Thursday, October 11, 2012

Staycation Days 7-9: Westward Bound


Since day 5 of our staycation took us eastward, it was only fitting that days 7 through 9 should take us west.

After dropping Chet off to spend a few days with my parents, we hopped in the car and headed to Asheville to spend a little time at Biltmore Estate.



Despite temperatures lower than I find pleasurable (read- it was COLD!), we had a great time! We toured the “house” even though calling it a house does it a huge disservice. Did you know that there are 43 bathrooms inside the Biltmore Estate? I mean INSIDE the house, for the family’s use, not the ones that were added outside the house for the public!

I apologize that there are no indoor photos for you to enjoy; there are rules and enough security cameras that breaking the rules wasn’t an option J.

After touring the immaculate and massive mansion, we wandered the gardens, and took a tour of the winery. We had a quick lunch at Cedric’s (which, by the way, is named for one of the Vanderbilt family dogs and has fantastic cheeseburgers), we toured one more exhibit where we saw Mrs. Vanderbilt’s Harley and learned that the Vanderbilts were originally scheduled to be passengers on the Titanic but changed their tickets at the last minute to travel with some friends who were traveling on the Olympic. Given that we just visited that exhibit in Raleigh, we found that interesting.

From the Biltmore, we took a very curvy road (and I do mean VERY!) to Chimney Rock State Park where we hopped on the elevator and flew up 26 stories to the top. We spent some time enjoying the scenic overlook.

We had a great time in Asheville; if you haven’t been to Biltmore Estate, you owe it to yourself to make the easy drive west on Hwy 40. The tickets are a little pricey but the house, gardens, winery, and parking are included with your purchase.

Our staycation isn’t over yet! We have at least 2 more adventures planned so stay tuned for what’s next... until then, I hope your week has been something majestic, something magnanimous, something MORE.

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