If you’re going to channel your favorite writer, sometimes it helps to walk the streets they walked and stay in the places they stayed. And if that writer happens to be F. Scott Fitzgerald, you have a lot of options to choose from!
Fitzgerald traveled extensively during his career, from his home in St. Paul, Minnesota to sojourns in Europe and Hollywood, before settling into his final resting place in Rockville, Maryland. Along the way, he made quite a few stops in the popular mountain destination of Asheville, NC.
Will you be visiting Western North Carolina sometime soon? Stay at the Asheville-area hotels where Scott stayed! (Or, at least visit the buildings, some of which have been converted into other uses.) Here are five of the places F. Scott Fitzgerald stayed in Asheville and across greater WNC.
Oak Hall Hotel, Tryon
In early 1935, Scott and his daughter, Scottie, traveled to Tryon for several weeks. Scott holed up at the Oak Hall Hotel to write, and possibly to convalesce from a bout of tuberculosis, while family friends watched young Scottie. He returned to Oak Hall for an extended stay in 1937, his final long-term stay in WNC. During this trip, Scott worked with a specialist to address his alcoholism in earnest. It was during this visit, as his health revived, that he became enamored with the ice cream at Missildine’s drug store (see the additional locations section, below). The Oak Hall Hotel no longer exists, and condos on the former site of the hotel are also listed as permanently closed.
Grove Park Inn, Asheville
Scott was hardly from being in top form when he rented two adjacent rooms (one for sleeping, one for writing) at the Grove Park Inn in the summers of 1935 and 1936. During the latter visit, he was in the middle of what he called his “gin cure”—which involved drinking copious amounts of beer instead. Suffice it to say, Scott made quite a fuss during his stay, the results of which ended up in the New York Post. Today, the inn’s proprietors have seemingly forgiven Scott for his shenanigans. There is a plaque outside his rooms, numbers 441 and 443, to commemorate his stay.
Tourist Tip: Visit the Omni Grove Park Inn during the holiday season to view hundreds of expertly crafted gingerbread houses. The hotel hosts one of the most prestigious gingerbread competitions in the nation.
Battery Park Hotel, downtown Asheville
During Scott’s first stay at the Grove Park Inn in 1935, he had an affair with a married woman. To escape the affair (and the woman), Scott hid out at other locations around WNC under false names. One of these was the Battery Park Hotel across from the Grove Arcade in downtown Asheville. The Battery Park building has since been converted into senior apartments. However, there is a monument across from the building that displays the signatures of many of the former hotel’s famous guests, including Fitzgerald.
Skyland Hotel, Hendersonville
Scott’s visit to Skyland Hotel in the fall of 1935 was partly in an attempt to “economize”. He was deep in debt and was in need of a physical, financial, and emotional detox. Hendersonville, a town in which he didn’t know a soul, offered the much needed respite. While at Skyland, Scott wrote “The Crack-Up,” a confessional (and no doubt cathartic) essay examining his attitudes about life, which appeared in Esquire in early 1936. Today, the ground level of the Skyland building is home to the Appalachian Pinball Museum.
Pine Crest Inn, Tryon
Local lore has it that Scott stayed at Tryon’s Pine Crest Inn during one of his visits to the mountains. However, the details of the visit—were it to have happened—have been lost to time. According to the inn, the inn’s founder “was known to show great discretion” on behalf of visiting artists and celebrities. If Scott stayed there, he may have stayed under an assumed name. If you’d like to channel Scott’s spirit, ask for the Swayback Cabin, where he supposedly stayed.
A Few Additional Locations with Connections to F. Scott Fitzgerald
George Vanderbilt Hotel – The struggling young author Tony Buttita ran a book rental shop from the ground level of the George Vanderbilt Hotel in the 1930s. Buttita befriended Scott during one of his summer visits, even visiting Julia Wolfe, mother of Thomas Wolfe, together. The hotel was converted to senior apartments in 1969.
Highland Hospital – Zelda Fitzgerald spent much of the last 12 years of her life at Highland Hospital, a premier residential psychiatric hospital in the historic Montford neighborhood. Although considered “cutting edge” at the time, the treatments administered there do not stand the test of time. Tragically, Zelda and eight other women died in a fire on the hospital’s grounds in 1948.
Missildine’s Drugstore – E.E. Missildine ran a popular and prominent business in Tryon, often called the “Big City Store.” Missildine’s drugstore sold everything from coal and ice to books, paints, and flowers. But it was their ice cream bar that lives on in memory. While in town, Scott fell in love with their ice cream, even writing a poem about the drugstore. Today, a stanza of the poem is posted on a historical marker outside the building.
Thomas Wolfe Memorial Home – According to Tony Buttita’s memoir, he and Scott visited Thomas Wolfe’s mother, Julia, during their summer palling around. Scott knew Wolfe through their shared publisher, and the two met once in person in France. Scott asked Julia Wolfe for a room at her boarding house, now the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Home, but never stayed there.
Learn More about Authors in Asheville on the AVL Lit Tour
Ready to hear more gin-soaked stories about Scott’s on-again-off-again life in Asheville?
There’s one sure-fire way to learn more about many of the literary greats with connections to our area. Learn about Asheville-related authors from the 19th century to the present on the next AVL Lit Tour.
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