New Hostel in Asheville!!!

[Johnny Thunder]

While scavenging for scrap wood this afternoon Freefall and I met the owner/operator of Asheville's new downtown hostel, Sweet Peas. Mike Healy recently rehabbed an old warehouse that spanned the block between Lexington and Rankin aves just below the A-ville civic center. The building houses Sweet Peas Hostel (on Rankin) and the Lexington Ave Brewery (on...duhh). He was excited to meet two hikers and to chat us up (he even gave us a tour) about the hostel. Oh yeah, the beer rocks.

I'm going to send messages to Awol, Sly (via Chaco), Aldha (via Starlyte), Curtis, and Bluff Mtn. Can anyone think of any other groups that should be made aware?

Digger, the dude was interested in giving you and your crew a tour and potentially hosting an ATC event there....not sure about the particulars.

I realize that Asheville is a bit far off-trail for most thru-hikers but since it has an airport, a regional hospital, and now a hostel, maybe folks should be made more aware. If anything this would help out local shuttlers.

http://sweetpeashostel.com/

http://www.lexavebrew.com/

http://blogasheville.blogspot.com/20...e-brewery.html

Johnny T

[Chaco Taco]

Its a pretty sweet place and the brewery downstairs is awesome!! Its smack in the middle of downtown AVL. Def worth the trip into town

[Tennessee Viking]

Its a pretty sweet place and the brewery downstairs is awesome!! Its smack in the middle of downtown AVL. Def worth the trip into town

Brewery/Hostel...Thats an interesting combo.

[boarstone]

Asheville has a great bus system too!

[Jeff]

Johnny,

Thanks for sharing. Looks like a first class operation.

[Rockhound]

All it needs now is free shuttles to and from the trailhead.

[GeneralLee10]

$28 for a bed to listen to someone else snore no thanks. It is a very nice looking place, hope he does well.

[mweinstone]

when i created johnney thunder it was to fufill a void in our ranks. that void ? enthusiasm.johnney has within his pussytronic brain, a deep understanding of the need for each and every molicule of trail related enthusiasm to be nurtured and set in a garden of hikers to flurish and become the trees we pee on today. with this new hostel, heir may be problems and shortcommings but they can change and adapt. for instance, they may one day have a shuttle to the trail. and prices have been known to fall. and will a little dirt and some smoke dammage i feel this place could be cozy. sure its too clean too far from the trail to supervised too exspensive and too full of freedom restricting rules. sure it has silly foolish innernet and outlets for all and cable tv and dvds. they are hudge problems with our sociaty and i would not want them in a hostile myself. but its only when we learn what dosnt work, that we are ready to build futures that last.

[moytoy]

mwe:
where in the world do you get the energy?

[mweinstone]

this hostel will fail because of known buissness reasons. simularilly, if they simply threw out every single thing and rented a big unsupervised un heated no power havin fort like shack of a wreaked old house, with beer and noise till dawn for all, it would be the biggest newest success on trail. thats cause babalon sells and proper behavior and respect for others dont. hikers wanna right on walls and dance to loude music and share bathrooms and bunks and be allowed to do what they please. it is then and only then that you raise a generation of hikers who police themselves and teach respect. dropping a freash modern new hostil on the scean makes things stay the same. truth hurts.

[GeneralLee10]

this hostel will fail because of known buissness reasons. simularilly, if they simply threw out every single thing and rented a big unsupervised un heated no power havin fort like shack of a wreaked old house, with beer and noise till dawn for all, it would be the biggest newest success on trail. thats cause babalon sells and proper behavior and respect for others dont. hikers wanna right on walls and dance to loude music and share bathrooms and bunks and be allowed to do what they please. it is then and only then that you raise a generation of hikers who police themselves and teach respect. dropping a freash modern new hostil on the scean makes things stay the same. truth hurts.

I like it

You crack me up, you always have some crazy off the wall crap to say.

[mweinstone]

i may have been to hard on the new hostil but im pointing out an evil that really has little to do with the hostil as much as with mans condition. i belive freedom breeds responsibility and oppresion breeds dependence. truly our trail is suffering from the behaviors of some who break rules and ruin trail services for all.( the place)but to police those few and build a future concerned with them is failure. we must build up to people as teachers teach up to the smartest and let the dumbest learn more. and let the unruelyest learn more. it is only when all shelters are trashed and full of weirdos and smelly and broken that some will rise up to change. but a system of well policed and rule enforced shelters causes some to clean up while others dirty. this disconect cannot be managed by our resources or natures. more and more , fisilitating becomes the problem. instead of adressing our problems from within, we seek to build walls without to contain problems. this leads to levy failure. only so much evil can be contained .only spiritual answers to our problems exist. finnaly we are comming to this understanding.

[DickHumbird]

Sweet! My gf and I are planning a meetup around Asheville. This hostel could be the Long Trail Inn of the South

[Blissful]

my hubby would love that combo.

[boarstone]

After reading Matty's rant, I'll stick w/Bon Paul & Starky's in Asheville.

[Johnny Thunder]

Let's see...

It's important to remember that this isn't a trail hostel. If you look at the prices for the AYHA (outside of Harpers) you'll see that it's right in line (even a little cheap) for a bed in a tourist town. Couple that with the fact that there's really no option in between the homeless shelter and the multi-hundred dollar a night hotels across Merrimon Ave and you can see how $28 is a good deal. I live about 6 blocks from the hostel and the B and B next door charges $125 a night during the week, off-season.

I don't think that the hostel owner will ever offer shuttles to and from the trail. It's simply too far to do on a daily basis. I've told him to contact Youngs, a local charter bus co, to track down some "permanent shuttlers". Folks who could show up in Hot Springs to fill a van with hikers, if called. But, it'll never be a free-to-hikers service because this simply isn't really a hiker hostel. Instead, it's a relatively inexpensive sleeping option in a cool town which typically interests hikers.

As a purposely car-less individual I can say that the Asheville Bus System is not all that. Conversations as such really don't belong here except that the local bus doesn't run to Marshall (which would be ideal if hikers were to have a highly reliable way to get in/out of town) or even Weaverville (since last year).

I will say that I resent having my brain referred to as "pussified" unless that means marinated in pussy. Somewhere in Philadelphia Matty says, "Johney, thats gros."

In my next post I will make Jester squirt cheese out of his nose in laughter.

[Johnny Thunder]

Let's see...

It's important to remember that this isn't a trail hostel. If you look at the prices for the AYHA (outside of Harpers) you'll see that it's right in line (even a little cheap) for a bed in a tourist town. Couple that with the fact that there's really no option in between the homeless shelter and the multi-hundred dollar a night hotels across Merrimon Ave and you can see how $28 is a good deal. I live about 6 blocks from the hostel and the B and B next door charges $125 a night during the week, off-season.

I don't think that the hostel owner will ever offer shuttles to and from the trail. It's simply too far to do on a daily basis. I've told him to contact Youngs, a local charter bus co, to track down some "permanent shuttlers". Folks who could show up in Hot Springs to fill a van with hikers, if called. But, it'll never be a free-to-hikers service because this simply isn't really a hiker hostel. Instead, it's a relatively inexpensive sleeping option in a cool town which typically interests hikers.

As a purposely car-less individual I can say that the Asheville Bus System is not all that. Conversations as such really don't belong here except that the local bus doesn't run to Marshall (which would be ideal if hikers were to have a highly reliable way to get in/out of town) or even Weaverville (since last year).

I will say that I resent having my brain referred to as "pussified" unless that means marinated in pussy. Somewhere in Philadelphia Matty says, "Johney, thats gros."

In my next post I will make Jester squirt cheese out of his nose in laughter.

[DrRichardCranium]

BUMPing this up again. I am interested in craft brewed ale in new places, so I'd love to learn how to work this into my thru-hike as a zero day.

Any suggestions about how to get to Asheville from the trail?

I will be nearing the general area in a couple of weeks. Maybe there are other thru-hikers who would be interested in this trip & we could split the travel cost etc.?

[Johnny Thunder]

because of the rt 40 bypass through hot springs you will probably be able to hitch directly there from out front of bluff mtn outfitters. getting back might prove more difficult. probably a hitch to weaverville from asheville and then from there on to hot springs.