North Carolina

My visit to North Carolina was brief as time was pressing, but it seemed a State worth spending more time in. The Blue Ridge Mountains are beautiful, and Asheville is a lovely city. Nadia had specifically suggested I visited Asheville and it proved a good tip. Locals eulogise about the place and if I ever meet people from the city elsewhere, they puff up with pride talking about their home.

Downtown Asheville is lively in the evening with a range of excellent local beers, for which it is famous. The neighborhood makes for a pleasant walk in the daytime with enough architecture, literary associations and history to while away a pleasant morning.

On the outskirts of town lies the architecturally-renowned Biltmore estate, a monument to the excesses that can be indulged with the wealth accumulated by successful American businessmen.

Next stop: Tennessee.