A Visit to Asheville, North Carolina via Charlotte
Charlotte
We arrived in Asheville yesterday via Charlotte. We flew from Newark to Charlotte and then drove to Asheville. The flight from Newark to Charlotte is short, just over an hour and a half, over the green ridges of Pennsylvania and Virginia.
Charlotte airport is a busy hub, full of connecting passengers. Infrastructure is America. The Charlotte airport is huge, spacious and neat and clean, at least a hundred times the size of Jammu airport that also handles no less travellers per day. Charlotte airport needs no expansion for next 50 years at least.
Charlotte is the largest city in North Carolina and the 15th largest in the United States. Located in the Piedmont Plateau region in Mecklenburg County, about 25 miles from the South Carolina border and 2.5 hours from the Appalachian Mountains, it sits at a strategic midpoint between New York and Miami.
Founded in 1768 and nicknamed the Queen City in honour of Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Charlotte is today America's second largest banking center after New York. It is headquarters of Bank of America and Truist, and a major operations hub for Wells Fargo. The city population was 874,579 in the 2020 Census and is estimated at 9,64,784 as of July 1, 2025, rowing 10.3% in five years. The metro area exceeds 2.8 million.
We are told that Charlotte has a sizeable population of Indians and the grand Vedic Temple had a special function on account of Sri Krishna Janmashtami. From there we picked up our car and drove west on Interstate 85 and then Interstate 26. The drive is a little more than two hours. You leave the flat Piedmont and begin to climb. The forests become thicker, the air cooler, the light softer. As you cross the Blue Ridge escarpment, the road twists and opens into broad valleys. By the time you drop into the French Broad River basin, you feel you have entered a different country.
For Indians, Charlotte is attractive because it offers big-city jobs with small-city cost of living, excellent public schools in suburbs, direct flights to Europe and India via partner airlines from CLT, and a welcoming, closely-knit community where festivals like Diwali, Holi, Durga Puja, and Sankranti are now celebrated in public parks with participation from the city mayor.
If you include the full Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia Metropolitan Statistical Area - including Matthews, Ballantyne, Pineville, Concord, Huntersville, Morrisville, Waxhaw; community estimates are 45,000 to 50,000 people of Indian origin. The India Association of Charlotte states there were only 300 families in the early 1990s, but today there are more than 4,000 to 5,000 families in Mecklenburg County alone.
Asheville
I was happy to see a Europe like ambiance in Asheville. That was my first impression on walking downtown. It does not feel like a typical American small city built around malls and parking lots. It feels like a hill town in Europe, perhaps in southern France or in Tuscany, with tourists strolling slowly, independent shops full of local craft, art shops with open doors, galleries, bookshops, and busy restaurants with tables spilling onto the pavement. There is music on the corners of Lexington Avenue, the smell of fresh coffee, and a gentle unhurried rhythm that you associate with old mountain towns.
The Setting
Asheville sits at about 2,100 feet above sea level, in a broad valley where the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers meet, ringed by the Blue Ridge Mountains and not far from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Cherokee lived here for centuries before European settlement and called these mountains Shaconage, land of blue smoke. In the late 19th century the town became a health resort because its clean mountain air was thought to cure tuberculosis and other lung diseases. That reputation brought money, architects and visionaries.
The result is a city that preserved its past. Downtown survived the Great Depression without large scale demolition, so it retains one of the finest collections of Art Deco architecture in the American South.
The Biltmore Estate
No visit to Asheville is complete without the Biltmore Estate, and I spent a full morning there. It was built between 1889 and 1895 by George Washington Vanderbilt II, grandson of railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who fell in love with the Blue Ridge on a visit. He hired architect Richard Morris Hunt to design a 250-room French Renaissance chateau modeled on the chateaux of the Loire Valley, and Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed Central Park, to landscape the grounds. When it opened it had 125,000 acres, its own village, dairy, and forestry school — America's first school of forestry. Today about 8,000 acres remain, but it is still the largest privately owned house in America, with 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, 65 fireplaces, a banquet hall 72 feet high, and original art by Renoir and Sargent. The gardens, the conservatory, the winery in Antler Hill Village, and the views of Mount Pisgah make it more than a mansion — it is the reason Asheville became a resort town for the wealthy a century ago, and it remains the cultural and economic anchor of the region. The estate was badly damaged in some lower sections during Hurricane Helene in September 2024 when the Swannanoa River flooded Biltmore Village, but the main house sits on high ground and remained intact.
The Basilica Under Renovation — But We Were Allowed In
The most moving surprise was the Basilica of Saint Lawrence at 97 Haywood Street, right on the edge of downtown. The outside was wrapped in scaffolding, construction fencing and black tarps. A sign said Massive Restoration in Progress.
It is a building of national significance. Designed by Spanish engineer Rafael Guastavino, the man nicknamed the architect of New York for his vault work in Grand Central Station, Carnegie Hall and Ellis Island. He came to Asheville to do tile work for Biltmore, and stayed to build this church in 1905-1909. It is the only basilica in Western North Carolina, on the National Register, and it has one of the largest free-standing elliptical domes in North America (58 by 82 feet )built without steel, only layers of thin tiles in a herringbone pattern using his Catalan vault technique. Guastavino died in 1908 and is entombed inside.
Now after 116 years, water intrusion had cracked the dome and damaged the brick cornice. After 15 years of planning, the parish won a $750,000 Save America's Treasures grant from the National Park Service in 2024, and raised over $6.4 million of the $7.7 million needed for Phase One. Phase One includes replacing the copper roof of the dome, new storm drains, gutters, cornices, repairing the oculus skylight, and masonry stabilization after some damage from Hurricane Helene. Full restoration will cost $25-30 million over many years.
We thought it would be closed, but the side door was open. Volunteers let us in quietly. Inside. The dome seems to float , no visible supports. Spanish Renaissance Revival in red brick outside, but inside, soft light from stained glass imported from Munich, two massive Carrara marble statues, and that extraordinary vault that feels both grand and intimate. Mass is still held four times a weekend, including in Spanish. The guestbook shows visitors from all over.
Grove Arcade — The Original Mall — And Wonderwall Buildings
A block away is Grove Arcade, also called the Arcade Building, occupying a full city block between Battery Park and O. Henry Avenues. If Asheville feels European, this is why.
Conceived by E.W. Grove, who made his fortune with Grove's Tasteless Chill Tonic for malaria and built Grove Park Inn. He wanted "a classy look to a modern palace of commercialism." Designed by Charles N. Parker in Tudor Revival and Late Gothic Revival, built 1926-1929. The plan was grander , a 14-story skyscraper tower on top of the base , but Grove died in 1927 and the crash of 1929 ended that. The base alone is 269,000 sq ft, steel frame covered in ornate terra cotta, with winged lions without claws ; symbol of Venice ,at the north entrance, an Arabesque metal screen at the west, and molded pilasters. It has two gentle ramps , Rampe Douce, borrowed from Biltmore , designed so mothers with strollers could walk to the roof garden where there was once a band shell. It opened as one of America's first indoor shopping malls.
In 1942 the federal government seized it for WWII, and from 1951 to 1995 it housed the National Climatic Data Center , rows of filing cabinets where weather records of the nation were kept. The city regained it in 1997, signed a 198-year lease with a preservation foundation, and after a five-year restoration reopened it in 2002. Today ground floor is shops and restaurants, second floor offices, third to fifth floors are The Residences at Grove Arcade.
Right now it is full of local craft : jewelry from Appalachian stones, pottery, a bookstore, chocolate shop, Battery Park Book Exchange. You can spend an hour walking its skylit interior.
And then there is the Wonderwall side of Asheville , not one building but a whole district. In the River Arts District along the French Broad, every old cotton mill and warehouse is a canvas. The best example is The Radical, a new hotel at 95 Roberts Street. The building was a former warehouse covered wall-to-wall in graffiti. Instead of erasing it, the owners hired veteran Asheville muralist Ian Wilkinson and a team to preserve over 200 original works and create new murals in every room. The result is a living museum of street art.
Across the RAD, at Foundation at 339 Old Lyman Street, there is a skate park surrounded by ever-changing murals by artists like Gus Cutty and Trek6. On Haywood Road in West Asheville, the whole side of buildings that house Twice Round and vintage shops are colorful wonderwalls. People come just to photograph them. It is this unplanned, permission-based art that gives Asheville its youth.
Art, Food and Outdoors
What makes Asheville unusual is how three cultures live together comfortably.
First is architecture and history. Second is art. The city was a centre for the Arts and Crafts movement a hundred years ago. Later Black Mountain College, a few miles away, hosted Buckminster Fuller, John Cage, Willem de Kooning and many others who shaped modern American art. That legacy continues in the River Arts District, where more than 200 artists work in converted cotton mills and warehouses along the French Broad.
Third is outdoors. The Blue Ridge Parkway, often called America's most scenic road, runs right past the city. The Appalachian Trail is half an hour away. Pisgah National Forest offers hundreds of miles of hiking and mountain biking, with waterfalls at almost every turn and rock climbing at Looking Glass Rock. White water rafting on the French Broad is a daily summer activity. In autumn the whole region becomes a capital for leaf colour, with visitors from all over the world.
The food scene reflects all this. Asheville has more than 30 craft breweries, more per capita than almost anywhere in the country. It also has a serious farm to table culture, with chefs who work directly with farms in the valley.
Parks, Fairs, Food Festivals, Treks and Hiking
This is where Asheville overwhelms you with choice.
Parks in the city: Pack Square Park at the heart of downtown has been a public square since 1797, now with a pavilion and stage. Pritchard Park is where the famous Friday night drum circle happens every summer : dozens of drummers, dancers, children, tourists, completely free and organic. Carrier Park along the French Broad has a velodrome and walking track. French Broad River Park, Carrier Park and Amboy Road River Park form a 4-mile greenway for cycling and jogging. The Botanical Gardens at Asheville near UNC Asheville is 10 acres of native plants, free entry, quiet.
Fairs: In September, the North Carolina Mountain State Fair in nearby Fletcher : 10 days of livestock, crafts, bluegrass, and fried everything. Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands twice a year at Harrah's Cherokee Center ,one of the best craft fairs in America since 1948, with 200 juried craftspeople.
Food Festivals: Asheville Food and Wine Festival in August, where local chefs pair with WNC farms. Lexington Avenue Arts and Fun Festival ( LAFF ) every September, closing downtown for art, music, kids. Goombay Festival celebrating African-Caribbean heritage in Pack Square. Oktoberfest in autumn. Chow Chow Food Festival, a culinary festival named after the Southern relish, with tastings, talks and tours. In December, National Gingerbread House Competition at Grove Park Inn , worth a visit alone , and Winter Lights at the North Carolina Arboretum, where 500,000 lights illuminate the forest.
Treks and Hiking — from easy to hard:
Easy from downtown: Town Mountain Road Overlook ,15 minutes drive for sunset over city. At the Arboretum, 1-2 mile garden loops.
Moderate: Craggy Gardens : 1.4 miles, 360-degree views, rhododendron tunnels that bloom in June like pink snow. Graveyard Fields on the Parkway at milepost 418 — 3.2 miles loop to two waterfalls and wild blueberry fields in August. Looking Glass Rock Trail , 6.2 miles round trip, 1,700 ft climb, to a 4,000-foot monolith where climbers hang like ants. DuPont State Forest , 1 hour away, three waterfalls in one hike, including Triple Falls where Hunger Games was filmed.
Hard: Mount Mitchell at 6,684 feet, highest peak east of Mississippi, 35 miles away. You can drive near summit or hike the 11.4-mile Deep Gap Trail from Montreat. Shining Rock Wilderness and Black Balsam Knob , treeless balds where you walk on grass above clouds, with no tree cover for miles, feeling like Scotland. Art Loeb Trail , 30 miles, often done in sections.
Water: French Broad is one of the oldest rivers in the world, older than the mountains themselves, flowing north. White water rafting daily in summer :Class II to IV through Pisgah. Kayaking, tubing, and even the Lazy River in town for families.
In autumn, leaf peeping drives on the Parkway bring visitors from Japan and Germany. In winter, skiing at Wolf Ridge and Beech Mountain an hour away.
Indians in Asheville and Indian Stores and Restaurants
I was pleasantly surprised to find a warm and visible Indian presence. Asheville is not a large metropolitan area, but Buncombe County and nearby Henderson County have a small and growing Indian community, perhaps a few thousand strong, largely professionals in health care, especially at Mission Health Hospital, in information technology, in hospitality, and in education at University of North Carolina Asheville.
For Indian groceries, the go to place is Radha Indian Grocers at 813 Patton Avenue. It is a proper Indian store. You will find everyday dal, toor dal, masoor dal, chana dal, basmati rice, whole spices, fresh curry leaves when in season, ghee, mustard oil, frozen parathas, samosas, ready to eat snacks, pickles, mango pulp, and a full section for pooja items, incense, diyas and prayer materials. The owners are from Gujarat and are helpful. There are also larger international markets like YZ Asian Market on New Leicester Highway — very close to where we are staying in Leicester — and Asiana Market on Hendersonville Road which stock Indian ingredients as well.
For restaurants, Asheville punches far above its weight. Chai Pani on Banks Avenue in the South Slope is the star. It was named Outstanding Restaurant in America by the James Beard Foundation in 2022, the first Indian street food style restaurant to win that top honour. The menu is built around chaat, okra fries, kale chaat, thalis, and vada pav, with flavours that are unapologetically Indian but presented with local Appalachian ingredients. On any evening there is a queue outside.
Mela Indian Restaurant on North Lexington Avenue is downtown, long established since 2005, family run, with a daily lunch buffet that locals swear by. India Garden on South Tunnel Road is another long running favourite, with an extensive buffet seven days a week. Mother India, Cinnamon Kitchen and Andaaz in the greater area add more choice.
What I liked is how accepted Indian food is here. You see American families, tourists, hikers in outdoor gear and university students all eating with their hands, sharing chaat, talking about spice levels. It feels inclusive, not niche.
The Western Mind and the Art of Variety
Unlike in the East, where we often seek depth in a single perfect flavour, the western mind is ever busy in adding dimensions and variety to what they eat, drink and consume.
I walked into a tea shop downtown and saw at least one hundred varieties of tea. Not just green tea or black tea, but white tea, oolong, pu erh, rooibos, chamomile, hibiscus, peppermint, ginger turmeric, chocolate chai, vanilla chai, smoky lapsang souchong, blueberry green tea, mango black tea, aged Earl Grey with lavender. Each with a story about origin, altitude, season and brewing temperature. There were tasting notes as if for wine.
The same is true for sugar and salt. In India sugar is sugar, salt is salt. Here sugar has varieties. Raw cane sugar, turbinado, demerara, light brown, dark brown, muscovado, coconut sugar, maple sugar, powdered sugar, caster sugar, each kept in separate glass jars with labels about texture and caramel notes. Salt is even more elaborate. Himalayan pink salt from Pakistan, Maldon sea salt flakes from England, Fleur de Sel from France, black lava salt from Hawaii, smoked alderwood salt from the Pacific Northwest, pink clay salt, truffle salt, chilli salt. You are told which salt goes with chocolate, which with steak, which with salad.
You see this philosophy everywhere. In coffee shops with twenty ways to brew the same bean, pour over, cold brew, nitro, French press, AeroPress. In breweries with dozens of beers from the same barley. In cheese shops, bread shops, even in water. This is not mere consumerism. It is a cultural habit of experimentation, of asking what if we change one variable, what new flavour will appear. It is the same curiosity that sends a telescope into space or a rover to Mars.
We have arrived in an extraordinary week. Asheville, this small mountain city of under one hundred thousand people, is currently hosting global finance.
The United States holds the G20 presidency this year. As part of that, the US Treasury has chosen Asheville to host the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting. According to official announcements, finance deputies met on August 29 and 30, and the main ministerial meeting is on August 31 to September 1 at the Omni Grove Park Inn, the historic resort hotel on Sunset Mountain.
On the margins of that G20 meeting, a G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting is also being held in Asheville. The US Treasury Secretary is chairing the G20 Finance Track, with themes including global debt transparency, financial literacy, digital assets, and pressure on Iran, as well as clean and conventional energy and critical minerals. Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman arrived via Greenville-Spartanburg Airport to lead the Indian delegation.
Why Asheville? Official statements note two reasons. First, practicality. The Grove Park Inn is secluded, spacious and experienced in hosting large conferences. Second, symbolism. Western North Carolina suffered devastating damage during Hurricane Helene in 2024. The French Broad River flooded large parts of the River Arts District and Biltmore Village. Hosting a global meeting here signals confidence in recovery and brings international attention to rebuilding.
So today in downtown Asheville you have a strange and wonderful contrast. On one street you have artists selling pottery and tourists buying lavender tea, on the next you have delegations with flags of twenty nations, black SUVs moving between downtown and the Grove Park Inn, and journalists filing stories about sovereign debt. Global finance discussing artificial intelligence against a backdrop of Appalachian craft shops and bluegrass buskers.
Floods of 2024 in Asheville
The floods of September 2024 in Asheville were caused by Hurricane Helene which made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane in Florida on 26 September and reached western North Carolina as a tropical storm on 27 September. In three days the mountains received ten to twenty nine inches of rain and the French Broad River at Asheville rose to 24.67 feet beating the record of 23.1 feet set in 1916. The city was isolated as more than four hundred roads closed and four hundred and sixty thousand homes lost power and cell service. Biltmore Village right outside the Biltmore Estate gates was completely submerged and the River Arts District lost eighty percent of its buildings. Asheville water system failed as both main and backup pipes at North Fork plant were washed away and residents had no drinking water for weeks. Sixty one people died in Buncombe County and one hundred and eight across North Carolina and Helene became the costliest disaster in state history. The Biltmore House on high ground survived but the lower grounds and farm were severely flooded and the estate closed for more than a month until 2 November 2024.
Final Reflection
Asheville reminds you that America still has places that are not generic. It has a strong sense of place. The mountains give it a boundary, the rivers give it a soul, the Art Deco gives it history, the artists give it eccentricity, and the universities and hospitals give it a young, environmentally conscious energy.
For someone flying in from Newark via Charlotte, the transition is stark. You leave the bustle of the New York area, change in the busy hub of Charlotte, and within a short drive you are in a valley where the evening air smells of pine, where you can hear live bluegrass from a restaurant doorway, where you can buy samosas on Patton Avenue and then walk to a gallery opening, sit in a 1909 Basilica under scaffolding that still lets you pray, admire a Wonderwall that changes every month, and finally understand that you have not looked at your watch once, for here time is not kept, it is savoured.
( Avtar Mota (
