We left home at about 8:30 and got to the Inn at around 11:30... just in time to get a nice lunch in one of the resort's restaurants. We walked up and were seated immediately, at a table that looked out over the grounds and had the snow-covered mountains in the distance. The view was worth the extra cost of the meal, IMO. The food was terrific and the service was both enthusiastic and timely. When we walked out to view the gingerbread, the line for the restaurant was rather long, so that was pretty fortunate timing for us indeed.
The resort had 4 primary places to display the houses. One place for the teen winners (and top 10 entries), one for the adult winners and top ten, a third for the youth and child top tens and a separate area for the rest of the entries, all displayed on a long set of tables in a ballroom. Finally, the grand prize winner was displayed separately outside a store on the resort's promenade area.
What impressed us most about the trip, besides the houses, was the crowd. It was a Tuesday (one of the days that folks are allowed to just come up, park, and wander through the displays... you can't do this on the weekends), and the place was packed with people there to see the gingerbread. We guessed that an awful lot of people had taken off extra days between Christmas and New Year. But this also fits in with our general impression that over the last few years, the national competition has tended to attract a growing audience. As well it should. The artistry and ingenuity of these house makers continues to impress me. I just hope that they don't start charging admission to see these things.
When we had wrapped up seeing all the displays in the resort, we headed into town to see the overflow room of houses at the Grove Arcade. Here, we saw a couple dozen other entries... including one that appeared to be a complete representation of the main house at Biltmore Estate with a set of mountains rising behind it. Like I said... mind boggling. The arcade was an indoor shopping mall with several odd little shops in it. We visited a couple of them, including a consignment shop where several local craftspeople put their works on sale.
When we returned to our car, which we had parked in front of an electronic parking meter, we found a meter-reader had stopped in his zero-emission little traffic cart to give us a warning ticket. I gotta say... Asheville has a LOT of tree-huggers around the place.
Overall, Asheville has continued to be a top place in my list of terrific places to visit. This day only improved on that standing.
