Bele Chere = Beautiful Living
...that's the meaning of Bele Chere (pronounced Bell Cher) as translated from an ancient Scottish dialect. But what Bele Chere means to approximately 375,000 festival goers is FUN! Bele Chere is a free outdoor street festival in Asheville, NC and draws crowds from across the country the last weekend in July.
To be honest we hadn't planned on going to Bele Chere this year, but it just so happened that it coincided with Jordan's trip to camp. What luck, we had to drop Jordan off at AICL on Sunday so I saw this as an opportunity to have a bit of fun while we were there. On Thursday night, at the last minute (like I do most everything else) I jumped on Priceline.com and got a hotel room for Saturday. Just like that, we were on our way for a mini-vacation in Asheville.
Asheville is eclectic. A Menagerie of diverse people, things and sights on a regular day - BUT throw Bele Chere in the mix and it's like nothing you've ever seen before. I actually know folks who go just to "people watch". I know, that may not be the nicest thing to say but it's true. People like to look at people who are different than them and Asheville is filled with originality and imagination. It is a lot of fun and I enjoy cultural exposure in small doses.
In just 24 short hours we were exposed to
music...
sort of like music....at least it was a joyful noise
art...
art 1. |
-noun (as defined in Webster's dictionary) the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance. (yep, this stuff is art too) |
fine dining...
Are you kidding me?
Of course funnel cakes are fine dining! (extra thanks to Alenia & Jennifer from Burnsville - Jordan scored 3/4 of a funnel cake that these girls couldn't eat) Sweet! Sweet! Sweet!
Cultural & Social Diversity...
Artist, homeless, vegan, liberal, activist, tattooed, famous, ethnic, musician, farmer, christian, locavore, hippie, foreigner, chef, botanist, conservative, wiccan, or just plain Jane - you name it, Asheville encompasses the whole spectrum of todays diverse society.
Architecture...
The buildings here are amazing, especially the Grove Arcade. Art Deco to Gothic Revival architecture abounds. Many of them from the mid to late 1800's still stand because of Asheville's economic downfall after the great depression. Asheville was busy paying off debt during America's urban renewal of the 1950's & 60's. They were forced to maintain what they had instead of tearing down existing structures. This preservation combined with recent revitalization efforts makes Asheville a History or Art lovers paradise.
Sports...
The Slackline puts Soup to the test but Lu Lu is "loving" tennis J
Theater...
Silver Girl & Bronze Guy were fascinating - totally STILL - makes you want to tickle them, he! he!
and my favorite...........Shopping...
I would love the Mast General Store even if it didn't have the Candy Barrel but boy am I glad it does........individually wrapped circus peanuts and Coconut Long Boys made this a Saturday and Sunday stop. Good thing I'm scheduled to have my teeth cleaned soon.
Okay, right - that probably wouldn't be considered a small dose of cultural exposure, it was more like a big heaping helping. One of those, I'm hot and my feet hurt get me some water and air conditioning before I fall out Helpings! Whew, Thank goodness we had to get Jordan over to Warren Wilson College for camp.
As always, if you want to see more photos of our Bele Chere excursion see my flickr photostream.
As a sidenote I liked to give a little piece of advice for those of you venturing to Bele Chere in the future: No matter how comfy they feel right out of the box, NEVER ever wear that new pair of Sperry topsiders you bought on sale the day before the festival - you WILL get blisters. L
Living Beautifully ~ Renee
