East Coast Trip - Part 7 - Car Ride to SC & Biltmore

In the morning we packed up our stuff and loaded into the car. It was going to be an all day drive down to South Carolina. So we said good-bye to our nation's capitol and hit the road.

Me, Nicole, Doug, Josh's eyes and Mike

The weather leaving DC was a little wet but the rest of the trip was very nice. We crossed the entirety of Virginia on back highways. I was surprised how lovely it was, rolling hills and farm lands.

Little bit of traffic leaving DC

We passed one farm that had a huge Confederate Flag flying...that's when I knew we were truly in the South.

We took a brief stop at Southern Virginia University, the east coast college for LDS students. The buildings were really cool. I could have spent the rest of the day there...but we had to keep moving. Plus the bugs were out in force and it was pretty humid.

 

Fall leaves!!! These made me really happy.

Then it was about time to find something to eat and look what we found:

YUMMY!!... Best chicken food ever.

After lunch we finally made it across Virginia and into North Carolina:

What a view!

We crossed the narrow end of the state and in no time at all we finally made it to South Carolina and to Mike and Nicole's home. They were very happy to be back and we were happy to have somewhere to do laundry.

We crashed for the night and in the morning Doug and I borrowed Mike's car and headed back up to Ashville, NC to see the Biltmore Estate. Mike had to see some patients and Nicole and Josh relaxed at home. So off the two of us went. Mike gave us some discount tickets that got us $10 off each ticket. That was nice. Ashville, NC was just an hour drive north of their home.

The Biltmore mansion is located on a huge estate, after passing the gate house we drove two miles to just get to the visitor parking lot.

Gate House of the Estate....wow

Then we got on a bus that took us right up to the mansion ....very very big house.

First peek

Annnnd...wow...

The tour was amazing. And to think there were only three members of the family that owned the place, most of it housed guest and servants. It was built at the end of the 1800, and had all the "modern" stuff like electricity and indoor plumbing. It is the largest family home built in North America. It certainly reminded me of the castles I toured in Europe. There was an elevator and an indoor pool in the basement. It really reminded me of Downton Abby. (Same time period for sure.) My favorite rooms were the Library and the St. Louis bedroom. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside but I did get a lot of outdoor pictures.

Grand Staircase

Very Gothic with gargoyles.

Vine outside the Library

Back of the house

The stables had been converted into to restaurants and gift shops. Doug and I got some lunch there before heading off to explore the gardens.

Stables

Doug...is that a smile??

Very old brick courtyard

With our tummies full we headed out to explore the grounds....they were huge and there was lots to see. We were hoping the weather would play nice and not rain on us. Unfortunately when we were walking down to the pond we got pored on but we had fun. Here are some pictures:

Tea House

French Garden

 

More Koi, they were big fishes

My favorite walkway...so pretty

Gate into the Rose Garden

 

 

Green houses, they went on and on with every kind of plants you could ever imagine

 

Big plants

Path down to the pond....it was raining at this point

Doug very wet but having fun...one lady we passed wanted to buy his hoody for $50...it was tempting

Bamboo Forest

We made it to the pond and took shelter in the Boat house

 

 After our trek down to the pond we walked back up to the house, we stopped at the Stables again to grab some ice cream and shop at the gift shop. Then made our way back to the car. We still had the other side of the Estate to see.

 

 

Back in the car

Green house gift shops....you could have bought a plant...so tempted

We followed the one way road up to the Antler Hill Village where there was a winery and a small museum on the Vanderbilts. They were building a couple of hotels up there for people that wanted an extended stay on the Estate.

 

Then we headed back out to the gate house and back into the real world, the Biltmore was amazing...couldn't even imagine calling it home. We found our way back to Mike and Nicole's and then packed up for our last leg of our trip over to Charleston.