Our mountain/retirement house is just 15 miles from Mars Hill. Burnsville is about the same distance form us in the opposite direction. Nice scenery and people. We wanted small town living and thats what is in that area, just perfect for us. There is a great quilt shop in Burnsville called Needle Me This.
DH seems entranced more and more by this area. He's reading all of the 'where to retire' books and sees now that Brevard is another popular area. Wish we would have visited there and Burnsville.
I would love to take a few days just to roam the mountain areas and quilt shops. Hopefully one day I'll be able to! Next year we're going to look at the Knoxville/Maryville area (just across the mountain). Doubt we'll end up at too high of an elevation as DH isn't into that (he's a city boy, born and raised in Detroit).
Vicki - Hope to meet you one day in one of the shops!