Letter 3: Ashville, NC
Tuesday, March 24 we moved to an RV park in Asheville. It is between 2 freeways as they merge, but also we are on the banks of the French Broad river. We have paved sites and blooming pear trees. We had been having a drip under the kitchen sink and this RV park also has a repair shop so they repaired the drip, so we all thought. However it appeared the faucet was the culprit so we bought a new one at Home Depot for the trailer repair people to replace. We rested and Olivia contacted Lucrisha Bryant, Fred’s high school girl friend. Her parents had bought an old non-denominational camp in the hills east of Asheville, at Swananoa in Buckeye Cove, which is larger than a holler, and remodeled the old buildings and several of her siblings had moved there. Lucrisha retired there after her father Baxton Bryant passed away. This land includes a mountain across from the Blue Ridge Parkway. For those of you from Duncanville you know the many stories of Baxton including that he was the minister of the Duncanville First United Methodist Church in the late 50’s and with Kennedy in Ft Worth the day before the assassination and with MLK in his meeting with the garbage union just before his death. On a previous trip to visit the Bryant’s, Baxton took Fred’s mother, sister and wife to the top of his mountain. It was a very memorable experience.
When Olivia talked to Lucrisha, she immediately said she would come to us and bring her leftovers to put with our supper, we had a feast thanks to her and Frank Meyner’s Coq Au Vin. She also brought us 2 free passes to Biltmore and invited us to come to her house for Barbecue Ribs the next night.Wednesday, March 24, What a Day! Two exciting houses from “looking at” to ‘living in.” We started the day at “Biltmore” which is huge! It is like Versailles. We toured four floors and over 70 rooms. It is definitely something to see. The gardens are well groomed, but only a few things were blooming on this rainy day.
We saw Weeping Cherries and 
we think a purple Azalea.From Biltmore we drove out to the Bryant place out of Swananoa and into Buckeye Cove. 
We recognized the house as soon as we saw it after wandering up one little road after another. Lucretia has been 
“pilling up rocks” as she calls it to make the back yard beautiful too.
We were not allowed to take pictures of the interior of Biltmore so Olivia made up for it at Lucretia’s.
The kitchen island is made from an old store bins for flour, sugar, etc and the light fixture is so charming with basket lamp shades hanging from dried limbs. The red capped spice bottles are empty Nutrisweet bottles her Mother saved for spices. Olivia enjoyed the slice of a 
Walnut tree she used for a hot plate.
One end of the kitchen is
stone with built-in oven and microwave and a grill, with a chimney that has a good enough draw to pull the cigarette smoke right out of the house. Lucretia’s brother Doyne’s son, Ray was home and 
came to visit with us and after supper he took us to the top of the mountain, on a back road. His grandfather took Olivia up a logging road. Lucretia knows a lot of people that are reading this blog and she said to tell everyone hello and Patti, please come to see her! She would love to have you.
Hanging in the
Living Room was a 
portraite of Baxton in his latter years when he was retired and became a hill billy!
And would be nice to have, especially when she cans Rasberry, Mulberry, & Dewberry jams. There is also a 
wonderful front porch.
Ray took us to see his home
that his dad built and we enjoyed seeing the 
rustic interior. There is no sheetrock. Its all wood and stone inside and out. Every stick of wood and every rock was from the Bryant Mountain, selected and cut (or gathered) by Doyne. It’s 90% complete. Work stopped when Doyne’s wife died and now Doyne has passed. Now its Ray’s retreat.
Especially for those in Duncanville. Doyne’s son Ray was raised in South Africa where Doyne worked for years. He is very bright and a pleasure to be around. He is VP of AATIS based in Taylors SC. They essentially do process control computer work. Ray can and does do it all. Quite a guy! Doyne would be proud.
Visits like this and the others we have made this year with our friends and families have really enriched this trip.
To contact us please email
We recognized the house as soon as we saw it after wandering up one little road after another. Lucretia has been “pilling up rocks” as she calls it to make the back yard beautiful too.We were not allowed to take pictures of the interior of Biltmore so Olivia made up for it at Lucretia’s.
The kitchen island is made from an old store bins for flour, sugar, etc and the light fixture is so charming with basket lamp shades hanging from dried limbs. The red capped spice bottles are empty Nutrisweet bottles her Mother saved for spices. Olivia enjoyed the slice of a Walnut tree she used for a hot plate.One end of the kitchen is
stone with built-in oven and microwave and a grill, with a chimney that has a good enough draw to pull the cigarette smoke right out of the house. Lucretia’s brother Doyne’s son, Ray was home and came to visit with us and after supper he took us to the top of the mountain, on a back road. His grandfather took Olivia up a logging road. Lucretia knows a lot of people that are reading this blog and she said to tell everyone hello and Patti, please come to see her! She would love to have you.Hanging in the
Living Room was a portraite of Baxton in his latter years when he was retired and became a hill billy!The canning porch is unique,
And would be nice to have, especially when she cans Rasberry, Mulberry, & Dewberry jams. There is also a wonderful front porch.Ray took us to see his home
that his dad built and we enjoyed seeing the rustic interior. There is no sheetrock. Its all wood and stone inside and out. Every stick of wood and every rock was from the Bryant Mountain, selected and cut (or gathered) by Doyne. It’s 90% complete. Work stopped when Doyne’s wife died and now Doyne has passed. Now its Ray’s retreat.Especially for those in Duncanville. Doyne’s son Ray was raised in South Africa where Doyne worked for years. He is very bright and a pleasure to be around. He is VP of AATIS based in Taylors SC. They essentially do process control computer work. Ray can and does do it all. Quite a guy! Doyne would be proud.
Visits like this and the others we have made this year with our friends and families have really enriched this trip.
To contact us please email
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