Thursday, July 7, 2011

Biltmore Tour & Other Thursday Notes

On Saturday morning we headed to the Biltmore! It was WAY bigger than I was expecting in person.
It was a short walk from the parking lot and we loved getting to see the estate all the way to the door.
The details were just magnificent.
We stopped in the bake shop for a little breakfast treat before our house tour began.
We got a YUMMY warmed apple danish. They don't let you take pictures during the tour, but I was excited they let you go around a majority of the house. We would definitely recommend the audio headphones that were $10 each for you to listen to as you walk around. It was very interesting to hear the story of the Vanderbilts. The tour took a little over 2 hours. Our favorites were the gigantic dining room, recreation areas downstairs and the swimming pool (not filled).
For lunch we got a thin crust margherita pizza. The toppings were smaller, but the taste was wonderful. They also had an ice cream shop and a cafe you could eat at right outside the Biltmore.
After we fueled up we headed to view some of the gardens. Did you know that the Biltmore estate is on 8,000 acres of land! How crazy is that. David and I kept saying, I bet people could get lost around here and no one would ever find them.
We went to the bass pond area (It's a long walk, you should really wear sneakers. They aren't necessary for the house tour, but are for the walking trails).
It was a super hot day so I kept finding benches and shaded areas to rest on.
We made it back to the garden area closer to the house.
It was very pretty.
Grapes!
 At this point my face was beat red from the sun and walking so we decided to rest up at the hotel and head back out before dinner to do the winery tour and go to Antler village. More on that tomorrow.

A few other notes for today:
Happy 4th Anniversary to Michelle and James!! Seems like just yesterday you got married on 07/07/07 in Charleston.
Big Brother premeirs tonight on CBS. Head to my brother's blog for details! This is a family tradition that we all love to watch, mainly because nothing is really on in the summers and it's fun to chat about with everyone. If you are looking for a new show for the summer, you should check it out tonight at 9pm EST!
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3 comments:

leah said...

What a fun trip, I loved hearing all the details in person that the headphones told you. You have me wanting to go to the Biltmore sooo bad now! Ky and I might head there on our anniversary this year since I've heard it's so pretty around christmas time too, we'll see!

Mock family said...

very fun trip.... what is the story behind it? like was it someones mansion?

and yes HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO ME AND JAME AND YES BIG BRO!

Chris said...

I'm with Shell, I just said to Marla that I'm not sure if I heard of the Biltmore before you went. I have heard of the Vanderbilts and if I read about the story it would probably jog my memory, but not sure. Looks pretty impressive.

 
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