We left late morning from Oma and Papa's to head to Asheville. It was a pretty long drive, and we knew we wanted to be in the hotel in time to watch the NCAA basketball final. We took a little detour for a quick drive through of the Duke campus, but otherwise it was pretty much straight through. We arrived in time to get dinner and take a quick stroll through Asheville. The downtown area was really quiet - it was kind of a drizzly Monday night. Whatever restaurant was on my list was closed on Monday, so we ended up at Chorizo. The food was kind of a Latin/Cuban theme; what called me in was the fresh-made margaritas. The margarita was delicious and the food was really good; at the end of the week, though, it didn't make the top cut because it was pretty expensive. My dinner was pork cochinita, served with plantains, black beans, guacamole, and cilantro. It was good enough that I may have to give it a shot at home.
We were on vacation, but we were still dealing with house stuff: mortgage paperwork for the new house and a potential contract on the current house. James got caught on the phone before dinner,s o the kids spent some time climbing on this iron in front of the flat iron building:
Monday didn't really count as day 1, since we were only there for the evening and spent most of that in the room watching the game. On Tuesday's agenda was the Biltmore. I was a little anxious about how much the kids were going to enjoy this - after all, it's a house, albeit a really big one.
The forecast was for late morning rain showers, so we decided to explore the gardens first. Good decision, both because the weather did not hold out and we had plenty of morning energy. I think if we would have waited until after the house, our garden explorations would not have been so extensive.
The forecast was for late morning rain showers, so we decided to explore the gardens first. Good decision, both because the weather did not hold out and we had plenty of morning energy. I think if we would have waited until after the house, our garden explorations would not have been so extensive.
On the patio. That's not what it was called; it had some fancier name. Not a bad view out to the mountains.
Last winter was cold and laster longer than usual, so the blooms were a bit behind the typical schedule. Throughout the week, the redbuds and dogwoods were in full bloom but the azaleas, rhododendrons, and other flowers were still just buds. We did get to see TONS of tulips in the Biltmore gardens. Not quite as impressive as the tulips in the Netherlands that Brady and I saw 11 years ago, but still a gorgeous display.
The kids loved checking out the many varieties of tulips: single or multiple colors, varieties of petal shapes and sizes, numbers of layers of petals. It's hard to be immune to the vibrant colors, especially on a dreary day like the one we had!
We explored the greenhouse and the forced blooms inside. Gorgeous!
We walked all the way down and around the lake, pausing for a little break at the waterfall.
After we made our way back to the house, we decided we'd better have lunch to re-energize. James and I have learned to recognize in ourselves, and now also the kids, the signs of fatigue. And, we've also learned that it's best to take a break and eat before someone gets (as Ellen says...) "hangry." We had a nice lunch at the Stable Cafe next door to the main house. The tables are set up in the old horse stalls, which was novel. The meal wasn't all that memorable, except for the fact that the quality was surprisingly good, given the fact that you're kind of stuck eating at one of the restaurants on site. I had read glowing reviews of the desserts at the Stable Cafe, especially of the pink grapefruit chiffon cake. Eh. We tried it, and it just didn't do much for us. It was fine, but I think we just prefer our desserts to be super sweet, gooey, deliciousness!
No pictures are allowed in the house, unfortunately. It was quite amazing. Pretty incomprehensible to try to imagine living there. One thing that James and I really appreciated was the temporary Downton Abbey costume exhibit. Throughout all of the rooms, they had mannequins with a variety of character costumes from the TV show. It was interesting to read about the costumes (I had no idea that a lot of the clothing is period original), but it was even more fascinating to see the costumes in the Biltmore. It made Downton Abbey seem more real; it's not just a soap opera, it really is a bit of historical fiction. AND, it made the Biltmore seem more real as well. We could almost imagine the Crawleys visiting the Vanderbilts.
After the mansion, we drove to the farm for a quick walk through and some ice cream.
I was amazed with how interested the kids were in everything. We split on audio tour among the four of us, and took turns listening. The kids never complained, and did a good job of summarizing their rooms for the rest of us. They noticed and appreciated many of the details of the building and decor. At the end of the week, the Biltmore visit remained one of the best parts of the trip for them!
On tap for the evening was a Bluegrass jam session at the Isis Restaurant and Music Hall. I had called ahead to make sure it was kid friendly, and we had some apprehension since we're not typically found frequenting music halls. We had reservations, so got a prime table close to the stage. The food was OK; this was probably our least favorite meal of the trip. We decided we'd do the bluegrass night again, but maybe just get an appetizer and skip the main course. The band performed for about an hour. I think there was going to be an open mic jam session later in the evening, but we decided to call it a night.
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