Our Hostel Misadventure, More Murals & Hole Doughnuts

Asheville, NC Day 3, Part 1

If you missed our 2023 Asheville, NC trip Day 2, Parts 1 and 2 describes The Biltmore Estate and gardens and Part 3 takes you on a 40-mile drive of the Blue Ridge Mountains:

Asheville's Crown Jewel: The Biltmore's History and Grandeur are a Must-See

Beyond the Biltmore House: The Estate's Grand Gardens and Historic Stables

Cruising the Blue Ridge: Asheville to Mount Mitchell, the Highest Peak East of the Mississippi

Asheville, NC Day 3, Part 1 ~ Since we planned to walk the Camino de Santiago in Spain sometime in the years to come, I pitched the idea of staying at a hostel to get used to hostel living. What could go wrong?

The West Asheville hostel is on busy Haywood Road so parking was a challenge.

We had one of two private rooms on the second floor with the common bathroom shared by another private room, a girls dorm, and a mixed dorm with bunk beds.

There was no covering on the bathroom window. The first night at least someone draped a towel over the window.

While our room looks quite cheerful, the blinds didn’t work, the windows were hard to open, the screens were broken, lightbulbs were burned out, the bed was uncomfortable…and there was a party on the patio late into the evening the first night we were there.

See that Alfred Hitchcock photo hanging on the wall from the movie The Birds? There’s some messed up synchronicity…

Kate Sherer

has this unconscious habit of humming Risseldy Rosseldy (from the movie when the children are in the schoolhouse).

This should have been an omen when we checked in.

Coming downstairs in the morning, someone was sleeping on the sofa in a sleeping bag.

We lasted two nights. With no air conditioning on the second floor of the old house and sharing the bathroom with 20-somethings, we both agreed…we’re too old for this shit.

I emailed the owners and told them to give our nonrefundable nights to a traveler in need. Then we snagged a hotel room for the next two nights and enjoyed a nice hot shower in the privacy of our own bathroom.

After checking out of the hostel, we enjoyed a few more murals in West Asheville. Next door to the hostel was a coffeehouse during the day and dive bar at night called The Odds.

A beautiful mural of Dolly Parton and RuPaul is on the side of the Beauty Parade Hair Salon down the street.

Biscuithead, where they serve massive biscuits for breakfast and lunch.

And Hole Doughnuts, where they make doughnuts right in front of you. The long line of customers was out the door into the parking lot. The 25-minute wait was totally worth it…the doughnuts were as delicious as the 4.9 Google rating said!

Next, we explored the River Arts District and happened upon a hot shop…to be continued.