Saturday, October 16, 2010

Gaming in Asheville, NC?

First I want to start with a quick reminder about the contest I'm running. If you haven't already, please click here to see the details and enter for a chance to win some MkIII Iron Armour marines as well as a display base to go with them made by Secret Weapon Miniatures. So check it out and enter if you wish, I'll select two winners a little more than a week from now on the night of October 24th.

My hobby activities are presently on hold as I am currently in Asheville, NC with the family and will be here for several more days. I did bring some things to work on when time allows but I forgot a few necessary items. I brought along a batch of HORDES models to assemble but forgot my glue, and I also packed a bunch of paints but failed to bring anything that's ready to paint. D'oh! Well, that's what I get for packing at literally the last minute before leaving home.

We're visiting Asheville to begin getting a sense for the area as we'll likely be moving here next summer. Nestled within the Great Smokey Mountains, it is a beautiful place and I've always liked this part of the country. So far everything looks good and I suspect we'd be quite happy living here. While driving around yesterday the wife and I came across an awesome Bavarian restaurant where I tried Das Boot of lager for the first time in my life. Fortunately it was only the single Litre version as I would not have been able to handle any more than that. Overall it was a great dining experience though I was worried enough about falling asleep at the table. : )

Along with all the usual pragmatic concerns involved in moving, like neighborhoods and school districts and such, I'm also quite curious what type of gaming scene I might find here. There is a severe paucity of tabletop gaming where we live now so it's difficult for me to imagine my hobby situation not improving with this move. I have a lead on one game store that I expect to visit tomorrow afternoon which I think is promising. Otherwise I'm still wandering around blindly, listening to the winds for the welcome sounds of rolling dice and gamers' incessant whining.

I have a positive feeling about this place and I believe it could be a good fit for my little family. It seems like a town well suited to weirdos and eccentrics. I'd love to hear from anyone who knows this area or has had any experience playing games in the Asheville region. I'm definitely interested in learning how well represented our hobby is in this part of the state, plus I'd really appreciate any other advice or words of wisdom my Tar Heel readers might have for me. So please let me know what your impressions of this area are like. I would be very grateful for any help in this regard.

Thank you!

10 comments:

  1. When the bubble forms, turn the boot!

    We just got back from a trip to the Smokies actually, though we ended up skipping Asheville and just coming home a half day earlier.

    I'm sure there are some gamers around there. I know I've seen folks on some blogs from western NC but can't recall who right now. Check out the second page of this B&C thread for some leads:

    http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.php?showtopic=133293&st=25

    Good luck with finding gamers and the move!

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  2. Thanks, I spotted in that thread mention of another Asheville-area store which I had not previously heard about called Pastimes. Tomorrow I'm going to check out Hillside Games so I'd say my prospects are looking pretty good. Thank you, sonsoftaurus!

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  3. quote:'It seems like a town well suited to weirdos and eccentrics.'AND hippies! lots of hippies (or what passes for them these days, luckily i have long hair & a beard, so I fit right in).

    There used to be a place downtown called the Sword & Grail that closed up a few years back, a shame really, was a pretty good shop. I haven't made it to Asheville this year yet (sadly). I love downtown where every restaurant is a good one (there's lots of 'artsy' stores too which I'm fond of).

    Murl was over there a few months back & said that there was a new game shop @ the Grove arcade (I think). The Grove Arcade is on the corner of wall street (I think) and...something. Its in downtown. He said it was one of the stores on the outside that doesn't connect to the interior 'mall' part.

    Let us know when you move out to Asheville, as you'll only be about an hour and a half away from here (and an Hour from Murl), and I'll go for just about any excuse to visit Asheville.

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  4. Well if you ever make it three hours East to Durham/Chapel Hill, give me a holla...

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  5. I'm not too far away (about an hour and a half or so), keep us posted on your residential adventures.

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  6. @ Da Masta Cheef - Yeah, I've certainly seen my share of hippies the last couple of days. It's okay, though. I think we would be able to blend in without too much trouble. : ) I do like the artsy vibe going on here, it seems like it would be an interesting place to stay and probably lively too. Thanks for the tip about The Grove Arcade, I'll see what I can find out about it. I forgot you and Murl wouldn't be too far either, that's really cool. I'll definitely keep you guys updated on our plans, that would be great to get to play some games with your group. Thanks!

    @ k.Blas - Very cool, thank you! I've got family scattered all over NC so I'm sure I will be visiting that part of the state again. That's actually where I went to school and still have some friends in both Durham and Chapel Hill. Next time I'm headed your way I will definitely get in touch... thank you!

    @ Gyro - Awesome! When I was writing this last night I forgot how close we are to you guys in Tennessee. Thank you very much for reminding me, that would be really cool to be able to meet up and roll some dice. I'll be sure to post updates as we figure out more about this move. Thanks, Gyro!

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  7. DDDDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAS BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTT!!!!!!!!

    omg Beerfest=best drinking movie of all time

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  8. Lol, that's one of my favorite movies! The scene, though, at the science lab with the frogs... Noooooooo! [grimace] I hope they make a sequel, and soon too. Thanks for checking in, Matty, it's always good to hear from you.

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  9. lol @ at the boot. Beerfest is good drinking movie, but Strange Brew is supreme - take off ya hoser!

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  10. Agreed, I owe so much to that movie... how else would I have learned how to get a free case of beer with just a single dead mouse? Beauty, eh. ; ) I also really liked their movie they made about the post-apocalyptic world with radioactive mutants, I just wish we could have seen more of it.

    "I was the last one left after the nuclear holocaust, eh. The whole world had been destroyed, like U.S. blew up Russia and Russia blew up U.S. Fortunately, I had been offworld at the time. There wasn't much to do. All the bowling alleys had been wrecked. So's I spent most of my time looking for beer."

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