Asheville, NC Driving Tips
Look out for the moronic drivers that think the speed limit is the number of the route they are on. They also like to weave in and out of traffic. Basically, you have no alternative but to try to keep up with the flow of the traffic or you will get run over.
Asheville, NC Buying Tips
I don't care what city one is in, I feel everyone should ask for the Car Fax. This is at least some protection when buying an unknown quantity. I will say vehicles are very inexpensive in the NC area where I live. Keeping that in mind, I would truly ask for the Car Fax.
Favorite Driving Memory
The last time I drove on interstate 40, which runs right thru Asheville, it was a Friday afternoon & the traffic was just crazy. Asheville, in the event you don't know, is a very mountainous area -- the interstate doesn't differ either -- just as many mountains, complete with far right lanes for big
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trucks who are having a bad time with climbing those mountains with a load on. There are really big curves & people exceed the speed limit; it made me wonder if they had a death wish or something. There I am, tooling along in my GMC Envoy, digging on the Bose stereo and trying not to get run over. On the downhill sides of the mountain, the big semi trucks finally get wound up and you got 3 - 4 lanes across in some areas. I had trucks that decided to pull a shuck & jive on the down side of the mountain; one about took off my front quarter panel and I really wondered if the dude was trying to slap me off the road with his back tandems. Then the other maniacs -- mostly with Carolina tags on their vehicles-- are whizzing you and act like 65 or 70 miles per hour is like crawling to them. They cut you off, they refuse to get over if others are entering the highway from an on ramp, they swap lanes like they own all of them, which technically, if they live in NC and pay taxes, they do... anyway, it was extremely stressful and I opted to pick a lane and just try to stay in it until I could negotiate an off ramp. My heart was in my throat by the time I reached my destination and I have decided I will not make the mistake of going thru Asheville, NC on a Friday afternoon ever again. Of course, I have been through there at various times and days of the week and it really isn't much different then, either. There are a bunch of lunatics on the road over there!
Favorite Road
None of them!
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Interstate 40 runs right thru the heart of Asheville . While the drivers are crazy and the traffic is horrendous at the best of times, the entire stretch of road through Asheville is awesome. You can see the mountains off in the distance, as well as the mountain you are on at that point in time. The
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re are huge long sweeping curves, along with sharper bends in the road and basically, the summer is the best time to go through there. Nobody in their right mind would ever dream of making that particular stretch of road in the middle of a snowstorm, for instance. They have also had some really bad rockslides in that area that have closed the road for months at a time. It is unique & beautiful, but beware of the moronic drivers with death wishes.
Asheville, NC Driving Tips
The number one piece of advice I would have for a new comer to the city is to pay attention. Asheville is filled with a generalized population of people who probably shouldn't have their driver's licenses. It doesn't help that the roads can be confusing--particularly downtown with one ways, and craz
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y lanes that begin and end sporadically. Also, avoid Patton and South Tunnel at all costs during rush hour.
Asheville, NC Buying Tips
I've come to find that people in Asheville are super friendly and honest, even car salesmen. There are a ton of small, independent dealers everywhere. Come to think of it, I don't recall a single corporate dealer in Asheville. This independent and local attitude is indicative of the city itself. I w
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ould also highly recommend getting a car with four or all wheel drive, for the hills and the snow.
Favorite Driving Memory
I love driving through the city at night. The only thing better than that is hopping on the Blue Ridge Parkway and getting high enough in the mountains where you can basically see the whole sky, away from the light pollution. It's absolutely breath taking. The temperature is just right, with a light
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breeze. It gives one the feeling of truly being free--even if you are just driving through the mountains.
Favorite Road
Clingman Ave
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This road is absolutely gorgeous. It is lined with houses new and old, and it's a perfect melding of the two worlds--much like the city of Asheville. Clingman Avenue runs from historically preserved downtown Asheville (a very well known part of the city) to the River Arts District (a tucked away Ash
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evillian secret). The River Arts District is an old industrial part of town that has since been turned into a tucked-away art mecca, filled with small restaurants and art galleries (with an emphasis on glassblowing, at the moment). If you've ever been to Asheville, it's easy to see why this route would be an instant favorite.
Asheville, NC Driving Tips
It can get pretty backed up when there's a train rolling through, so learn the ways around the tracks. Don't expect to turn left out of any business, so try and plan your errands around that. Fridays in the summer are pretty bad, so try and leave work/school early or on time.
Asheville, NC Buying Tips
There are a few little auto lots in Asheville, but you'll get a better deal if you drive to Hendersonville (about 35-45 minutes away). Most of the little lots are used cars. There are a few buy here/pay here lots, but you really don't want to go that route.
Favorite Driving Memory
Asheville is such an eclectic city. I love driving around and seeing the different sites. There are so many things that make this city unique. There's Sister Bad Habit, which is a "nun" who drives one of the tallest bikes I've ever seen. And the pedal-bar, it's a bar with bike pedals that you have t
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o use to actually drive the bar down the street. The first time I drove through Asheville I knew I was home.
Favorite Road
Biltmore Ave
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I love this part of the road because it's so curvy. Going uphill on the curves, it just makes me feel alive. I like going downhill as well, but not as much. This is a road that I would like for the city to shut down one day, just for me of course, and I'd rent a race car and just drive up and down i
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t until they made me stop. And when I get hungry, there's a great sub shop to stop at near the beginning of the stretch.