The Urban Trail     11/07/18

Lake Powhatan National Forest, Asheville, North Carolina

 

But Thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of my head.  Psalm 3:3

 

Today was a beautiful day, spent mostly walking the streets of downtown Asheville.

First up – – the Visitor Center.  I’d read about this self-guided “Urban Trail” they had, but we needed a map.  We also wanted to get more information about “Wilderness” sights, as we’re sort of in the middle of the Blue Ridge Parkway.  The man we spoke with was so knowledgeable!  And he was a volunteer.  Kudos to him!

He mentioned visiting a place called the Grove Arcade, and we had a few minutes to kill before my hair appointment.

 

Yes!  I had a hair appointment!  I was soooo excited to go, I actually talked Blaine into going a few minutes early.  OK, the real reason I wanted to go early was in the hopes I’d be done early, because my appointments generally take about two hours, and our gorgeous day was waiting.  So I was torn.  On the one hand, I couldn’t wait to get a Helix cut again.  On the other hand, I didn’t want to waste the day sitting in a salon.

So I got my hair cut and colored at the Beverly Hills Salon by Tanya.  She was soooo great!  And now that I’ve had two Helix cuts, I can tell you that I will NEVER be satisfied with a ‘regular’ cut again.  Every hairdresser should have this in their repertoire.  Although, I’ll bet many (most?) aren’t dedicated to their profession enough to go through the training it takes.  But what a difference!  No product.  No brushing. No hair dryer.   Just wash, condition put it up in a scrunchie overnight and that’s it!  Thanks for the nine months you spent to get all the classes under your belt and graduate, Tanya!

During the two hours I was in the chair, Blaine was out hitting the Parkway Visitor Center and taking a short walk.

 

When he picked me up, we went back to the Asheville VC to park (for free) and, map in hand, we began our walk.  There were 44 places encompassing 1.7 miles (if I remember correctly) on this map to check out.  However – – –

Even with Blaine’s extraordinary map-reading and sense of direction, we found it extremely frustrating to find things.  And things we ran across and thought should have been listed – weren’t.

Things like The Basilica of St. Lawrence.

There were several people inside meditating, so we didn’t take many pictures.  As we were leaving, we discovered a brochure about the church.  It seems we missed some beautiful things.  Ah, well.  Here’s what we did see:  Outside, above the entrance, there are three statues starting from the left – the church’s first martyr, Stephen (how do they know what he looked like? 😊) holding a stone, the method of his martyrdom and also a palm, then this church’s patron saint, Lawrence. the third century archdeacon…holding in one hand a palm frond and in the other a gridiron, the instrument of his torture., then St. Aloysius Gonzega, a 16^th century Jesuit seminarian from Spain who perished in the plague. (they don’t say what he’s holding)  In art, a subject holding a palm has been martyred for the Christian faith.

Above the entrance, there’s a polychrome terra cotta that represents Christ giving the keys of the kingdom to Peter and appointing him head of the Church.  Immediately below, is a stained-glass window displaying the Coat of Arms of the Basilica of St. Lawrence.

We couldn’t find the stained-glass window . . . .  Hmmmmm . . .

The architect and builder of the church, Rafael Guastavino (1842-1908), also worked on Biltmore, and he’s buried inside the church somewhere under the left-side arch of the sanctuary.  This guy was one of the most famous architects in the nation, with over 1,000 buildings to his name, mainly in New York and Boston.  Some of them are – Grant’s Tomb, the Great Hall at Ellis Island, Grand Central Station, Carnegie Hall, and the Chapel at West Point.  In North Carolina, the Duke Chapel in Durham, the Jefferson Standard Building in Greensboro, the Motley Memorial in Chapel Hill and St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Wilmington.

The Basilica was begun in 1905 and completed in 1909.  There are no beams of wood or steel in the entire structure.  All the walls, floors, ceilings and pillars are of the tile or other similar materials.  The roof is tile with a copper covering.

 

There was no information about the inside of the church.  ☹

 

So now we move on and finish our walk around town – or try to anyway.

After yesterday, it was good to have a less eventful day!