Monday, June 24, 2013

Rving at Lake Junaluska & The Grove Park Inn

As I mentioned in an earlier post, our RV trip into Western NC was anchored around providing a place for son Eric to bunk while attending a conference at Lake Junaluska and do a little visiting with him.  We left Franklin on Jun 9 and moved 40 miles north to the Outdoor Adventure Campground which is owned by the church and exists to provide a camping facilities for folks attending the various events that take place.

Its reason for existence is obvious in the fact that it is not very well maintained in an effort to attract drive-in campers and I would not recommend it to other RVers.  Other than visiting with Eric, the highlight of this stop was a drive over to Asheville and lunch at the Grove Park Inn - a place the SIL had been wanting to visit for a long time. 

It is a spectacular hotel, opening in July, 1913 as a place for the rich and famous to cool it and get well (if ailing) in the North Carolina mountains – not everyone could hang out with ole George at the Biltmore House.  Ten US presidents along with many wealthy businessmen and celebrities have been guests – check the Wikipedia site for some of them.

I’ve included a few of my photos, but stopping by here is a must see.  My first shot is half of the outdoor Sunset Terrace Restaurant and the second shot is the view from it.

The next shots are of the Great Hall which has massive working fireplaces (blurry shot) at each end, lots of seating, and a bar.  I can imagine a winter visit sitting in front of the fire, watching it snow, and sipping something warm.  The granite stonework in the place is incredible.

These shots are of the grounds just below the restaurant (upper right) and include the top of the $44 million Subterranean Spa – through a window made the color a little off.

If in the area, it is definitely worth the short drive to see this awesome place - wish I had the few hundred dollars a night to stay there.  From there we headed down to the famous Farmers Market to pick up a few things for supper.

Photos best if enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry


6/9 - 6/14/2013 event dates

11 comments:

  1. Wow, that place is incredible looking! I'm with you.. wish I had a few hundred bucks a night I didn't mind giving away so I could stay there! :)

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  2. The Grove Park Inn looks like a spectacular place to visit. The stonework is beautiful. RVing is a great way to see the country. What fun!

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  3. It looks amazing! What a massive fireplace. Dinner looks tasty too.

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  4. Larry, I'd never heard about the Grove Park Inn before. Thanks for the lead! We'll have it on one of our upcoming itineraries for sure... Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

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  5. I love the fireplace. Like you said, if it was snowing that would make a perfect place to be. Not that I ever want to be near snow again. Dinner looks great.

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  6. I always enjoyed visiting Grove Park when we lived in western North Carolina. Their Sunday buffets are awesome.

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  7. Gorgeous place! Thanks for taking the time to upload the photos and share. Love the looks of that grill. We don't have any fresh locally grown sweet corn you. c'mon July!

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  8. Man that fire place is HUGE, it makes the ladies seem like Hobbits they appear so tiny. Gorgeous facilities. I wonder if I could stay for free since the place is named after me? ha ha

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    1. We rented a cabin in Black Mountain last year for our annivarsy. We visited the GROVE PARK INN and had lunch on the terrace. What a view. We want return and spend the night - guess we need to win the lottery!

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  9. We spent some time there as well and enjoyed the grove park inn.

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  10. Larrry..we found the grove park inn very interesting as well!

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