Well Played is, by its very nature, noisy: shouts of victory and groans of despair, a Taboo buzzer, a collapsing Jenga tower, Yahtzee dice clattering onto a table. The board game café, Asheville’s first, is like something out of a childhood daydream: Players young and old peruse shelves stocked with more than 500 games, from classic (Scrabble) to modern (Apples to Apples); at wide wooden tables, they snack on cookies, popcorn, and charcuterie, sip on coffee, hot chocolate, and, when a celebration requires it, champagne. In the iPhone age, the concept may seem like a blast from the past, but co-owner Cortland Mercer disagrees. Technology, he says, creates isolation. “People crave opportunities to come back together.” Though, admittedly, competition can throw a wrench in things: “We’ve had customers suggest that we keep a tally of relationships formed here versus relationships ended here,” Mercer laughs.
Can’t decide what to play? A Game Master can help you find the perfect fit, and will even explain the rules. photograph by Tim Robison
Well Played
58 Wall Street
Asheville, NC 28801
(828) 232-7375
wellplayedasheville.com
To commemorate our 90th anniversary, we’ve compiled a time line that highlights the stories, contributors, and themes that have shaped this magazine — and your view of the Old North State — using nine decades of our own words.
From its northernmost point in Corolla to its southern terminus on Cedar Island, this scenic byway — bound between sound and sea — links the islands and communities of the Outer Banks.
Us? An icon? Well, after 90 years and more than 2,000 issues celebrating North Carolina from mountains to coast, we hope you’ll agree that we’ve earned the title.
After nearly a century — or just a couple of years — these seafood restaurants have become coastal icons, the places we know, love, and return to again and again.
