Dear Traveler:

I don’t know if it’s the cool weather, but recently I’ve been dreaming of food. Turkey. Dressing. Pumpkin pie. Great Grandma Adventurist’s Caramel Cake? Just the thing after a long hike in the autumn woods. It’s still a few weeks until we get to sit down with the family and tuck into a Thanksgiving feast. Fortunately, there are plenty of delicious things to do and see and hear (and if I’m honest, eat and drink) up in Transylvania County to distract you until Meemaw rings the dinner bell and asks what you’re thankful for.

As for me, I’m pretty thankful to have such a beautiful place to explore with you, travelers, throughout this holiday season and all the others. Now, if you please, pass the gravy.

Gobble, gobble, 
The Adventurist

PS: Have you heard about our Holiday Giveaway? (See bottom of this Adventurist for details.)

For those looking to get their motors running and head out on the highway, this multi-day event featuring classes, demonstrations, food, test driving and over 150 vendors selling anything 4-wheel drive and motorcycle adventurers could need on their next great road trip. Whether you’re born to be wild or just friendly with someone who is, this should, at the very least, help fill out the holiday shopping list before you hit the road.  Day passes start at $20; note all tickets must be purchased in advance online, and all day parking is offsite at Oskar Blues Brewery or Brevard Music Center, with free shuttles daily.

Haul out the holly – but only if it’s man-made, shiny and a sweet electric blue – at this beloved yearly display from the nice folks at ATOM (Aluminum Tree and Aesthetically Challenged Seasonal Ornament Museum and Research Center). This retro joy of a local yuletide tradition embraces all the glittery, sparkly, tacky fun of holidays past with a lot of affection and a great sense of humor. Photo credit Romantic Asheville

If so, this all-Mozart program might be right up your alley. The program includes Wolfgang Amadeus’s “Prague” Symphony No. 38, his clarinet concerto in A Major, and the overture to Der Schauspieldirektor. This afternoon extravaganza features celebrated clarinetist Steve Cohen. 

With the holidays coming, it would be nice to really get outside the box, or indeed, the continent, on the shopping. What if you could go anywhere? What if you could buy your gifts all over the world?  This two-day market event dares to ask Why not? Find handcrafted wares from all across the globe, including apparel, toys, art, accent pieces and so much more.  

The perfect cure to an overstuffed day after Thanksgiving is a nice evening walk. Downtown is lovely this time of year and the galleries will be hopping at the November iteration of this monthly event. If you’re looking for a place to start, consider the show opening at TC Arts, an impressive collection that traces Appalachian Art from centuries past to present, as part of Brevard’s Sesquicentennial Celebration.  

Also of note in November:

Coming up: Our next edition of Field Notes (look for it in your in box in mid-November) highlights our yuletide extravaganza, A White Squirrel Christmas. 

If you can’t wait, find all the details now and enter to win our holidays sweepstakes (cozy accommodations for two at The Bromfield Inn, dinners for two, lunch for two at Pisgah Fish Camp, and a $500 shopping spree) at ExploreBrevard.com/holidays