Asheville, NC
Upon checking out this morning, I headed out for a quick view of downtown Asheville and then went over to the Biltmore Estate, the largest "home" in America, at least so I'm told. Since I had not researched much about this attraction, I had no idea what to expect or what it would cost.
After driving about a mile onto the estate, I came to the estate's headquarters to purchase a ticket to see the rest of the property. The $39 price tag seemed a bit much, but I shelled it out and continued the next two miles up to the main attraction, the Biltmore House.
Construction on the mansion began in 1889 when owner George Washington Vanderbilt was only 27 years old. Seems that Mr. Vanderbilt inherited his fortune and worked little, if ever, during his life. The Biltmore house is a spectacle to behold, indeed. It is amazing to imagine this being designed in the late 1800's, much less believing they built it in six years. The place is huge, and well conceptualized with evident thought having been put into its design. It's definitely impossible to describe, you just have to see it for yourself. Amazing!
After spending far longer than I expected in the house due to it's expansive size and amazing history and collection of artifacts, I drove six miles from the mansion to the Biltmore Winery. The winery was originally where cows were milked as part of the estate's on site food production facilities. But now much of the estate's farmland has now been turned to a vineyard, and the cow milking facility is now the tasting room and wine cellar. Unfortunately, Asheville isn't the the best wine growing region, so the best wines produced by the Biltmore Winery come from grapes grown in California. In fact, many of the Biltmore wines are not even vintaged because the extensive blending done at the winery surpasses what the government allows for vintage wines. However, any wine tasting is good wine tasting in my book, so I took full advantage.
From the Biltmore Winery, I headed out of Asheville and drove back up to the Blue Ridge Parkway and headed northeast. Wouldn't you know it, once I gained altitude, the fog and drizzle returned. It was a foggy and rainy haze all the way to my next stop for the night, Boone, NC, home of Appalachian State University.
After driving about a mile onto the estate, I came to the estate's headquarters to purchase a ticket to see the rest of the property. The $39 price tag seemed a bit much, but I shelled it out and continued the next two miles up to the main attraction, the Biltmore House.
Construction on the mansion began in 1889 when owner George Washington Vanderbilt was only 27 years old. Seems that Mr. Vanderbilt inherited his fortune and worked little, if ever, during his life. The Biltmore house is a spectacle to behold, indeed. It is amazing to imagine this being designed in the late 1800's, much less believing they built it in six years. The place is huge, and well conceptualized with evident thought having been put into its design. It's definitely impossible to describe, you just have to see it for yourself. Amazing!
After spending far longer than I expected in the house due to it's expansive size and amazing history and collection of artifacts, I drove six miles from the mansion to the Biltmore Winery. The winery was originally where cows were milked as part of the estate's on site food production facilities. But now much of the estate's farmland has now been turned to a vineyard, and the cow milking facility is now the tasting room and wine cellar. Unfortunately, Asheville isn't the the best wine growing region, so the best wines produced by the Biltmore Winery come from grapes grown in California. In fact, many of the Biltmore wines are not even vintaged because the extensive blending done at the winery surpasses what the government allows for vintage wines. However, any wine tasting is good wine tasting in my book, so I took full advantage.
From the Biltmore Winery, I headed out of Asheville and drove back up to the Blue Ridge Parkway and headed northeast. Wouldn't you know it, once I gained altitude, the fog and drizzle returned. It was a foggy and rainy haze all the way to my next stop for the night, Boone, NC, home of Appalachian State University.
posted by Leroy at
10:23 PM
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