With the windows wide open, we wake to birdsong from just outside our tiny A-frame cabin overlooking the French Broad River in Asheville. I slip on sandals and follow a gravel path edged with blooming lavender that winds past several other cabins to the Wrong Way River Lodge, where a barista is making morning coffees and teas to order. A little later, I hear happy shouts and laughter through the trees—there’s about a dozen people in pink inner tubes floating by on the water. This all feels hopeful and brightening.
After seeing video clips of the terrifying flooding last September, we weren’t sure what to expect when we booked a two-night stay at this urban-outdoorsy lodge within three miles of downtown Asheville—and just across the road from the French Broad River, one of the primary waterways to swell and spill over during Hurricane Helene.
Photographer Peter Frank Edwards and I had made the drive to Asheville the day before, heading about four hours northwest of Charleston, gaining elevation and mountain views in the final stretch. I’ve always considered Asheville (elevation 2,200 feet) to be snugly cradled by the ancient peaks of the Blue Ridge Mountains—a safe getaway from our coastal storms. But last year, the force of tropical wind and rain moved inland. Zipping north from Florida as a Category 4 at landfall, Helene was a record-breaker. September 26 and 27 mark the one-year anniversary of the devastating storm that brought catastrophic flooding to parts of Western North Carolina, including Asheville. The French Broad River rose fast and furiously into the floodplain, peaking at a whopping 24.67 feet. (For context, the flood stage for the river is nine feet.)
“You can’t imagine how much water there was. It was otherworldly,” recalls Wrong Way River Lodge & Cabins co-owner Shelton Steele about the torrents created by the fusion of floodwaters from the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers. He and I are talking in the lodge’s canteen, where there’s a cool collection of local products in the adjacent shop, including bars of French Broad Chocolate, tins of Spicewalla chai, and satchels from Twin Denim Co., along with a fridge full of local and regional craft beers.
A former river guide, Steele cofounded Wrong Way in 2022 to bring visitors closer to Asheville’s outdoor experiences. The 16 A-frame cabins, towering above the roadway, are well-elevated to help protect from floodwaters, and that foresight saved the property, which reopened a few months after the storm. Steele says the entire city, especially what’s closest to the river, is in a reset mode, with many decisions yet to be made about what will be rebuilt and where. Meanwhile, he’s very thankful for the visitors who are returning. “It’s a really warm moment to visit Asheville.”
COLOR, FLAVOR, & MUSIC
We find an infusion of that warmth when we meet local friends at Chai Pani. The downtown restaurant is one of their favorites, they tell us, smiling as we open the door and see the kaleidoscope of color inside. Founded in 2009 by India-born chef Meherwan Irani and his wife, Molly, Chai Pani is a tribute to Indian street food, its menu replete with hot naan bread, spinach saag paneer with tomatoes and chilies, and simple but glorious pappadams—lentil crackers so thin they melt on your tongue. Nearly every table is filled, and conversation buzzes as we’re seated in the cushiony curve of a turquoise and red banquette. Chandeliers overhead are arrayed in pink flowers, tassels, and marigold-colored pompons; and a mural of oversized florals adorns one of the brick walls. In a tucked-away bar space upstairs, a glowing pink neon sign spells out “Indian Food.”…