Asheville, North Carolina, was stop No. 7 on our Listen To America road trip. We set up shop at 12 Bones Smokehouse and Wedge Brewery to talk to locals about what brings them to the home of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Here’s what they had to say:
“Asheville, for me, is like the big city ... The health care work that I do in the city is what keeps me in Asheville.”
― Kathey Avery, 64, registered nurse
“I’m originally from Staten Island, New York ... To me, this is home. I had fun growing up in New York, but this is home.”
― Mary Beth Mackley, 57, psychiatric nurse
“I took a chance on love. I met this woman and I decided to give up my 10-year teaching career.”
― Erin McGrady, web designer/photographer
“I have two young daughters and I want to raise them in a beautiful environment and have a great education at the same time.”
― JéWana Grier-McEachin, 43, executive director of a nonprofit
HuffPost visits Asheville, North Carolina, on Sept. 25, 2017, as part of "Listen to America: A HuffPost Road Trip."
HuffPost staffer Meredith Melnick (left) speak to panelists Jacqueline Sitton, Steve Heatherly, Lucretia Stargell, Dr. Beth Buys and Frank Taylor during the "Women's Health & Rural Hospitals" event at Lenoir-Rhyne University's Center for Graduate Studies in Asheville.
Jacqueline Sitton speaks to the audience.
Dr. Brie Folkner cries while speaking to the panelists about one of her patients.
The audience filled most of the room during the event.
Dr. Beth Buys speaks to the audience.
North Carolina state Sen. Terry Van Duyn speaks with audience members during a question and answer session.
A person wearing a jacket decorated with a Confederate flag passes by on a moped in Asheville.
People wait to be interviewed during HuffPost's visit to Asheville.
North Carolina state Sen. Terry Van Duyn is interviewed by HuffPost staffer Meredith Melnick during the visit to Asheville.
A Listen to America sign sits outside a video station.
People wait to be interviewed by HuffPost at the 12 Bones restaurant.
Ashlee Lafferty is interviewed by Michael Pace and Marina Fang during HuffPost's visit.
Murals and graffiti cover the walls of many buildings in the River Arts District of Asheville.
Sarah Grossman (center) interviews Elena Monsour on the bus.
Murals and graffiti cover the walls of many buildings.
A sign for 12 Bones Smokehouse appears across from the HuffPost video activation site in Asheville.
Interns from Mission Health take photos of the HuffPost bus.
Zach Voigt, an intern at Mission Health, escorts Robert Haskins to the bus.
Local TV station WLOS takes video during HuffPost's visit to Asheville.
Marc Janks speaks to fellow HuffPost staffers Sarah Grossman (left) and Robyn Malcolm.
Murals and graffiti appear on many buildings in the River Arts District.
Five more alternate jurors were selected Friday following questioning from prosecution and defense lawyers, rounding out the 12 jurors and six alternates needed for the case against Trump to proceed.
Former New York Yankees left-hander Fritz Peterson died at the age of 82. He is probably best known exchanging wives with teammate Mike Kekich in the 1970s.
