In a rush? Read our 2025 updated guide of things to do in Asheville. ICYMI: Last week we shared delicious Asian restaurants we frequent.

Good Morning,

I've decided my new 2025 pastime includes eating Sour Patch Kids (I know, I know...) and watching The White Lotus. Season 3 just started airing on Sundays on Max, and we actually had to resubscribe just for this show.

🌮 This past week, we headed to La Rumba - an absolute must - for lunch. We especially love their 11 am to 2 pm lunch specials for just $13.99.🌯

Tom had the Chicken Street Tacos. You can see from the second image below what the front of their road looks like 5 months post-Helene. Coming from North Asheville, we had to access the restaurant via Exit 8 instead of 7 as part of the road remains closed.

My heart goes out to all the businesses and homes we saw destroyed along the way. It’s a stark reminder that many are still recovering from Helene, and there’s still so much left to repair and clean up.

Tom and I also enjoyed Valentine's Day dinner at Little D's with a friend and headed over to Highland Brewing for a DJ lil meow meow dance party. I promptly left at 10 PM for bed.

Keep reading for gas station sushi, our updated 2025 things to do in AVL guide, and updates on La Bodega. One of our local donut shops re-opened too.

An Overnight Stay In Holly Springs, NC

Bep Noodles & Pho, Akami Sushi, and Local Time

Last week got away from me as Duke Eye called with an immediate opening to see their Thyroid Eye Disease specialist (and those are pretty rare 🦄 like this 💩 disease). If you catch us out in public, I'm half Fourth Wing venin and just a tad Kermit the Frog. The specialist was great, as expected, even if the news was not.

However, we had a fun, albeit short, time in Holly Springs, and we would love to see all of the NC Triangle with more time.

We listened to Kelly Bishop's memoir, The Third Gilmore Girl, for the 8-hour roundtrip drive. If you are interested as a Gilmore Girl fan, you can find a full review on The Uncorked Librarian page.

We stayed overnight at the Holiday Inn Express Holly Springs (affiliate link), which was quiet, budget-friendly, brand-new, and minutes from DT Holly Springs. It would be a fast drive to Cary and Apex from there.

• For dinner, we ate at the super casual Bep Vietnamese Kitchen; think Pho, noodles, and bubble tea.
• Afterward, we dipped into Local Time Brewing, which actually had a gluten-reduced beer for Tom. I had to try a flight and loved their rice lagers.
• For lunch the following day, we ate at Akami Sushi Bar in Apex, which is known as "gas station sushi." If you follow beloved Tony Prieto's foodie adventures, his sister recommended it. It was the best sushi we've had in North Carolina, and you know we love sushi.

Things To Do In Asheville That Make It Unique

Asheville Salt Cave, Hemingway's Cuba Rooftop, Shakespeare In the Park, & Grove Park Sunset

Every year, I update our master article for things to do in Asheville. This 2025, I wanted to share activities that make Asheville stand out against other destinations.

Please note that I have decided not to fully update which trails are open for 2025 as I think a lot will change as spring grows closer, along with the upsetting termination of Forest Service employees (among other horrific federal employee cuts).

A few of our favorite things to do include:

🎭 Montford Park Players Shakespeare In The Park - While other places have Shakespeare in the Park, I love ours. I'll never forget going to our first play back in 2019 with Chiesa's staff telling us to drink up because it was something else. Body glitter, fun dancing, a 'lil kitsch, and just an excellent job. This season, I'm stoked for King Lear. Not every production is a Shakespeare play, and plays are free. We bring folding chairs, and they have on-site local bevies and bathrooms. We leave a donation as they go around with the buckets at intermission. Their site says "buy tickets," but you don't have to; just make sure to bring cash for that donation. With the loss of Chiesa, we eat at Tall John's or Nine Mile before a show. Wear a bug deterrent.

👣🧂 Asheville Salt Cave & Wake Foot Sanctuary - Relax at my personal favorite spots: Wake Foot Sanctuary is great for foot soaks and massages with tea or Champagne, while the Asheville Salt Cave has such a relaxing community salt cave. Make advanced online reservations for both. The salt cave is cheaper if you go on an early weekday. They also have a neat shop with healthy beverages to enjoy on their back porch. Wake Foot runs locals' specials.

🌄 Watching a sunset at The Omni Grove Park Inn - Before even moving to Asheville, we headed here from people's recs. I love planning a sunset dinner at Edison. Their Annual National Gingerbread House Competition is great, too. While they didn't host the event on-site last year, they placed submissions across Asheville businesses. This is what the competition has looked like in previous years.

📚 The Thomas Wolfe Memorial & Literary Tourism - I hadn't read Thomas Wolfe until after his mother's boarding house tour (also before we moved here). Look Homeward, Angel is a little town gossip with names barely changed about a young Wolfe growing up in Asheville. It's a little long-winded but worth a read (or skim). However, you don't have to know anything about Thomas Wolfe to enjoy the tour. His original home no longer stands down the road, but he mainly stayed with his mom, who was quite the entrepreneur for her time. Find his grave at Riverside Cemetery. As an MLIS-degree rogue librarian, I'm all about bibliotourism. We have a full literary itinerary with bookstores, the filming of The Hunger Games, and more.

🍷 LaZoom Comedy Tours - Only in Asheville will you see a human ladybug running down the streets of Montford or the ghost of Zelda Fitzgerald and a nun not far behind. Tom and I need to take another tour soon to refresh, but I'm pretty sure you know what we are talking about: that purple-eyelashed bus cruising around Asheville. We enjoy pre-bevies in their bar area while holding onto a chicken bus pass and snuggling cat pillows (I own one now, bought down the street). Use their coolers for more bevies, and take one of LaZoom's many tours - tours for kids/families included.

🚗 🥾 Driving (and hiking) along the gorgeous Blue Ridge Parkway - Always check for road and gate closures on the NPS website, especially with snow and ice from December into March. Seasonally, we love these BRP hikes (and am waiting to see which ones will be safe post-Helene). We also have this Pisgah-area itinerary.

Asheville Events

Upcoming in and around Asheville:

• February 18 - 24: Asheville Restaurant Week (January & February dates)
• March 2: Asheville Mardi Gras Parade South Slope neighborhood
• March 15: Asheville Marathon & Half​
• March 16 - March 23: The Asheville Fringe Arts Festival​
• March 21: Tutankhamun: His Tomb and His Treasures opens

Lady Whistledown of Asheville

In Asheville news:

• I was reviewing the new plans/press release for La Bodega by Cúrate. They did not reopen the space after Helene, and while losing one of my favorite wine bars, the Button Meana Group is transforming La Bodega into a community event space for "...corporate events, rehearsal dinners, wedding receptions, cooking classes, speaking engagements, and live music..." Sangria-making included. I'm excited to see all that they do.
• Asheville Watchdog recently published a piece on a patient dying in Mission Hospital's ER bathroom. Full disclosure: the article is triggering and also just awful. My heart goes out to the family.
• ​Rowan Coffee is opening a second location on Haywood Road set for Spring 2025.
• The Pisgah National Forest's Sliding Rock is set to re-open on schedule for Memorial Day weekend.
• Vortex Doughnuts re-opened under new management.
• Two lanes of I-40 (damaged by Helene) are set to re-open by March 1, as first announced by Governor Josh Stein.
• We have to get to the Old Way Filling Station (thank you for telling me) for coffee, wine, and snacks.

Upcoming & Thank You

I am working on updating "things to do with families and adults on rainy days." Think bowling, board game cafes, museums, and more.

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