Originally Posted by cyclista
Great first post!
Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time.
That use to be a BYOB place... I guess that the county must have changed the laws since we were last there...
Gravity
Thank you! And to keep up my good reputation:
I wholeheartedly agree with Asheville: if you could work out transportation, it's a great place for a beer geek to recharge. We recently spent a (very) long weekend there, went to every brewery and major beer bar, and LOVED it. It'd probably be difficult to get a ride to, but our favorite beer was the tasting room at Pisgah Brewing, in Black Mountain, NC, about ten miles east of Asheville.
Back in Asheville, the beer and setting at Wedge Brewing Co. was fantastic (outdoor deck seating with occasional trains passing by), and French Broad Brewing was also very pleasant. Thirsty Monk was a fantastic beer bar with an amazing and thoughtful selection, though you might get a few looks if you hadn't showered recently (whereas at Wedge, nobody would likely notice or care.) Jack of the Wood was pleasant and had lovely live Irish pub music when we stopped in.
Every other beer place in town was at least solid: I'd be happy to go on at length if anyone cares.
Ahhhh, well. Time to get realistic about most of the AT and great beer, and hoping that the convenience stores and supermarkets will at least carry Guinness or Heine. Sigh. How far we can fall.
It isn't particularly hard to get to Asheville by way of Hot Springs or Erwin since there's really nothing in between either locale and the city. Getting back might be a bit of a problem since there's no perfect hitching spot in town like standing next to the AT up in the Mountains. But if you can get here you can get back. That's for sure.
The whole of the Southern Army knew that the best beer was made in Pottsville. Trouble was is that they needed shoes and so they decided to go to Gettysburg first. The rest is history. Just sayin.....
Beer story
Back in '99, I walked into the first wayside in SNP, along with about ten other hikers. Look, beer! And the party broke out. We stayed all day, consuming huge amounts of beer and wine. It was getting late when a hiker said "I think we should get started on to the next shelter".
I was stunned, Holy S#!t, I have to walk? We decided to have a picnic, once we got to camp. We all bought and carried parts of the proposed feast. Walking in the dark, really drunk, that was a tough stretch of trail.
Only two of us made it there, the rest fell out on the way. When we got to camp, we had hotdog buns and mustard, that was it. But we still had beer. I didn't feel much like walking the next day. We staggered on to the next wayside for more beer and things started to look better. We had so much fun going through SNP, that we talked about hitching back to Waynesboro, and doing it again.
I've made a list and plan to try all of these.
Shuttles to the AT from Asheville via Sams Gap, Hot Springs, Erwin
828-707-2819
Ah, Ken Burns and Shelby Foote strike again. They disproved the shoe thing long ago.
"I always told you I was more of a Westerner than an Easterner"
-Theodore Roosevelt
Appalachian Trail 2008
Colorado Trail 2010
Good beer in the south? Ya, you can find Sierra Nevada.
You can get Sierra anywhere
Sierra is great, but there is beer that is so much better
Anyone making it to Asheville might want to check out 'Jack of the Wood', a great pub with decent ale,(they own a brewery), and good music on the w/ends.
If you make it on a Friday afternoon, there's a pretty intense Drum Circle close by in the middle of town.All are most welcome...
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