North Carolina Sites

Our daughter and son-in-law came to visit a couple of weeks ago.  We had been wanting to go see the Biltmore Estate and this was the excuse we needed to go.

The Biltmore is located in Asheville, NC, which is about 130 miles west of Charlotte.  We left after church on Sunday--about 10:45 a.m.  We were getting hungry for lunch and didn't see anything of interest along the highway, so we took a detour to Lake Lure to find a restaurant with a view.  Larkin's on the Lake fit the bill and was well worth the extra time and miles.

Our view during lunch

By the time we got to the Biltmore, it was after 2:00 p.m., so we quickly went to the house and took a self guided tour.  Annie did the honors of reading the narratives about each room.  It was like stepping back in time.  It was much like the TV show Downton Abbey.  I could picture the staff hanging out in their quarters and the family changing clothes 5-6 times a day for all their functions.

We checked out some of the gardens and then headed over to the winery.  We weren't too impressed with the wines.  (They might want to focus on making grape jam.)  We finished up with dinner at Cedric's Tavern and then headed back to Charlotte.

My husband and I are going to go back and spend a night at the hotel so we can take advantage of the activities.  They have miles of paths that would be great to hike and bike on.  They also have fly-fishing, raft trips down the river, horseback riding, Land Rover adventures, and sporting clays.

 View from the back porch

 My husband wants to do something 

like this with our patio.  

Unfortunately, we'll be long gone by

the time the trees mature.

If you've never been, you need to check it out.  The house and grounds are beautiful and the history is fascinating.  It's like taking a mini-vacation to Europe--or not.