Realizing that our resort, Apple Mountain in Northern Georgia is only 1.5 hours away from the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC we decided to incorporate a visit while celebrating our anniversary in the area this year. We flew into Atlanta Friday evening, picked up our rental, plugged in Kenny G as our background music, then made the trip out to the resort for a nice quiet weekend before our trip to Asheville on Monday.
After a couple of days of jelling at the resort, we decided a little PT was in order, so we drove the 11 miles to Tallulah Falls just inside the Chattahoochee National Forest and hiked the north rim of the gorge a couple of
times, before heading out to beautiful Asheville, NC
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| The view of Sky Valley just off Hwy 64 en route to Asheville - this is a common site when driving the route we took |
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The twisting and turning drive through the blue ridge mountains was beautiful and thrilling, we stopped in the quaint little alpine village of Cashier for lunch at a cute little outdoor restaurant. When we arrived at our hotel we were given our Biltmore passes, so we unloaded, mapped our route and drove over to the estate for our first glimpse of the property before the managers reception back at the hotel.
I have uploaded some of my pics to this post, but in all honesty, we weren't allowed to take pictures inside the estate, and I was too busy ooohing and aaahing over the property to actually take any really good shots, the link above is their web site, the Photo tab provides the best pics of the estate.
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| Chad outside relaxing on the Loggia |
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| Looking at one side of the house from the garden area |
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| Stopping at the bottom of the stairs from the house, that lead to the gardens under the pergola for a quick selfie - our selfies rarely turn out well 8-{ |
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| One section of the garden - these are divided into quadrants on a few levels on both sides of a pergola that connects the top of the gardens to the side of the estate - it was a nice little walk that August day, but the temp was still more pleasant than the triple digit Texas heat. |
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| View from one of the many framed walls under a pergola leading to the green house - these wall both sides of the pergola with similar views all the way down to the greenhouses |
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| Stopping for a pic on our way back up to the Stables restaurant for lunch which is on the other side of the estate - after lunch we took the servants tour to see what their world was like - equally cool! |
The Biltmore is amazing, the grounds, the history, and the experience was incredible, we had such a great time, but our journey continues to Bryson City, NC and the Great Smokey Mountain Railroad adventure where we hopped on a vintage train for the scenic route to Nantahala OC on board the Carolina Shine
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A selfie in the car before our trip
Being served 8 different flavors of 100 proof moonshine, the best was the apple pie (only 70 proof) was almost worth burning my throat for. | | |
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This is really funny, not sure how I missed the part about how we would be served Moonshine on this trip - but what a fun thing to get to experience, at least once 8-]
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| Chad listening to a yarn from a moonshiner while riding the rails and enjoying the scenery |
Once we got to the Nantahala Outdoor Center, we deboarded the train for a nice stretch, and to watch some kayakers practicing for the Olympics
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| Chad watching an Olympic hopeful practicing in the frigid water of the Nantahala River (52 degrees year round) |
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We ended our trip, just as we began - at Apple Mountain Resort, before heading out to Atlanta and the flight back home - what a great trip, Chad gave me a gold star, for my itinerary - I agree!. He also said as we were leaving the Biltmore property, "when we come back the next time, we should definitely stay at the Biltmore House Inn on the property" - we should do this for Christmas some time.
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| Stopping for a snack in Clayton, GA for some lovely fried green tomatoes, the chef plated these beautifully - worthy of a pic and a spot on my blog 8-} |
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