October 24-26, 2009 Asheville, North Carolina
Saturday we left Georgia and headed north to Asheville, N.C. What a beautiful journey our drive was; quite a bit of fall color and a lot of lush forests. We arrived at camp in the mid afternoon. We got set up and then went out for a fun and funky evening on a “Trolley Ghost Tour”. The ride took us through downtown Asheville with an interesting actor on board to give the scoop on local hauntings, a bit on the hokey side, but fun none the less. At a couple of the stops we were greeted by poor souls who were in some very dire straits. This fun got us in the Halloween spirit, ready for next weekend.
Sunday morning we got up and headed to the famous Biltmore Estate, home of George and Edith Vanderbilt. This 250 room (complete with 50 bathrooms), 175,000 square feet house was quite amazing. The audio tour walked us around and through many of the grand entertainment spaces, family bedrooms, sitting rooms, the servant’s quarters, the kitchens, pantries and even an indoor swimming pool and bowling alley. What was perhaps the most interesting were the innovative things like the indoor plumbing, the electric lighting, telephone and calling system in each room as well as a heating system that worked up from the basement to the 4th floor. This was quite advanced for a project constructed in the late 1800s. After our tour we drove through the beautiful grounds and out to the winery. We enjoyed a nice tasting of some of the Biltmore wines (most made with California grapes). Late lunch/early dinner was in the bistro, a nice rest and re-charge after a busy morning.
Monday morning we went back for day two at the Biltmore for a “Behind the Scenes Tour” It was a very interesting look at some of the areas that we only got a glimpse of yesterday. We got to go up in the pipe organ loft and see the workings up close. The most intriguing part was the sub-basement where all of the “machinery” that runs the house was displayed. We saw the old coal burning furnaces, now replaced by natural gas, the electric turbans, and all the electric panels that took electricity from many sources to run the house. George Vanderbilt was definitely a man ahead of his time. We then took a walk through the gardens and green houses that Fredrick Olmstead (designer of Central Park in NYC) designed. What a beautiful setting and it didn’t hurt that the weather was cooperating and the trees were in their glorious fall color display. In the afternoon we went into the town of Asheville and walked a few blocks to take in the flavor, it appeared to be an artsy and diverse place, much like our own Ashland. This has been a great stop, would love to come back at Christmas some year and see it all decorated, maybe we could stay at the nearby Inn??