West Asheville Garden Stroll --- Another in our series of Ex-NYer Walks

FAMILY FRIENDLY, FOLKS! TIME CHANGE TO 10:30AM, MEET AT POST OFFICE AT 10-10:15 AM.[/b] PLEASE READ THIS UPDATE. FOR FULL INFO, PLEASE GO TO www.westashevillegardens.com AND READ THE PRESS RELEASE: Opening Ceremony begins at 10:30 am at the West Asheville Library, 924 Haywood Road. The kickoff event will feature special guest Allan Wolf, author, poet, performer and educator who lives in Asheville, North Carolina and a member of the Falconhurst Community Garden. The Stroll will begin promptly at 11:00am and Stroll Guides will be handed out beginning at that time. Volunteers will be at the library throughout the garden stroll hours to hand out guides and assist with information to get you started on an exciting day of visiting the great gardens of West Asheville. One of the nice things about West Asheville is that one can walk the entire section of town in a short amount of time. So, let's meet in Westville and/or carpool in from West Asheville Post Office on Patton Ave--meeting place subject to change, I'll update everyone as the date draws near. We can just take a nice leisurely walk, pop in and out of stores, get a delicious beverage, burn some calories, tone some muscles, and just have a nice relaxing afternoon. An urban hike, if you will. A little healthy and low key fun. Another in our Ex-NYer Walking Series is the Annual West Asheville Garden Stroll (WAGS), a free community event. Fairly self-explanatory, this is one of Asheville�s beautiful and somewhat secret events highlighting the talents and beauty found in so many nooks and crannies here in WNC. Here�s the link to the info for this lovely walk. www.westashevillegardens.com/ �Children are very welcome in our West Asheville gardens! As a matter of fact, one of our goals is to inspire and enable parents and kids to get involved in gardening, both in community endeavors and at home.� When we are not oo-ing and ah-ing at the beautiful blooms and artistic arrangements, we can hit Haywood Road and enjoy all this part of town has to offer. http://onhaywood.com Other helpful links for West Asheville: www.west-ashevile.com www.ashevillegreenworks.org Some of us are very familiar with West Asheville. Haywood Road is another section of Asheville that is experiencing a slow-rolling renaissance, reminding me of sections in Pittsburgh, Johnson City and many other towns where small business owners are reopening and revamping what might not have been the nicer parts of town. Today in Westville, there are many wonderful little stores and restaurants. Grove Park Market moved into the co-op space right across from the very tasty West End Bakery. This seems to be the Hair District with the many barbers and salons. My barber, Tom, with his old-timey barber pole, is the best IMO. Many consignment shops and Mexican stores help keep the diversity and flavor of this section of Asheville. From Baptist to Bohemian, there is something for everyone in Westville. Standard Pizza and U-Joint are in old gas stations. I like seeing old gas stations morphing into all sorts of new businesses. Sunny Point, Lucky Otter, Pastabillities, Westville Pub and many other places to eat stretch the length of Haywood Road. Hops and Vines, Westville Pub and Tolliver�s Pub cater to the imbiber. On Chris� recommendation, I tried Standard Pizza last week. They sell slices unlike many other southern pizza joints and the slices were large, like Ray�s. James who is from Albany took my order. The pizza was very good though I think the ovens need some curing time. For a totally different crust, I enjoy Digable�s spelt pie once in a while.