What the Gaps Reveal: Anniversaries, Asheville and the View From Here

When I first visited Asheville in 2018, I couldn’t have imagined that a little over a year later, North Carolina would become my home.

Since moving here, Asheville has become one of those places I like to return to—not because I need to see everything, but because I know I don’t.

It’s a place to wander into a bookstore, admire art on the street, stop for very good coffee, find a rooftop, and take in whatever happens to be interesting that day.

Asheville gives you permission to kick back, look around, and be yourself.

Returning for Our Wedding Anniversary

Last year, Bruce and I celebrated our 40th anniversary on a rooftop overlooking Florence.

That’s a difficult view to follow.

This year, for our 41st anniversary, we traded the rooftops of Florence for a terrace overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains at the historic Omni Grove Park Inn & Spa.

We had dinner at Sunset Terrace as the light shifted over the mountains. I loved the Goddess Bowl, a selection from the plant-based menu. Back inside, a fire was roaring in one of the hotel’s enormous fireplaces, even though it was still warm outside. It was grand, atmospheric, and just a little improbable. In other words, a very Asheville evening.

After 41 years, I’m learning that celebrations don’t have to outdo the ones that came before them. They only need to let you stop long enough to recognize where you are now, and who is still sitting across the table from you.

Asheville From Several Angles

Because I’m a photographer, I’m always looking for the angle that changes the story. In Asheville, there are plenty of them.

We looked down from rooftops and terraces. We looked up at historic buildings. We found the city’s quirky characters, independent bookstores and unexpected bits of street art. We returned to the North Carolina Arboretum, one of our favorite stops, where the carefully designed gardens sit against a much larger mountain landscape.

We also spent time in the mountains themselves, where every bend in the road seemed to reveal another layer of blue ridges.

In the Southern Appalachians, a “gap” is a low point in a mountain ridge, a place where passage becomes possible.

The Gap Isn’t Always What’s Missing

In my work, I talk about the Expert Gap™: the distance between the expertise someone has earned and how clearly that expertise is seen, understood and trusted by others.

We tend to think of a gap as something missing. But in the mountains, a gap can be the way through.

Sometimes the space between where we are and where we want to be isn’t evidence that we’ve failed. It may be an invitation to find a new route, change our angle or step forward where the path opens.

That applies to visibility. It also applies to relationships, creativity and the lives we build over time.

Forty-one years of marriage have certainly included peaks, valleys, unexpected turns and a few stretches where we couldn’t see very far ahead.

Yet here we are still traveling, still laughing, still finding rooftops and still discovering what the next view looks like.

What Mountain Gaps Can Teach Leaders

Experienced leaders often assume their results should speak for themselves. But between doing excellent work and being recognized for it, there is usually a gap.

Like a mountain gap, the Expert Gap™ does not have to be treated as a deficiency. It can become a passage forward:

• A clearer message makes your expertise easier to understand.
• A more intentional presence makes your experience easier to discover.
• A stronger point of view gives people a reason to remember and trust you.

You don’t need to become louder or manufacture a new persona. Sometimes you simply need to find the clearest route through the expertise you have already earned.

The View From Here

Asheville has changed since my first visit in 2018. So have I.

Back then, I had no idea that North Carolina was about to become home or that Asheville would become a place we would return to for art, gardens, mountain air and an anniversary celebration.

Maybe that’s what travel does best.

It shows us places we couldn’t have imagined ourselves in, and occasionally reveals that we have already crossed more distance than we realized.

The gap isn’t always an absence or a missing piece. Sometimes, it’s where the new view opens.

Planning an Asheville Anniversary Getaway

Is Asheville a good destination for an anniversary trip?

Yes, especially for couples who enjoy a combination of mountain scenery, art, historic architecture, independent shops and restaurants. Asheville can feel celebratory without requiring an elaborate itinerary.

What are some relaxing things for couples to do in Asheville?

Our favorites include visiting the North Carolina Arboretum, exploring the Folk Art Center, browsing downtown bookstores, stopping for coffee, enjoying Asheville’s art and architecture, and taking a scenic drive or gentle walk in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Where can couples celebrate with a mountain view?

We celebrated our 41st anniversary at Sunset Terrace at the Grove Park Inn, overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains. Asheville also has several downtown rooftops with city and mountain views.

About Barbara Rozgonyi

Barbara Rozgonyi is a Charlotte-based keynote speaker, strategic advisor and travel photographer. As the founder of Brighter Presence™, she guides experienced leaders and expert organizations in closing the Expert Gap™, which is the distance between the expertise they have earned and how clearly it is seen, understood and trusted. She began publishing stories and strategies at wiredPRworks.com in 2006.

Photography by Barbara Rozgonyi © 2026.