South Englishtown Gazette: Grove Park Inn

I am back in Belize after my trip to Asheville, North Carolina to visit my brother, Arnie, but I wanted to write about one of our visits to Grove Park Inn. We set out to walk the quite hilly 1.3 miles to the Inn and as my brother shut the door, he asked me if I had the house keys. Oops! With no spare key hidden any where, we thought we were sunk. Feeling glum and foolish, we walked around his house to see if any windows had been left unlocked. Luckily for us, a guest bedroom window had not been locked.

So there was nothing for it but to try to get the screen off so I could climb in. I balanced atop the air-conditioning unit, positioned conveniently beneath the window, and used a barbecue grill scraper to pry the spring-loaded screen off; it only took 10 minutes to get it off - the spring was that snug. Holding our breaths, we tried raising the sash. Tricky to do since it is specifically designed to NOT be opened from the outside.

Cheered on by Arnie and using superpowers fueled by desperation, I managed to open the window and wiggle through the window from a precarious position on a step ladder. Entry was made more difficult because I really wanted to avoid landing on top of my camera gear and computer, which were on the floor directly under the window. Supporting my upper body on the bed to the left of the window, I somehow managed to get one short leg inside and stretch it over to the bed, then drag the rest of me through the window. Arnie documented the break-in with his cell phone camera.

Caught in the act.

I knew we needed to do the "break-in" and retrieve the key before we walked to Grove Park Inn. It is only 1.3 miles away, but my FitBit tells me the roundtrip route has the equivalent to 37 flights of stairs and I wasn't sure I could manage to get through the window later in the day.

After the detour to retrieve the key, we began again. Here is a view of our destination.

The original section of Grove Park Inn with colorful autumn landscaping.

We walked from Arnie's house on the east side of Lookout Mountain down to the valley and then partway up the west side of Sunset Mountain where the Inn is located. Construction of the Inn began in 1912 when Asheville was small town known for its summer homes and TB sanitariums. The Inn opened in 1913.

A new wing can be seen to the right.

Impressive aspect of the west-facing terrace.

Construction of the Inn was completed in slightly less than a year, no mean feat. I took some photos of historical photos documenting the construction.

Mule team pulling felled timber from the mountainside forest.

"Car-train" used to transport locally quarried rocks to the building site.

Another view of the car-train.

From Wikipedia "Four-hundred men worked 10-hour shifts six days a week. With only the use of mules, wagons and ropes, granite boulders, some weighing as much as 10,000 pounds, were hauled from Sunset Mountain to build the hotel."

I took just few photos inside the Inn.

One of the 2 matching massive fireplaces in the Great Hall lobby. This one is fitted with gas now, but the other one remains wood-burning.

The Inn was outfitted and furnished by Roycrofters with marvelous Arts and Crafts designs.

Many of the original furnishings remain in use.

Ten US presidents have stayed at Grove Park Inn, most recently President Obama, as have many other prominent people. F. Scott Fitzgerald lived there for 2 years while his wife was receiving treatment at an insane asylum in Asheville.

A display of furnishings used by F. Scott Fitzgerald during his long stay.

We didn't go on any of the tours of the Inn that offered. Instead we opted to wander about the public spaces on our own and take in the marvelous vistas.