The plump Eastern Phoebe gets its name from its song. | Photo by Andrew Cannizzaro
With chiming and chirping all over Asheville, this is the season to get into birdwatching. Luckily, NC is home to hundreds of year-round and migrating bird species, meaning there are plenty of opportunities to enjoy this joyful (and free) hobby.
If you’re eager to get out there with fellow birders, check out some opportunities this week:
Saturday, April 5
Join the Blue Ridge Audubon for its monthly outing at Beaver Lake Sanctuary (and save the date for its Beaver Lake Bird Sanctuary Celebration later this month).
The NC Arboretum is hosting a class on migratory patterns of Southern Appalachian birds.
Sunday, April 6
Join wildlife biologist Clifton Avery for a birding excursion at Hickory Nut Gap.
If you’d rather explore solo, we’re sharing 20birds you may be seeing or hearing in your backyard — plus tips for perfecting your birdwatching approach.
These chipper blue birds are often the first spring migrants to arrive in the Blue Ridge Mountains each year. You can often find them nesting in tree cavities, with a song that’s high-pitched and split into three sounds: a chirp, whine, and gurgle.
PETIT MONDRIAN | Wednesday, April 2-Sunday, April 13 | Times vary | Wortham Center for the Performing Arts | Free | Asheville Creative Arts presents the interactive performance geared towards kiddos, including puppets by director Edwin Salas Acosta.
Graham Sharp and Seth Kaufman with Matt Smith | 6-8 p.m. | Highland Brewing Company | Free | The musicians of Steep Canyon Rangers and Floating Action will take the stage for a special collaboration, led by pedal steel guitarist Matt Smith.
Thursday, April 3
Taste of Asheville | 5:30-8:30 p.m. | Mission Conference Center — AB Tech | $85 | Take a culinary tour of 50+ restaurants in Asheville and pay tribute to our city’s resilient food service workers with the Asheville Independent Restaurant Association.
Boff Whalley Book Tour | 6-7:30 p.m. | Firestorm Books | Free | The author — also of Chumbawamba fame — will speak about his new book, recounting ridiculous stories of real life.
Friday, April 4
Annual Spring Sip & Shop | Friday, April 4-Saturday, April 5 | 11 a.m.-5 p.m. | Grovewood Village | Free | Sip on a glass of wine as artists show off their talents with demonstrations — plus, shop discounted gallery merchandise.
Color Me Asheville by Goodwill | 7 p.m. | The Orange Peel | $33 | Standing room tickets are still available for this fashion show, debuting collections made from thrifted materials — ticket sales benefit BeLoved Asheville.
Maker Faire Asheville | 10 a.m.-3 p.m. | Mission Health / A-B Tech Conference Center | Free | Kids and adults can enjoy hands-on exhibits from tech enthusiasts, crafters, scientists, and makers of all kinds.
Fairview-based alpine skier Stephen Foster brought home bronze and silver medals at the Special Olympics World Winter Games in Turin, Italy last month. Congrats, Stephan. The Special Olympics Buncombe County Spring Games are set to take place at T.C. Roberson High School on Thursday, May 1 — learn how to donate or register an athlete.
Environment
Don’t wait til Earth Day to be kind to Mother Nature. Join Asheville’s Sustainability Department in celebrating Earth Month by volunteering with community organizations like Bountiful Cities, Asheville Greenworks, and Riverlink.
Active
Today marks the launch of Buncombe County Parks and Rec’s 55+ Club. Make new friends at the bimonthly club, featuring activities like hikes, pontoon boat tours at Lake Julian, baseball games, and museum visits. See what’s on the schedule + register.
Arts
If you loved Karine Rupp-Stanko’s (aka @up_and_down_asheville) Haywood Murals zine as much as we did, you’ll want to get your hands on her new AVL ABCs zine, highlighting local businesses from A to Z. Purchase one directly from the artist or snag one on the shelves of Downtown Books and News starting Thursday, April 15.
Featured
A crew from the YouTube show “America’s Best Restaurants” recently paid a visit to local burger joint Juicy Lucy’s for a future episode. While you wait for the episode, head to the South Asheville spot for one of its signature cheese-stuffed burgers. (WLOS)
Plan Ahead
Lights, camera, action. Asheville Parks and Recreation’s Movies in the Park series returns to Pack Square on Friday, May 9 with “Moana 2.” The free movies are screened monthly, with “Black Panther,” “Finding Nemo,” and “Wicked” on the bill.
Featured Home
Tucked one block away from West Asheville’s central shopping district, this historic 1920s duplex can be split and rented for passive income — or enjoyed as an oh-so-cozy whole. See all 20+ pics.*
Try This
Picture your next event being promoted to our thousands of subscribers in this text ad. Our self-service ad portal can get your ad live in just two days.
Category
Eat
Not your average ice cream truck
We’ll have one of everything, please. | Photo via Sweet Cub
In October, owner Nicole Wandtke quit her corporate job to pursue her dream of opening a soft serve trailer — and after months of hard work, Sweet Cub Soft Serve was born. With a soft (serve) opening under her belt, the trailer is officially hitting the road this weekend.
You can choose your flavor of soft serve as the base for decadent sundaes like the Blue Ridge Bear (topped with honey, sea salt, and Teddy Grahams) or, get this, ice cream nachos with your choice of topping and sauce served on waffle cone chips. To make these treats even sweeter, a portion of sales are donated to support public lands.
This Sunday, April 6, Sweet Cub will host a launch party at Addison Farms Vineyard from 1 to 5 p.m. If you can’t make it out, you can still track down the trailer for a sweet treat — follow Sweet Cub on Instagram to know where it’s parked for April. Bonus: You can also book the trailer for events.
The Buy
The Buy
Your favorite spring decor piece to add light and cheer into your living space:
Pollen’s Doritos Locos tonic. Chemist’s Mayo Liqueur. Mars Hill’s new underground bar, The Sinkhole. Thankfully, none of these are real — but they are some April Fool’s jokes I got a kick out of yesterday. Although I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t try at least a sip of the BLT-ini that Chemist pranked us with.
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