Biltmore Estate

Last Spring Break, I had the opportunity to travel to Asheville, NC with my family. Now the Asheville area is no exotic trip for us as we frequently travel there to visit and enjoy all this area has to offer. But what made this trip special was that we were going for a specific reason. One my wife has wanted to do for years but we just never got around to doing. She wanted to visit the Biltmore estate. One time I rented a video that shows it and tells all about it, hoping that would appease her; but that idea backfired on me and it only made her want to see it worse.

I made reservations through the week days thinking it would be less crowded, and it was. April is one of the peak times for tourists to Biltmore because of the flowers are in bloom. That is what is supposed to happen. In our case, we got to Asheville on a Wednesday night with plans of touring Biltmore on Thursday. When we got up Thursday morning, we found the Asheville area under a winter storm warning. This was April!! As we watched the morning news we decided we could wait until Friday and would just visit around Asheville. A little later as we are heading out, we catch the news bulletin about all the schools dismissing early. I must admit, however, that the snow falling on the mountains was a lovely view from the deck of the place we were staying. However, my daughter’s comment was, “It is Spring break. I am supposed to be someplace with a beach, not a winter storm warning.”

Our drive into Asheville was very interesting that day. The closer we got, the deeper the snow was piled on the side of the road. We arrived at the mall and were surprised at how easily we found a parking place next to the entrance. That has never happened to me before; I thought it must be my lucky day. When we got inside we discovered the reason, half the stores were closed. We walked around and went into one little shop where a lady was making crafts at the counter. While my wife was looking around, I walked over and was talking to her. She was the owner and was telling me how due to the winter storm warning the mall was closing early and sending everyone home.

To pass the time that evening, we stopped and bought a couple of games and spent the evening having what my son declared as “family game night”. A new tradition that we may very well continue on as it was lots of fun, even though I lost every game.

The next morning we awoke to a brisk day but one that turned out to be very enjoyable. After packing a lunch and dressing warmly, we were off to tour the Biltmore. The Biltmore Estate was built in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains in the 1890’s by George Vanderbilt. It is a 250-room chateau that currently sits on about 8,000 acres. When originally built, it included 125,000 acres. Today part of that land is the Pisgah National Forest. The home is privately owned by George Vanderbilt’s grandson who still lives in the area. Maintenance, preservation, and running of the estate are taken care of through the costs of admission, which is not exactly cheap. Biltmore receives no money from the Federal Government. A house of that magnitude at the turn of the century with indoor plumbing, electric lights, refrigeration, an indoor pool and its own bowling alley is amazing to behold and well worth the price of admission.

The Biltmore gardens are another story in themselves. Although the weather was cold and snowy and all the flowers were not in bloom, the ones we saw were amazing. We walked through some of the gardens, some of the greenhouses, and down to the fishing lake. It was a nice walk and I was thankful for the cool weather then.

I would highly recommend a trip to visit Biltmore and the Asheville area. If you go, be sure to take the audio tour. When you go in the front door you can rent an audio device with head phones. You get a map of the house with numbers in each room. You walk into the room and type in a number on your player and you hear about the house and the room you are in. It is a great self-paced tour. It took us about 3 ½ hours to tour the house. There are other tours you can take for a nominal fee, but this one is a great way to start. We spent another 3 hours just looking at the gardens and green houses and still didn’t see everything.

If you would like more information on Biltmore, you can visit www.biltmore.com.

If you decide to visit Biltmore, I hope you have as nice a time as we did. We are planning on returning again in the fall. Maybe we will see you there!