Biltmore

We had so much fun on our New England Road Trip last fall we decided to spend our anniversary on another road trip down south. In 10 days we traveled 2300 miles through 8 states and have officially been to all the states on the eastern seaboard. That brings us up to 32 of the 50 states together. One of these days we hope to visit them all.

We started our trip with a full 8+ hour day of driving from Baltimore to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. Since we never seem to drive for very long without seeing something we want to check out our first pit stop was in West Virginia where we loaded up on Caffeine Free Dr. Pepper and Caffeine Free Mountain Dew. For some reason every store in West Virginia has tons of Caffeine Free soda. (Tom used to work just a few miles from the Maryland/West Virginia border and found this out on a random stop for a snack one day).

Next we headed to Virginia through the lush green Shenandoah Valley and Blue Ridge Mountains that still had lots of late spring blooms. It was a really pretty drive. We made a quick stop in Buena Vista, VA to check out Southern Virginia University. We had heard things here and there about a non-church operated LDS University and wanted to see it for ourselves but we had no idea it was so tiny. It was hilarious to hear everybody saying things like "Frikin" and "Flip" again. This was one of the few buildings on campus:

After SVU we drove through Tennessee then on to Asheville, North Carolina. We had our first southern BBQ at the Fiddlin' Pig Bluegrass BBQ. The pulled pork and hush puppies were our favorite but the best part was the live Bluegrass Band that played as we ate. Here's a little sample:

The next morning we headed to Biltmore - the Vanderbilt's home built in 1895. I knew it was a large home with vast gardens but I was blown away by just how big it really was. At 175,000 square feet I felt like I was touring a palace.

(Yes that is a full sized bus to the right)

A closer look

First we checked out the Gardens:

Italian Garden

South Terrace

Views of the Blue Ridge Mountains from the Estate

Walkway to the Walled Garden and Bass Pond

We were lucky enough to be there during their Festival of Flowers the tulips were in full bloom in the Walled Garden.

Here are some of my favorite flowers and plants from the Conservatory:

After wandering around the gardens for several hours we took the trail to Bass Pond. It was a gorgeous day to enjoy the grounds.

We couldn't take pictures inside the actual house but everything was magnificent and so well built that even over 100 years later everything is pristine. There are over 250 rooms, 65 fireplaces, and 40 indoor bathrooms (at a time when most houses didn't even have one indoor bathroom). Not to mention a huge indoor swimming pool, bowling alley, and two story library. Some of our favorite things were: the Atrium/Music Room, the Wood Paneled Game Room, Napoleon's chess set, and the Banquet Hall with 70 foot ceilings.

We trekked 6 miles around Biltmore that day and decided to end the day with a late lunch at the Stable Cafe. We had to try some southern favorites so we ordered Hush Puppies and Fried Green Tomatoes.