Biltmore Estate, North Carolina

Last week I gave a sneak peak of our little anniversary getaway to Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC.

My first visit to Biltmore was when I was six, when I went with my Nana and one of her friends.
I think it was one of those moments in life that helped carve the path of my future personality.

Now I’m one of those people who goes crazy over a tapestry. Or a carved door post.

Biltmore is the most beautiful place in the world, in my opinion.
Despite how much I love Europe, I’ve never been to any house, castle, chateau or palace that even compares
with the grandeur of Biltmore’s house and grounds.

The way I look at it is that Americans always do everything bigger, and in this case, better.

At 175,000 square feet, it rivals the great palaces of Europe.
Versailles is 721,000 sq ft, but think of the hundreds who lived there with the royal family of France.

Biltmore was built for one man.

George Vanderbilt.

A commoner. But, his family of “commoners” happened to be the 7th richest family in HISTORY.


[Photo by Brittany Robinson]
It is January after all, and it was quite foggy, so my pictures of the front elevation were a bit dull.

We have always wanted to stay at the Biltmore and we thought anniversary # 5 was worth the splurge…

The Inn

We arrived at the Estate on Friday, the day we celebrated our Fifth Wedding Anniversary. . After a sunny, afternoon nap, we went to the Library to enjoy a delicious snack of turkey club sandwiches.

Back in the room, we slipped on fuzzy robes and ate chocolate while we checked the weather on the classy card left by the housekeeper.

Oh, we watched American Pickers. I like Pawn Stars myself.

Such a relaxing evening…

View towards Mt. Pisgah:

I can find a travel magazine anywhere.

 

The House

We toured the house on Saturday morning, taking a shuttle right to the front door ~ Hotel concierge had taken care of our tickets the night before.

The house was amazing, as usual, and we had a wonderful time together~ dreaming about our little house back home…

The foundation fascinates me.
It’s much farther down than it looks…

 

We headed to Antler Village for lunch at The Bistro…Yummy!
I had a delicious mushroom pizza with basil aioli, ravished my tongue.

Biltmore has been hosting an exhibit on Tiffany Studios this fall & winter, and we were so excited to see it ! The pieces were amazing, some nearly priceless in value. One of the shades (or one similar to it) recently sold for
$ 1 . 5 million.

After another afternoon nap, we dressed up and went to dinner at Ruth’s Chris, right outside the Estate gates.

I ordered my favorite dish, the Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken with Asparagus and a Chop Salad . Andraé ordered his old faithful, a steak .

We <3 Ruth’s Chris. They sent us home with the richest, creamiest chocolate
cake in the world… Is chocolate cake supposed to be creamy? It was more like mousse.

[Sorry for the fuzzy & terrible shot.]

Sunday morning we enjoyed the hotel a little more before we had to leave. They set up a coffee & tea bar in the library with a pianist… so relaxing.

We wanted some more shots of Biltmore’s architecture and grounds, so
we went back to the house. It was foggy, so the pictures have an almost ethereal feel to them. A little spooky maybe.

 

The Wisteria patio off the library is gorgeous in the spring and summer.

I enjoyed our time at Biltmore so much ! January 2012 marks so many things in our relationship : the best anniversary celebration so far, the beginning of the next five years, and the end of one of the best years in our lives, 2011.

Although our marriage has always been wonderful, outside circumstances kept us from ever being completely happy or content. We were always anxious for the change that we knew would require saying goodbye to some and hello to others. 2011 was the year we finally crossed that bridge ~ and we couldn’t be any happier.

I am looking forward to the next year, and to the many more years that will come. They will be great…