their website at Biltmore Concert Series for a program and schedule.
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Diana Wortham Theatre
Diana Wortham Theatre
2 South Pack Square
Asheville, NC 28801
(828) 257-4530
Diana Wortham Theater is located in the Pack Square District on Biltmore Avenue. The center of the Square contains the Vance Memorial obelisk; so it is easy to spot. The theater presents live performances of dance, music and plays. Most of the performances are performed by professional groups. Nationally touring artists are also hosted. There are both matinees and evening performances. See the Diana Wortham Theater Schedule (overview).
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Grove Arcade
Grove Arcade
1 Page Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801
(828) 252-7799
The Grove Arcade was a dream of E. W. Grove, self made millionaire, who completed construction of the Grove Park Inn in 1915.
The Arcade was closed when the Federal Government took over the building as part of the effort to win World War II. It was renovated and re-opened in 2002.
The Arcade includes shops, restaurants, offices and 42 luxury apartments. The Arcade remains Western North Carolina’s largest commercial building and has become a wonderful new downtown resource for residents and visitors.
The Arcade is listed in the Registry of Historical Places.
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Grove Park Inn
Grove Park Inn
290 Macon Avenue
Asheville, NC 28804
(828) 252-2711
The is two miles from downtown Asheville. The Inn is worth a visit even if you do not stay at the Inn. There are historic landmarks, art galleries, and interesting architecture. There are several restaurants offering a variety of cuisines.
The Grove Park Inn Spa is one of the best spas to be found. The subterranean spa features 43,000 square feet of relaxation. Soak in the mineral pools with soothing underwater music and therapeutic waterfall pools. Relax in the sauna or savor mountain views from the spectacular outdoor whirlpool.
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North Carolina Arboretum
North Carolina Arboretum
North Carolina Arboretum100 Frederick Law Olmsted Way
Asheville, NC 28805
Hours:
April - October
Monday - Sunday 8:00a - 9:00p (entrance gate closes at 8 p.m.)
November - March
Monday - Sunday 8:00a - 7:00p (entrance gate closes at 6 p.m.)
There is no admission fee, but there is a parking fee ($16.00 per vehicle as of March, 2020).
The North Carolina Arboretum is a 434-acre public garden located in the Bent Creek Experimental Forest in the Pisgah National Park. The arboretum is located about 10 miles from downtown Asheville. Visitors can stroll through 65 acres of gardens which include the National Native Azalea Collection, the Bonsai Exhibition Garden, a Heritage Garden that celebrates Southern Appalachian horticulture, a holly garden and a stream garden. Its tree collection includes a set of Metasequoias planted in 1950, and now said to be the tallest in the south (over 100 feet in height). The arboretum also includes many hiking and bicycling trails.
The arboretum offers free guided tours on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday.
Time to spend is 1 to 2 hours
Some of the gardens are:
- Blue Ridge Quilt Garden - parterre reflecting quilt designs of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
- Dickinson Holly Garden - a variety of American and non-native hollies.
- French Broad River Watershed Training Center - Educational programs relating to streambanks and waterways, pasture management, stormwater runoff, and erosion control.
- Heritage Garden - a demonstration garden for plants used in traditional Western North Carolina crafts, including dye-making, basketry, paper-making, and broom-making.
- National Native Azalea Repository - a streamside garden representing almost every azalea species native to the United States, with cultivated varieties and hybrids. This repository is part of the North American Plant Collections Consortium.
- Plant Professional Landscape Garden (2 acres) - a study, training, and testing site that contains 250+ ornamental plants from the Certified Plant Professional exam.
- Plants of Promise Garden - residential demonstration gardens that include plants being evaluated for the Southern Appalachian region.
- Stream Garden - a formal setting of trees, shrubs and perennials.
- Support Facility Perennial Border - perennial flowers.
The arboretum's bonsai collection has about 100 display specimens which include Asian trees, Japanese maple, Chinese elm.
| From | Route | Distance | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asheville | I-240 W | 11 Miles | 20 Minutes |
|
Brevard |
NC-280 W and NC-191 N | 25 Miles | 40 Minutes |
| Hendersonville | I-26 W | 19 Miles | 30 Minutes |
| Hendersonville | NC-191 N | 18 Miles | 33 Minutes |
Driving directions:
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Smith-McDowell House
Smith-McDowell House Museum
283 Victoria Road
Asheville, NC 28801
(828) 253-9231
Hours:
Wednesday - Saturday: 10:00a - 4:00p
Admission:
Adults: $9
Children 8-18: $5
Children under 7: Free
Students with ID: $5
Smith-McDowell House Museum is Asheville's oldest surviving dwelling and is in the registry of National Historic Properties. It is also the oldest brick structure in Buncombe county.
The 4-story mansion was built on a plantation south of Asheville approximately twenty years before the Civil War. The Smith-McDowell house is one of the most beautiful and opulent homes in the area and was built in the Victorian tradition. Take a tour of the home and see some of the architecture wonders; from the brick walls that are 12 to 20 inches thick to the original floor's mantles, window frames, and door frames dating from the 1840s.
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Thomas Wolfe House
Thomas Wolfe House
52 North Market Street
Asheville, NC 28801
(828) 253-8304
Hours:
Tuesday – Saturday: 9:00a – 5:00p
Sunday & Monday: CLOSED
Closed State Holidays
Admission:
Adult - $5.00
Student (ages 7-17) - $2.00
Adult Group (10+) - $2.50 each
Student Group - $2.00 each
6 & under - Free
Thomas Wolfe is best know for his autobiographical novel, Look Homeward, Angel.
Because Thomas Wolfe's writing of his memories growing up in the boarding house were so frank and realistic his book Look Homeward, Angel was banned from Asheville's public library for more than seven years when it was first printed.
His mother's boardinghouse, known as "The Old Kentucky Home Boarding House" and is now the Thomas Wolfe Memorial, has become one of literature's most famous landmarks.