Weaverville
If we can’t match or beat your best written quote for tires, will give you a free tire rotation.
645-8330
Shad Higgins, owner 183 Old Mars Hill Hwy.
Inn on Main more than just a place to stay
By Marilyn Payne After growing up near Chica-
go and meeting at Southern Illi- nois University, Dan and Nancy Ward came to the mountains to marry and further careers. After moving around the Southeast, a friend introduced the couple to the building that now stands as the Inn on Main Street Bed and Breakfast, where they fell in love with Weaverville. “I’ve decided Weaverville is
like the most perfect place in the world,” Dan said. “The people who are here really care about being and staying involved in the community. Even the trans- plants join gardening clubs, vol- unteer as reading tutors, just do a lot of things that really build. And the locals have great fam- ily values and are very tolerant people. It just makes for a very colorful, stimulating mix of per- sonalities.” Like the mix of personalities,
the Inn on Main mixes tradition- al bed and breakfast practices with environmentally conscious, new-aged approaches to cleaning and maintaining business. “We wanted to put our own
stamp on everything and not leaving a carbon footprint is something that we both re- ally care about,” Dan said. “It’s worked because there are more and more people who have aller- gies to certain common things. We didn’t plan on it but we sort of attract these kinds of people, it’s sort of become our niche.” The Inn on Main Street uses
environmentally friendly clean- ers and can specialize product use based on customer needs. It also serves from the on-site garden seasonally and strives to use local products whenever pos- sible. “Most of our food and things
that we have are vegetarian,” Dan said. “These may not be the things that our guests are used to at home or do at home, but they still admire what we do here. And they aren’t here to receive exactly what they have at home either.” The balance between the fa-
miliar and new is something that the Wards try to maintain so that the business keeps true to a bed and breakfast but doesn’t “become a museum.”
10 THE TRIBUNE - July 29 - August 4, 2010
The Inn on Main Street in Weaverville offers a unique setting near downtown for travelers.
Life of a Weaverville bed and
breakfast “People come to a bed and
breakfast for fantasy,” Dan said. “The sheets have to be a higher thread count. The towels have to be f luffier. But our guests also just hang out on the back porch and enjoy the mountain views in a very casual way.” The scenery, environment and
offerings aren’t the only aspects of a vacation that lure first-tim- ers and repeat customers to the Inn on Main Street. Guests take interest in the Wards on a level that initially took the pair by surprise. “People aren’t just at a bed and
breakfast for hospitality; they’re here for the innkeepers,” Dan said. “We set the tone, and Nancy and I have learned that it’s okay to indulge our quirks. I’ll often wear an Aloha shirt to breakfast saying ‘It’s another day in para- dise.’ It’s really how I feel.” The feeling comes from the
love of the town that he makes sure guests experience in their time. “More important than the ho- listic is that we keep it local,”
Dan said. “We always send our guests to downtown Weaverville to eat first. We do not send guests to Asheville businesses. I think some of the local businesses get that, but some don’t. It’s because our guests love Weaverville busi- nesses.” In building the list of places
to recommend customers, Nancy put together an attractions book and a menu book for guests to look through, each which list all Weaverville businesses in the very front. “Blue Mountain Pizza, Pres-
ervation Hall; people love the friendliness of the businesses,” Dan said. “The town really sells itself. Some guests will be here for three or four days and never even leave Weaverville. It’s just such a sweet downtown. To have cute, little, independently owned businesses is what makes people come back and what makes us thrive,” Dan said. A bed and breakfast is not the
common rest stop for travelers. It usually signifies a special trip for the guests. “Most of the people here are in
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