Asheville #2

The best part of our trip to Asheville came just after our trip with Adventure Caravan came to a conclusion. Our son, daughter-in-law, and our granddaughter came for a visit!

Alexis turned 10 months old on her visit. 

She has become a little person.

She is no longer a baby!

She eats real people food, for the most part.

Here she is telling me the strawberry was a bit tart!

And, since she is walking,

it was time to get big girl shoes!

However, she is still young enough to take a nap when a nap is needed!

We walked around downtown Asheville and stopped in a few shops here and there. We stopped by Lexington Glass Works. This was a fun stop, as the owners, Billy and Geoff do the art, but also want to teach and inform. They filled us in on everything they were doing as they crafted a large vase.

It begins by shaping clear glass, before colored glass is added.

Here the glowing glass, which will cool to red, is pressed around the clear glass.

Glass blowers work in teams on larger pieces.

Geoff is blowing in the tube while Billy rolls and shapes the glass.

The globe is flattened

Temperature is key to glass blowing. 

The internal temperature and the external temperatures

of the piece need to be carefully monitored and adjusted.

Sometimes the piece would be turned in the furnace,

other times they would use torches to heat only one area.

Even Alexis is captivated by the process.

Or, maybe, she thinks the guys are kinda cute!

Asheville has become an artist community. Many of the warehouses have been turned into artist studios, forming the "Arts District". It was fun to stop at a few of the studios to see the art and meet the artists.