{"id":209437,"date":"2025-03-25T10:10:23","date_gmt":"2025-03-25T14:10:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/?p=209437"},"modified":"2025-03-25T10:10:36","modified_gmt":"2025-03-25T14:10:36","slug":"rediscover-the-magic-of-western-north-carolina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/articles\/rediscover-the-magic-of-western-north-carolina","title":{"rendered":"Rediscover the Magic of Western North Carolina"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Where:<\/strong> Western North Carolina<br><strong>When:<\/strong> Year-round<br><strong>If you like: <\/strong>arts and culture<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Why you should go:<\/strong> When Hurricane Helene swept through the mountains of Western North Carolina in late September, it unleashed a torrent of water, mud, and devastation across the region. But \u201cmountain folks are resilient people,\u201d says Mickey Poandl, public relations manager for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.exploreasheville.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Explore Asheville<\/strong><\/a>, the nonprofit arm of the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority. With grit and determination, residents began the arduous, emotional work of rebuilding, and today most communities and businesses have reopened their doors. They just need visitors to step through them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe are still seeing a widespread perception that Asheville is closed or that it would be a bad idea to visit,\u201d Poandl says. \u201cWith the exception of a few areas that will need more time to recover, Asheville artists and small-business owners are welcoming visitors back. That includes downtown, West Asheville, the Upper River Arts District, and many other neighborhoods.\u201d So book a hotel, make a restaurant reservation or two, and pick up a souvenir from a local maker. Your patronage could mean the difference between death and rebirth for a small business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>G&amp;G tip: <\/strong>While most roads and state parks in the region have reopened, a few remain closed.<strong> <\/strong>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitnc.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Visit North Carolina<\/strong><\/a> website offers the most up-to-date information, including an interactive map of travel advisories.<\/p>\n<\/p><div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3315786\" class=\"ad-container in-line-ad mobile inContent\" data-ad-size-mapping=\"inContent\" data-ad-path=\"\/68000349\/in-between-modules\" data-ad-sizes=\"[ [336, 280], [300, 250], [300, 50] ]\" data-ad-channel=\"\" data-ad-type=\"In-between Modules\" data-page-terms=\"flagged\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-2672156\" class=\"ad-container in-line-ad tablet inContent\" data-ad-size-mapping=\"inContent\" data-ad-path=\"\/68000349\/in-between-modules\" data-ad-sizes=\"[ [336, 280], [300, 250], [300, 50] ]\" data-ad-channel=\"\" data-ad-type=\"In-between Modules\" data-page-terms=\"flagged\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-2867596\" class=\"ad-container in-line-ad desktop inContent\" data-ad-size-mapping=\"inContent\" data-ad-path=\"\/68000349\/in-between-modules\" data-ad-sizes=\"[ [336, 280], [300, 250], [300, 50] ]\" data-ad-channel=\"\" data-ad-type=\"In-between Modules\" data-page-terms=\"flagged\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>And support small businesses that need it most<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":93,"featured_media":210366,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-03-25T14:10:28Z","apple_news_api_id":"70a8ac0c-1916-4ff7-89a9-e32e02ab773b","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-03-25T14:10:28Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AcKisDBkWT_eJqeMuAqt3Ow","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1785],"tags":[30536,307,30482,619,30501],"authors":[29326],"issue":[],"recipe-type":[],"class_list":["post-209437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel","tag-arts-culture","tag-north-carolina","tag-southern-bucket-list","tag-travel","tag-year-round","authors-elizabeth-hutchison-hicklin"],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.4 (Yoast SEO v25.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Rediscover the Magic of Western North Carolina &#8211; 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