Road Trip Day 3

I'm speechless . . . well, not really because that would be a VERY short blog. I spent last night in Asheville, NC, home of the Biltmore Estate. I'd heard all about it and how big it is, but words can't describe the enormity of it!! The drive from the front gate to the house is 3 MILES!!!! Unbelievable!

Four stories of house. I have no idea how many bedrooms, but I do remember the brochure saying that the mansion has FORTY-THREE bathrooms! Holy Cow!! That's a lot for today's world, not to mention the 19th century when the house was built - complete with indoor plumbing. The crazy thing, though, was that the bathrooms didn't have sinks. They had flushing toilets and tubs with running water but NO SINK. I asked one of the workers about this thinking that it didn't make any sense. She said that it was a sign of wealth to have a pitcher/basin set up to wash your face and hands. Go figure. I'll stick with the running water, thank you!

One of the rooms on the 4th floor had a door to a balcony so that the owner could show his guests the "scenic vistas" of his property. It was a cloudy day, but the views were impressive none the less. This is the view from the ground floor, so imagine what it was from the 4th floor.

In the basement of the house, there's actually a bowling alley with 2 lanes, a gym with "state of the art exercise equipment" (at least for the 1800's), and an indoor swimming pool (the ONLY way to have a pool up in the mountains if you ask me!). Another thing that I thought was cool was the lampposts in the entry hall. While in DC last year, I spent several hours downtown one day just admiring all the ornate lampposts. (I know, not the typical thing people look at in our nation's capital.) :) I just love that people put so much detail into something so mundane to make it special. The lampposts in the mansion were not disappointing in this regard with all the details on them.

After walking around the house for 1 1/2 hours - honestly, it took that long to see it all!! - I went out to the gardens. (I know you're shocked with that bit of information.) This top picture is of the castle from underneath a HUGE cherry blossom tree. This next one is of the cultured gardens between the mansion and the conservatory. The tulips are just starting to pop out everywhere. They will be absolutely amazing in about a week and a half. Too bad I won't be able to see them! Oh well.

The conservatory was 6 or 7 rooms with all kinds of beautiful plants. One room had about 10 different kinds of orchid plants. They were gorgeous! It was also nice and warm, which was nice since it was SO COLD outside again today.

From the house, I drove another 3 1/2 - 4 miles to the winery/bistro on the estate. Again, I'm amazed at the amount of property they owned. On the way, I passed a lake - complete with a waterfall, a lagoon with geese, and a farm with a small, farm animal petting zoo. I had a very yummy lunch at the bistro before I bought my souvenir bottle of wine and heading west yet again. I wanted a bottle with the Biltmore Label.

So, that was my day for the most part. After getting VERY full at lunch, I got back in my car and drove a VERY WINDY road until I ended up in Nashville. Tomorrow, I'm planning on visiting the Country Music Hall of Fame before going even further west to Little Rock, AR.

Thank you for all the prayers for my safe travel. God is taking care of me!!