He also mentioned the possible restaurant partnership “for our famous cooks and galley.” It is well done and neat to see our submarine represented there ‘from the mountains, to the seas.’’” “Inside City Hall you will find an exhibit on the first floor to all the ships to bear the name Asheville. “If you find yourself around the city of Asheville, take the time to visit the Biltmore Estate and the distinctive retro-architecture City Hall building,” Bradley wrote. Bradley visited with Vasilik and his wife, noted artist Ann Vasilik, in January. He also noted that the ship’s namesake is our fair city and mentioned the Biltmore Estate and City Hall. “If you are ever in Guam, I highly recommend ‘Churrasco,’ a Brazilian BBQ restaurant.” “The men enjoyed the tropical flavor of Guam, some got to the beach, most everyone got out to have a good meal, do laundry and load up on stuff at the Navy Exchange,” Bradley wrote in a newsletter. The Asheville stopped off in Guam in August. He’s also very interested in visiting Asheville next year, and I’ve invited him to be at our City and County Memorial Day ceremony on May 26.”

The commanding officer’s been quite busy getting the submarine ready for the trip to Pearl as well as getting his family over there too. “I sent him four suggestions for possible restaurants. “The Asheville’s commanding officer, Commander Doug Bradley, is still very much interested in the partnership with an Asheville restaurant,” Vasilik said. Next year, look for a possible culinary partnership between the USS Asheville and Asheville eateries. Besides the “serendipitous” nature of having both Asheville and North Carolina at Pearl Harbor at the same time for a brief stint, Vasilik thinks it’s important for local residents to keep up with the namesake vessel, as well as the North Carolina. Meanwhile, the USS North Carolina, also a nuclear-powered attack submarine, headed out from Pearl Harbor for an extended deployment to the western Pacific.Īsheville resident Ken Vasilik, a retired Navy captain who serves as the USS Asheville’s sponsor, keeps up with her commanding officer. The USS Asheville, a nuclear-powered attack submarine and the fourth naval vessel to carry that name, made its way to Pearl Harbor for maintenance that will take months. For a land-locked mountain city, we’re well represented on the high seas.Īmong the United States Navy’s 283 deployable battle force ships, two of those have a strong Tar Heel connection - and they just recently were in the same part of the Pacific.

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