Wow! Just Wow!!

Wow!  Just wow! 

Those are the words I spoke when I got my first look at the Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina.

Even enshrouded in fog, that first glimpse of the mansion is one that will stick with you.

We had tickets for a 10:15 entry into the house for the self-guided audio tour.  They were letting people in regardless of their ticket time this morning, so we went in around 10 AM.

The audio tour device was like a handheld phone, and you dialed up the museum stop you were at and held the device to your ear, just like a phone, to listen to the recorded audio.  There were 35 stops through three floors plus the basement on the tour, and it took us a full two hours to get through the tour.  This included a short rest break on the beautiful porch overlooking the hills (or mountains? I’m never quite sure).

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the Biltmore House.  There are plenty of places you can read more about the estate, so I won’t go into details in this blog post.  I’ll just show you what I really liked!

Outside the house, there’s a big wall leading down from some of the parking area that has a gently sloping brick path with very short brick steps in the middle.  I nearly missed my footing on it when we went down because I didn’t see that the middle was steps.  I wondered why they made the steps so shallow.  Well, I found out when the Garden shuttle driver told us that the wall was originally used for horses and wagons to bring the rocks down to be used for building the house.  Ah ha! That made sense – the shallow steps in the middle were for the horses and the sloping sides were for the wagon wheels!

Next to the Biltmore House is a shopping and dining area where the stables used to be.  I was able to take a few photos of the shops before they opened.  

After the tour, we bought a book for a keepsake and to read more about what we saw on the tour.  The lady who wrote it has worked for the Biltmore Estate for over 40 years.

On the other side of the house were the gardens.  Another WOW from me – y’all know how #flowersmakemehappy!  We took the shuttle to the conservatory rather than walking because it was getting hotter as the day went on – I’m glad we did because the shuttle driver gave us information about the gardens on the way and on the best way to exit the property if we weren’t going on to the winery.  We wouldn’t have known any of that if we’d decided to just walk.

The gardens were beautiful.  As I walked through, the fragrance was so pleasing.  It made me think of passages in the Bible that talk about the sweet, soothing aroma of offerings made to the Lord.  I wish I could make these pictures scratch-and-sniff so you could enjoy the scent, too.

As we were leaving, we were able to get some good pictures of the Biltmore House without the fog.  All in all, it was a good visit and I’m glad I got to see it!

Other Travel Notes.  

We decided to get a meal out while we were already out, so we checked out the Cornerstone restaurant that was two blocks from the hotel.  It’s family-owned and has been for 18 years.  DH had the meatloaf that he says is the best he’s had, and I had shrimp and grits, only because they were gulf shrimp.  They were really good, and the sweet waitress even asked the cook if he knew where the shrimp came from.  We were wondering if they were from our neck of the woods, but they weren’t.  

We also talked with her about the devastation of Helene from nearly two years ago in this area.  She was able to tell us where some of the worst of it was.  It’s still so sad.

We took advantage of the remote start feature for our car when we were hiking back to the parking lot after the Biltmore tour.  It sure was nice to have the AC already going and the car somewhat cooled.  I will have to remember this for future hot days!

One other thing – while at the Biltmore, a staff person was dusting one of the rooms.  She had a really nice duster that was great for knick-knacks, pictures, etc., that you need to dust but don’t want to have to pick up and set down each time.  I asked her about it and she let me take a picture so I can look for one when we get home.  (Also she said she has to dust the rooms Monday, Wednesday, and Friday each week.)  She said it's made from goat hair.

Thanks for hanging out with us.  We hope you have enjoyed these few pictures and look into a visit to the Biltmore Estate. Have you ever been in person?