Story & Photos by Peggy Matthews-Rose
It’s a World of Gingerbread and Christmas at the Omni Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina!
After a lifetime in Orange County, California, I immediately tell my local family and new friends here in Western North Carolina “no” every time they ask questions that start with “have you been to?” or “do you know where?”
So it was another brand new experience and real treat last week when my cousin Roger Matthews and his wife, Nancy, took us to nearby Asheville to check out the National Gingerbread Contest entries at the Omni Grove Park Inn.
Originally called the Grove Park Inn before its purchase by Omni Hotels, this amazing resort is tucked into the Blue Ridge Mountain foothills and has been serving guests since the days of Woodrow Wilson—who stayed there, as did Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower in later years.
Not unlike Disneyland, Grove Park Inn began as the vision of a local pharmacist named Edwin Wiley Grove whose dreams were initially fueled by a desire to escape a life of poverty as well as to fight his own frequent respiratory illnesses. This drive led him to pursue pharmaceutical solutions and to travel the country in search of both inspiration and business partners.
While meeting with one such partner during a visit to Asheville in 1909, both men realized the location offered an opportunity for many to experience the health advantages of the area. Together they purchased 400 acres of land and set to work.
The arts and crafts style facility they envisioned ultimately required a team of more than 400 working six-days a week to construct. Yet they opened it in just under a year, opening July 12, 1913. Does that success story sound familiar, Alumni? It’s truly amazing what vision and “stick-to-it-ivity” can accomplish.
At the Grove Park Inn there were signs of Christmas everywhere you looked.
Outside we found a wintry Christmas photo location.
Inside, we found a breathtaking view of the hotel, spa, and surrounding landscape.
Even the shops were dressed up for Christmas.
Eventually, we pulled our eyes back in the sockets and went on to see what we had come for…
…the entries in the National Gingerbread Competition.
Don’t believe anyone who tells you there’s no more imagination left in the world!
Amazing creations to behold.
The Grove Park Inn was sold to the Omni Resorts and Hotels in 2012.
It has been on the list of Historic Hotels of America since 2007 and is definitely worth a visit or two…or maybe a few more.
Editor’s note: If you have a great story or photos from when you visit a Disney or other theme park, or other fun trips, (like to a national or state or local park) and Disney Reunions, please send us photos and a story.
You can send them to editor@disneylandalumni.org.
January 3rd, 2024