There’s a moment every year when Asheville just shifts. You feel it before you can explain it. The days stretch longer, the energy downtown picks up, and something in the air tells you — summer is here.
For me, Memorial Day weekend is that moment. It’s the unofficial start to everything I love about living in this city.
Downtown comes alive in a way that’s hard to describe if you haven’t been here for it. The Asheville Tourists are back at McCormick Field and you can see the stadium lights cutting through the evening sky. Breweries open their doors wider and stay open later. Music drifts out of Pack Square and down the streets. Walk past any restaurant on a Friday night and the smells alone will stop you cold. And the Pritchard Park drum circle — if you’ve never experienced it, that alone is worth making the trip. Every Friday, a community just… comes together. Strangers dancing. People from every walk of life, all there for the same reason. That’s Asheville.
But I’ll be honest with you — this summer feels a little different than the ones before it.
It’s coming up on two years since Hurricane Helene. The city looks much like it did before the storm — the food scene, the tours, the music, all of it is back. But if you’re a local, you feel what’s still being rebuilt. We’ve been working hard to get Asheville’s tourism back to where it was, because this community depends on it, and because what we have here is genuinely worth sharing with the world.
What I keep hearing — and it still gets me every time — are the stories from people who come out on the Pubcycle and realize they’re riding with someone they met during the storm. Neighbors who shared water and food and shelter in the hardest weeks, now sharing a beer and laughing about where life took them. Asheville has always been a close community. Helene just made that impossible to miss. When you visit this weekend, you’re part of this city’s comeback. That’s not nothing.
Now — how to actually spend the weekend.
Asheville is a city of real duality and that’s what makes it special. You can fill an entire long weekend without leaving downtown. The food scene is one of the best in the Southeast, and I’d push you to try something you wouldn’t normally order. But if it’s your first time in the area, you have to get outside the city too. Cloudy day? Catawba Falls is a beginner-friendly hike with a payoff that doesn’t feel beginner-friendly — take the stairs to the top and you’ll know what I mean. Clear skies? Bear Wallow or Craggy Gardens. The rain this time of year makes the waterfalls absolutely full and the mountains are every shade of green you can imagine.
And somewhere in the middle of all that — come ride with us.
On the Pubcycle, you end up in this surprisingly intimate experience. It’s you and your group, music going, a slight breeze in your face, rolling through downtown Asheville at the pace it was meant to be seen. We’ll point you to the spots worth coming back to, fill you in on what’s actually worth your time, and give you local recommendations that don’t show up on the first page of Google. At the same time, you’re somehow the most entertaining thing on the street. People stop and take pictures. They dance as you go by. Smiles are genuinely contagious out there.
A sunset tour on a warm evening in this city? I’ve been doing this a long time and it still doesn’t get old.
Asheville is special. It’s been through a lot. And this summer, we’re celebrating it.
Ready to ride? Browse all our tours and book your spot or give us a call at (828) 214-5010. Browse all our tours to find the right fit, and check the FAQ if you have questions. Come see what all the fuss is about.
Welcome back to summer!
Amazing Pubcycle departs from 37 N. Spruce St. in downtown Asheville. Tours run 1.5 hours, $30–35/person, BYOB beer and wine.