The big TD (a.k.a. Turkey Day or Thanksgiving) is coming up and you know what that means: a feast on your plate, relatives on your couch + football on your TV. As if all of that wasn’t enough, Thanksgiving gets even better when you take time to think about all the things you’re grateful for.

While all of us at AVLtoday are certainly thankful for our cool jobs – we’re especially thankful to have an amazing city like Asheville that’s full of interesting things for us to talk about each day.

That got us thinking: What Asheville-specific things are you thankful for? Let us know by responding to this email and we’ll feature some of your answers in our newsletter on Thanksgiving Day.

#Asked: What should Asheville be thankful for?

Here are some examples:

New city manager Debra Campbell.

A fresh page has been turned for Asheville’s local government. Meet our new city manager, Debra Campbell, who will begin serving the Asheville community next month.

UNC Asheville’s total economic impact on Asheville.

Last year alone, the total economic impact from UNCA reached $450 million during the 2017 fiscal year. From an alumni education premium of $96.1 million to outside visitor contribution of $15.3 million, this liberal arts university brings economic growth to the Asheville + WNC area.

More flights from FlyAVL.

Our local airport has definitely took flight + delivered this year. From adding nonstop flights to Denver and Washington D.C., resuming Uber + Lyft services, Florida stops through Spirit Airlines + more, it sure is a great time to travel.

469 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway that pave the way to Asheville.

From spring hikes to cruising around admiring the fall foliage, Asheville wouldn’t be the same without the Blue Ridge Parkway. We’d never get to climb Mount Mitchell, the highest mountain peak in the eastern U.S., without the Parkway.

Red Pandas coming to WNC Nature Center.

This 42-acre zoological park here in WNC has been a center of education and conversation about the area’s animals. Now, home to over 60 species of wild + domestic animals, the WNC Nature Center is proud to welcome the red panda as their next exhibit. DYK: Red pandas are an endangered species with only 10,000 wild adult pandas remaining in the world.

Burial being ranked as the #5 small brewer in the world.

Last month, Craft Beer Brewing released its Best of 2018 issue and Burial Beer Co. (which started as a little nano brewery) has now made its mark at #5 small brewery in the world. And of course, we love the other 30+ breweries in the area.

Photo by @burialbeer

Those who protect our land + waters.

The French Broad River, scenic drives, our parks + hiking tails wouldn’t be as clean and well-kept if it wasn’t for organizations like MountainTrue’s French Broad Riverkeepers, Dogwood Alliance, SAHC + Asheville GreenWorks.

Being a mecca for craft.

From traditional mountain crafts to modern innovations, we can find it all at spots like the Folk Art Center (home of the Southern Highland Craft Guild), the Center for Craft and Penland School of Crafts in nearby Spruce Pine, plus all the great pop-up markets – like the Big Crafty and the Show + Tell Pop Up Shop, that appear over the holidays.

Live street music + performances from our local buskers.

Walking along the streets of downtown carries much more character thanks to our buskers. Performers like Abby the Spoon Lady + Chris Rodrigues, The Buskits, Andrew Fletcher + Adi the Monk make up the Asheville Buskers Collective.

Our independent bookstores (5+) and independent movie theatres (3+).

Shopping local always feels good. That is why we are thankful for those independent bookstores and movie theatres such as Malaprop’s, Firestorm, Battery Park Book Exchange, Asheville Pizza and Brewing + Grail Moviehouse.

So, what are you thankful for, Asheville?

Whether it’s food, community or football, reply to this email to let us know. Or hop on over to Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Or, leave a comment online here.

–Audra