Weekend Trip to Ashville

 We originally wanted to go to Ashville and stay with a couple that Wayne and Helen had stayed with earlier this year through AirBnB.  Unfortunately, we had to wait until the last minute thanks to the new job, and this being the high season, they were full.  Indeed, many of the hotels were full, but we managed to get rooms at the Biltmore Holiday Inn, which is fantastically priced and a rather nice place to stay.  We left Friday night, and enjoyed a nice drive in the country.   But I took two wrong turns and ended up adding an extra hour to our trip.  Now that we know how to get there from Charlotte, going back will be a lot easier.  Sticking to highways is a good idea.  But we saw some nice country and got to listen to some nice podcasts along the way.

We ate at the restaurant at the Holiday Inn since it had been a long week and we were both exhausted.  We had a nice quiet romantic evening away from it all.  We also read a bit from "Dangerous Liasons" which we are reading from together before we go to bed each night.  We both slept very well.

When we found out how much Biltmore was, we initially weren't going to go but the Hotel had a special deal and a fantastic rate.  So we went.  Due to starting the new job, we couldn't do everything but we did do a lot of the stuff you get for the basic price of admission.  We got lunch at a place along the way but should have waited until we got there. 

The grounds were gorgeous.  We parked the car and then took a shuttle bus inside.  The house is huge.  And you can see it in the picture below.  Biltmore is interesting because its the work of one of the Vanderbelt Grandchildren, a master architect and the guy who designed Central Park.  When we go on trips, we've seen a lot of restored houses but this one was special for a lot of reasons.  Aside from the fond memories Julia had here of coming to sing with her High School choir in the inside garden, this house seemed like a home frozen in time.  So often with these places, they face decades of neglect only for a benevolent patron to take an interest to save the place, with furnitture donated second hand from a wide range of people.  The Biltmore, all amazing 250 rooms of it, has been in private hands the entire time and the furniture is original.  But the biggest difference is how much forethought Vanderbilt put into this place, his own excellent taste, and how much he worked with the master artists he hired.

The most impressive room in the place is the library.  There are over 23000 books there as well as Art Folios, Globes, Shelves and Frescos.  It is obviously a place that was well used and there are dozens of mini libraries throughout the house.  The rest of the house was amazing as well from the vaulted ceilings with tapestries of the banquet hall to the intimate art of Vanderbelt's bedroom with the selected art or the sunny window of the wife's receiving room.  Many of the guest rooms were sealed off, but I suspect those are part of the Butler's tour or the Architect's tour.  The basement has a small museum, perfectly preserved swimming pool and turn of the 19th century gymnasium, along with servant's quarters, a pantry, a vast kitchen, and very primitive laundry room.

The gardens are also amazing.   There are several different styles including a walk-through garden and hot houses full of tropical orchids and wonders from every clime.  The kitschy but awesomely large garden shop at the end holds several curiosities for sale including some excellent hand crafted rocking chairs.  The grounds are fantastic as well and we went on a lovely walk near land sculpted ponds and wood covered bridges.  By the statue of Diana we took several impressive pictures and saw a couple get engaged right at sunset.  The lights were truly amazing.

After the wonderful day at the mansion, we went to downtown Ashville and ate at a Sushi place.  We got Julia's expresso, stopped at a few shops to pick up an interesting set of cards and some scented oil and then went back to the hotel.  We closed out the evening watching Sleepless in Seatle.

It was a perfect day.

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November Update

The end of October was a bit sad for Julia and I as she visited her family in Atlanta.  We spent the first weekend with my folks, and the latter weekend with hers.  This was the seventh annual Freedom Day that we celebrated and we had a fantastic turn out.  Bill, Andrew, Berny, Wayne, Helen, Skip, Mom, Terence, Diane, Alan, Phillip, Julia and I were all at the Marlay House.  I was originally going to have it at the Thinking Man Tavern, but we had to move it earlier due to the wake of dear friend Holly Blain.  The event was fantastic and we had many good conversations before going our separate ways.  Holly's Wake was also a remarkable celebration, with probably 200-250 people there celebrating her life.   Afterwards, Julia went hope to spend the evening with her family, and I went to see the fantastic play The Doctor, The Devil and my Dad at Seven Stages. 

Then I went home.  For Julia, she enjoyed a nice week her family, the dog and the two cats.  (We brought Sasha back and forth with us during the missing week.)  For me, I saw John Wick, and otherwise spent my idle time playing nonsensical internet games.  The weekend we visited her folks, they took us out to eat at a magnificent Pizza place (Campania).  We spent Halloween night watching Abbot and Costello meet Frankenstein, which was just perfect.  Sunday was a nice relaxing day, and then we went home.

School is challenging but good for Julia.  Work has been pedantic in some of its hour requirements, but the work itself has been much more interesting than it was at Well's Fargo.  It was a slow but intense week for both of us. We're looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend at home for once.  My writing is going well, as is the podcast.