Adult Dinner Conversation

Tom - "This guy at work raises chickens at his house."

Me - "Does he bring in eggs for everyone?"

Tom - "Yeah, he did today. I was asking him about it. He says his chickens run around in this pen in his yard. He feeds them all organic feed."

Me - "Cool."

Tom - "He said he just had some new chicks."

Me - "Cool."

Tom - "I'm not sure how that works though. Does he need a rooster?"

Me - "Uh, yes, you need a rooster."

Tom - "Are you sure?"

Me - "Honey, all chicks need a good cock if they want babies."

It Had to be Hugh, Wonderful Hugh

My friend, Murphy, is ill. He was recently diagnosed with a glioblastoma multiforme tumor. It is a nasty brain tumor that doesn't give up no matter how much surgery, chemotherapy and radiation you give it. Murphy maybe has a year.

I met Murph 18 years ago when I started working at the pool. Back then he was an icon at the pool. He came almost every day by bike to swim and water walk. He would wander into the facility pushing his bike, and he'd sing or yell your name at a volume that would not pass in today's "indoor voice" world. He'd walk right out to the pool deck and just keep on going straight into the pool head first.

He liked to swim laps with flippers on his huge feet. Sometimes he would use a kickboard and stick his head out of the water to shout something at the lifeguards. Then he would take off his flippers, put on his water "weights", and go into the deep well to walk around. It was there that the lifeguards would listen to his stories and there where he would dispense worldly advice to all of us.

During the winter months, inside the stifling bubble that the city put over the pool to make it a covered facility, we lifeguards lived for 1:00 when we knew Murphy would arrive. He entertained us and broke up the monotony of the day. I don't think anybody ever charged him for swimming.

He stopped going to the pool a few years back after he had some melanoma cut out. He thought he should stay out of the sun. He joined a gym instead. He still exercised up until this tumor showed itself, causing him to have seizures and eventually brain surgery.

He has lost mobility in his right side, but he is slowly working to build it back. He is in a rehab facility. He is undergoing radiation. He is still talking loudly, and he's still singing. What he wants more than anything is to swim. I'm hoping that that will be something we can do just once more. 
Soon.

Out of the Mouths of My Babes

Me - "Darcy, are you sucking your thumb in the car?"

Darcy - "No."

Me - "Yes, you were. I saw you in the mirror."

Madison - "No, she really wasn't, Mommy. She was picking her nose. Honestly."

Lake Lure Trip - Day 8 - Home Bound

From the travel journal:

(Cara) - 8:45 AM - It's raining again as we load the car and set off. Kelly is driving. She has her CD picked and once again she is winding her way around the curves of Lake Lure. The mood is more somber than our first day, but for the most part, everyone is ready to get back home. Well, Kelly and I could have stayed longer or at least taken a day or two to return home.

We dropped off the keys at the management building. I asked about whether or not they had found out if our unit had been entered without our knowledge, but the girl behind the desk just shrugged and told me she had "heard something about it", but she had no answers. Oh, well.

2:00 PM - We have hit rain most of the way home. Not so much stop and go traffic, but there is quite a bit of heavy traffic. Several idiots are driving without their lights on in the rain which makes driving a tad tricky, but Kelly and I are managing quite nicely.

Krista had an episode at one of the stops we made. She was pumping gas when a guy in a Hummer pulled up to the pump beside her. He wanted to know how much gas mileage the van got, but she told him she wasn't the owner of the vehicle. He continued asking her questions and inferred that he would love to buy her a Hummer. She smiled and drove off, parking the van next to the building where we were all inside. 

He then pulled up next to her and asked if she was a Steelers fan (I have a Steelers license plate rim). She reminded him again that the van wasn't hers, but yes, she was a fan. She walked into the building. Later while standing in line to get food, the man appeared with a woman this time. 

Figuring that this was his wife, Krista attempted to strike up a conversation with him regarding his Hummer, etc. He flushed and tried to act like he didn't know her or didn't know why she was talking to him. Krista enjoyed that immensely. "Pisses me off when men do that," she said.

9:30 PM - We are back and everyone is safely at home. The van made it. We made it. I took 355 pictures. A fine trip indeed.

Favorite Part of the Trip

Cara - Our Biltmore visit

Maddy - Jumping on the rocks in Broad River

Brianna - Horseback riding

Natalie - Swimming and the picnic with Mom

Darcy - Horseback riding

Kelly - Hiking up on Chimney Rock

Krista - The scenery, the atmosphere and relaxing

Worst Part of the Trip

Cara - Horseback riding

Natalie - Going up the hills on the horse

Krista - Rain and cold

Kelly - The rain making us miss the boat trip

Lake Lure Trip - Days 6 & 7 - Wet, Wet, Wet, NC

From the travel journal:

Weather - High 50's / Rain, rain and more rain

(Cara) - Our last two days were wet and chilly. It rained and rained for both days. Thursday we slept late, watched television, cooked a big breakfast, played board games, sat in front of the fire, drank, read and just relaxed. We did get out a bit to visit the Recreation Center and a small convenience store around the bend, but for the most part, we hung indoors.

Friday we signed up for the lake cruise, but the rain was so heavy it was canceled. We headed into Chimney Rock village and spent the day shopping and being tourists. We had some lunch, took some pictures, and made some purchases. We were one of the few out so it was quite pleasant. The girls spent their money on rocks, candy, and knick-knacks and were very happy.

In the evening we burned our last log, packed our luggage, finished up the liquor and relaxed.

Lake Lure Trip - Day 5 - Horseback Riding

Weather - High 78 / Sunny and Hot

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Originally uploaded by tcboos

(Madison) - We went horseback riding at Riverside Farms. My horse's name was Thunder. I was behind Darcy and her horse as we left the barn and headed off on the trail. At first, I was scared because Thunder's walking was like one side going up and the other going down. It was weird to get used to. He kept trying to get right up to Darcy's horse, so he kept speeding up to catch up to her horse. I had to pull on the reins, but I didn't feel like I had a lot of control. He just followed Darcy's horse, and after a while, he started following my commands. By the end, he was a good horse.

(Brianna) - Originally uploaded by tcboo(My horse's name was Shadow. He was a brown horse with black hair. I was behind my Mom and sister, and the guide was behind me. At first, I was a little nervous because I'd never done this before, and at times walking up the side of the mountain it felt like I would tip over the side. He stepped once on a rock and stumbled, but he didn't fall. I then heard a rustling of leaves and saw a black snake. The horse didn't react. By the end, I was used to my horse and I had fun!

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Originally uploaded by tcboos

(Natalie) - My horse's name was Miss Roxie. I had to ride with my Mom because I wouldn't be able to remember all the directions like, "pull to the right when his ears go down." You had to lean way back when the horse got on the rocks, and I would have probably lost control if I was riding by myself. Cara didn't like her horse because he kept going into the trees. Once he started scratching his butt on a tree and he just kept doing it and wouldn't stop.

(Krista) - I wanted to go horseback riding, but I thought it would be on flat ground with the mountains in the background, not part of our ride! My horse's name was Miss Roxie and Natalie rode with me. We were behind Madison in the line. I got a little nervous in the beginning when we were in the barn listening to the instructions and the head lady said only one guide would be going with us. I sort of made a suggestion that we have two guides with us! They just assumed we knew horses. 

That lady told me to get on and pull Natalie up after me. I was frustrated at that because first of all, I didn't know how to get on and I certainly didn't think I could pull Natalie up from the ground, with me up so high. They did help me up and then help Natalie, but only after I said something. Then the main lady started out of the barn and I was thinking how do we move, but then she started calling all of the horse's names and the horses knew what to do. They just started walking and got in a line and off we went.

Once we got on the trail and we circled the barnyard, I was fine thinking this was it and when the guide started leading us to the mountain, I was all like, "WHAT?" Then Cara's horse started acting up and that made me really nervous.

Once he went off the trail and started down the mountain and he was caught up in the bushes. I told the guide nearest me to help her. "She doesn't like horses," I said. "She didn't even want to come today and she'll just get down and leave. You need to help her!" I said this because the whole thing just made me nervous. We were inexperienced for god's sake. 

Then the guide is telling Cara that she is doing the wrong thing and that she is telling her horse to reverse. Reverse? Horses have a reverse? Where is the "R", I'm thinking. Come on! We were clueless. 

Then I worried about Cara the whole time. She was so straight in the saddle and so quiet. I've never heard her so quiet, and I tried to talk to her, but she wasn't answering, but one-word answers.

Going up the hill was more relaxing than going down. At the top of the hill, you either went to the left or to the right and if you went the wrong way you were over the side of the mountain. So as we walked up hills I would practice before we go to the top, moving my reins to the right and left. My poor horse. And the obstacles.....oh, my....the obstacle course we were on! Did we have to have so many obstacles? 

Trees across the trail, rocks, and stones everywhere, two trees with a hole to climb through, and of course, the horse didn't cooperate. Going down there were stumps and roots and loose dirt....it was a fall waiting to happen. I was looking at my watch the whole time, and let me tell you, I was happy when the hour drew near. I was glad when it was all over!

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Originally uploaded by tcboos

(Darcy) - I really wanted to go horseback riding. Kelly and I wanted to go so we kept talking about it. My horse's name was Dixie, and when I got on her back it felt nice to be back on a horse. When we started on the trail it felt cool, but then Mommy's horse started acting up. I was behind Mommy, and Dixie kept getting too close to Sambo, Mommy's horse. That made me scared, especially when Sambo started off on his own down the mountain. I was worried that my horse would follow. Going up the mountain was a little scary, but going down was way fun!

(Kelly) - I was very excited to go horseback riding. My only concern was that I would be too heavy for the horse. So when I walked into the barn I looked at all the horses and knew immediately which horse I wanted....the biggest, most muscle-y horse, and that was the one I requested. 

I was never scared except possibly of the horse dying from underneath me after having to carry my weight up the mountain. If I had had my way, the trails would have been steeper and more dangerous. As far as my concerns for Cara went, I was never worried about her safety, only for her disposition afterward. But she was a trooper. I was also concerned about her back hurting and I worried about that some.

About halfway through the ride, I felt a regular popping feeling underneath Sugar Bear's saddle. I was concerned that Sugar Bear had broken her back, or her leg, or her shoulder, but I didn't want to walk home, so I told no one until the end of the ride. Loved, loved, loved it....the whole experience. 

Loved the way I smelled afterward. When Darcy and I first walked into the barn, I said, "I love the way stables smell," and she said, (breathing in) "AH, me too!" So I knew at least one other person was enjoying the ride. I wanted to go faster. I wanted to canter and trot.

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Originally uploaded by tcboos

horse

Originally uploaded by tcboos

(Cara) - I have ridden on trails on horseback before, so I did know what to expect, but I have to say that I have never been a horse lover. They are way too big and way too powerful for me to feel comfortable around them. I'm not experienced with them or on them and frankly, they scare the shit out of me! 

But Darcy is taking horseback riding lessons and she loves horses, and Kelly's New Year's Resolution was to ride a horse again, so I was determined that both of them would ride horses. If that meant me sucking it up and getting on to a horse, then that was what I would do.

We opted for Riverside Stables because Natalie could ride with Krista. We paid our money and then listened to the guide, Tammy, who then gave us the following instructions (in her southern drawl):

1. Don't let your horse get too close to the horse in front of you. Try to keep a horse length between them.
2. Don't let your horse's head go down to eat grass or else your arms will be tired from all that pulling over and over again.
3. Pull your reins to the left to go left. Pull your reins to the right to go right. Pull back on the reins and say, "Whoa!" to stop the horse.
4. Lean forward in the saddle going up the mountain and lean back in the saddle when you climb down.

The lady who took our money led me to my horse. Sambo was not in the stables with the other horses but tied off in a corner outside. I should have known that wasn't a good sign, but I was trying to be optimistic.

Sambo was a white horse with a brown speckled hide. He wasn't soft. His hide was coarse and his mane prickly to the touch. The lady could not adjust the stirrup, so she told me to lift my foot up past my neck and climb aboard. I attempted that lift and when I couldn't quite lift my leg that high, she grabbed my foot and lifted it for me. She then had me grab the horn and she and the other guide grabbed a butt check and hefted me on up into the saddle. A sobering experience. 

The horse immediately started moving like he was being loaded with ten tons of a load and the lady gave him a stern talking to: "Stop it, Sambo!" She untied him and led him out of the stables. We were put behind Tammy the guide, for which I was quite thankful for. We set off.

We started out the barnyard gate and traveled past a creek and around the large fenced in the barnyard. Sambo did not want to move so he would just stop, which caused all the other horses behind us to stop. Tammy would yell, "Come on, Sambo!" and tell me to give him a kick. 

Sambo would move a bit forward and then stop and lower his head to eat grass. I would pull on the reins to lift his head and he would lower it again. Then I would kick him, pull on the reins and make some horse like sounds like I've heard my cousin, Joyce, make a million times when she's with horses. Sambo then turned his head and nipped my left foot. I'm told that this wasn't what he was doing (by Darcy, the now horse expert), but I was sure he wasn't nuzzling me.

As we got closer to the mountain, I got a tad nervous that Sambo wouldn't get me up the mountain. He kept acting like all of this was beneath him, but he would move and then he'd stop. Tammy would scold him, and then he would start climbing again. All the way up, he huffed and puffed as if I weighed more than any other human he had ever been forced to carry. 

The mountain was sort of like a forest of trees with dead empty branches and a ground covered in dead leaves. There really wasn't anything scenic or beautiful about the trail. 

It was very narrow and always on one side was a death drop-off. I tried not to look down that side. Trees were everywhere we walked. Sometimes we had to walk through two trees close together. Sometimes we had to walk over fallen tree trunks. Other times we had to circle around a group of trees. No matter what we had to do, Tammy would instruct us on the way to do it, and Sambo would do the complete opposite. 

Walk through trees? Sambo would go off the trail and walk around. 

Walk over a tree trunk? Sambo would stop or stumble as if he had stubbed his hoof. 

Walk around trees? Sambo would walk right through the trunks and get me caught in underbrush and vines. 

When Tammy would say, "Watch out for the trees on your left as you come up this mountain," then Sambo would be sure to swing his body directly into the tree so that I would bang into it with my body. 

Three times he got my left foot so tangled in the branches and vines and brush that by the third time I thought my foot was going to be yanked from my leg, and I whined, "This is hurting me!"

The worst moment was when Sambo just veered off of the trail and started sliding down the mountain. I think even that scared him. Like an errant child proving he knew best and then suddenly discovers that the mother was right. Sambo managed to get his foothold, and I pulled on the reins and "Whoa-ed" him until he stopped. 

I wanted to get him back up the damn mountain so I tried pulling to the right, but in my haste and nervousness, I pulled him the wrong way. Sambo smirked at this, went in the opposite direction, and did a complete circle. I tried to get him turned again, listening to Tammy as she tried to talk me through it all, but he was damn stubborn. 

Finally, the second guide appeared and led him back up the mountain and back into place. Off we went and at every tree, he would act like he was going to eat it. I'd pull him away and he would move on to the next tree, stop and try to eat it. 

Once he just backed up into a tree and began scratching his rear end. This caused quite a reaction from everyone behind us, but I was holding on for dear life while he swayed back and forth, back and forth scratching away. I found it very strange behavior indeed.

Tammy kept threatening Sambo, "When we get back, Sambo, you are not resting. You are going out on the next ride and it's a two-hour ride. You'll spend the whole day out here if you don't start straightening up!" 

I would cringe each time she said this and when she turned back around, I would pat him and whisper, "She doesn't really mean it. You are going back to a pile of hay and horse munchies and plenty of rest!" Sambo would just turn around and nip my foot.

I was quite happy to dismount that horse. I threw money at Tammy and thanked her for getting me back in one piece. I walked on shaky legs to the other barnyard and took pictures of the cute baby colt and filly and pretended all was well. 

When I returned home I discovered a huge rip in my new jeans and a nice thick stick stuck directly through the denim. It took several minutes to remove the darn stick. Not as pleasant a day as the time spent at the Biltmore, but this day wasn't about me. Kelly and Darcy enjoyed it and that was just fine with me!

After our horseback riding experience, we headed back to the resort. Krista called the front desk and reported the entry into our unit from the previous day. They were not happy to hear this and immediately sent our friendly maintenance men to check it out. Three men showed up and spent considerable time taking the codes off of the key lock to our front door. They muttered something about not being finished and how they would have to return later and they left. We never saw them again and never heard from anyone regarding the entry.

We packed lunches and headed down to the lake where we spent the rest of the day lounging, swimming in the pool, and playing in the stream. We talked about taking the cruise but left that for another day.

Lake Lure Trip - Day 4 - Staying Behind - Natalie & Krista

(Krista) - Natalie and I had a very lazy kind of day. Natalie swam in the jacuzzi tub in our unit while I showered and took my time. We then packed our lunch and left to walk to the Recreation Center. It was a long trip. We looked at the view, took pictures and stopped at a picnic area with a great view of the mountains. We ate our lunch of yogurt, sandwiches, chips, and cookies. Natalie said it was a good Mommy and Me day. We then hiked the rest of the way to the Wellness Center, but as we got close we decided to go off the road and climb down the big hill to the playground.

We played on the playground and then swam for 3 hours at the pool. We met a nice woman named Beth and her two daughters, Charlotte and Agnes, and another family from Stewart, FL. Beth offered us a ride home, and despite her being a stranger, I jumped at the ride, because I envisioned myself carrying Natalie back up the mountain. Not something I wanted to do.

Beth dropped us off, and I opened the door and noticed a lot of light in the unit. I, stupidly, I guess, went upstairs and discovered that the blinds were open behind the TV. We've never opened those blinds before. The sliding glass door was wide open. 

I was more concerned about animals being in our house than I was about people. I searched the place all over, under the beds, the showers. Then I called Cara, thinking that they had returned and had left the door open and then gone looking for us or something. Of course, they weren't back yet. Cara didn't answer her phone and I left several messages. 

By the time she got back to me, I don't know, I guess I thought she would do something, but she suggested I call security. I did and asked them if someone had been in our room. Earlier I had seen some electrical trucks drive by while out walking and I thought maybe they had been in here working on our electrical situation. I don't know. 

Security wanted to know if anything was missing and I said, "I'm not the only person staying here. I don't know what things they had!" He told me that I would have to call the front desk, but that they were closed for the night. He said that anyone could have entered our unit. I wanted to know who would do that and he said either maintenance or housekeeping. I hung up, got a beer and sat out on the back patio, listening to music until everyone else returned.

Lake Lure Trip - Day 4 - Asheville, NC - Cara, Kelly, Madison, Darcy & Brianna

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Originally uploaded by tcboos

Weather - High 70 / Sunny and Hot

(Kelly) - We decided to drive to Asheville to see the Biltmore Estate. There was a discussion about whether Natalie would enjoy this trip or not. In the end, Krista decided to stay home with Natalie. Krista will have to tell the journal about her day with Natalie, but we did see her pictures.

We stopped by the Wellness Center on our way out of the resort to buy the tickets online, which would get us $5.00 off the regular price. Turns out kids under 9 were free all the time and kids 9-16 were free due to the time of the year The peak season for Biltmore starts in a few weeks. We ordered the tickets online and had them held for us to pick up. We got some quick verification on the directions to Asheville and we were off. I was driving.

Once through the long and winding roads back to I-26 the van could finally go faster than 45 mph again for the first time in several days, and in a fairly straight line. But the van still had its work cut out for it. Most of the trip on I-26 was up and down hills. It is very much like the interstate through the Chattanooga area. I was slow to get up the hills. It was faster going down, but then the semis were on my tail trying to build up speed for the next hill up. I had to keep changing lanes to stay out of the way. The van did its best, but some of the problems could have been operator error. On the way, I saw an exit that said it was for Chimney Rock and Lake Lure. The exit was not close to the exit we took off of I-26 to get to our resort. The CR/LL exit seemed like it would be a shorter way and more direct.

We took the exit for I-40 as directed on the back of the Biltmore brochure and then got off on Hwy 25. Immediately the traffic got heavy. Turns out there was an accident. The girls were in the third-row seat. All the way to Asheville they had been smiling, waving and holding up signs that said, "Please Wave," trying to get other drivers to wave back. Now they were giggling and waving to some very annoyed local Asheville drivers, who were probably trying to go to lunch or get back to work and were now stuck in traffic, made all the worse by tourists from out of state trying to get to the Biltmore. Luckily for us, we only had to travel a few blocks on this road to get past the accident and to the Biltmore entrance. We saw the cutest little McDonalds in the village. Almost every building in this village was similar and architecturally quaint.

The entrance to the Biltmore Estate had a large gate. The sign said to keep driving to the ticket/admission building. The first thing I noticed was that immediately the land began to look very estate-like. By that, I mean it was well taken care of. The streams were pretty and the meadows and grasslands were perfect We saw a bamboo forest on our right. The road was narrow but paved. The land on either side seemed to go on forever. One of the girls piped up from the back that the estate had 8,000 acres. The girls had been reading the brochure and looking at the map.

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Originally uploaded by tcboos

We drove for a mile or two before we saw signs directing us to a building on a small hill. This was the ticket office. We could not yet see the estate, which I am guessing was in the original plan. If you're incredibly rich and you have all this land and you decide to build an estate house, you would want privacy. You would want the house to be separate and distanced from the "working" parts of the estate. You want the house to be hidden from the roads and let visitors have no view of it until it suddenly appeared. This is how the place was. Even when we were only a hundred yards from the house, you couldn't see it. The roadways and the landscaping all work toward it. The house literally makes a grand entrance for its visitors. But more about the house later.

First, we went to the River Bend Farm. Watched a blacksmith work. Learned about the history of plows and tractors. Had some ice cream. The vanilla is made from the original Biltmore recipe and it was quite good. We went to the animal barn and petted and fed two beautiful Belgian draft horses named Bert and Ernie. There were four Angora goats who are protected by two donkey "watch dogs". There were chickens and nanny goats. The man in charge, Roger, was very nice.

(Cara) - The donkeys were named Cheyenne and Ellie. They were resting in the barnyard along with the goats. The chickens were very active and we even watched as one laid an egg. The hens sat on "chute" nests so that when they laid an egg, the egg immediately fell through a chute to the other side of a partition and could be gathered easily. The chickens were very interested in all of us and followed us as we roamed the barnyard feeding and petting the animals. While standing against the fence taking photos of the horses, I felt a tug on my shoe and looked down to see that several chickens had poked their heads out of the fence and were pecking my shoelace. Apparently, it looked like a giant worm. One chicken would grab the lace, pull it across the fence and then the other chickens would attack it, pecking it to death.

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Originally uploaded by tcboos

This was quite exciting to the children and they too offered up their shoelaces. We took photos, washed our hands and then headed back to the car to move on around the estate. I was interested in visiting the winery and taking the winery tour, but no one was sapped up about doing that, so we headed toward the house. 

You had to park your car in a lot and hop on a shuttle that took you to the huge 255 room house. It was quite a drive even from the parking lot, and then you entered this paved drive surrounded by a stone wall and you went through giant black iron gates to enter the home area. 

The house was set back from the gates behind a beautiful expanse of lush green grass and a fountain. The shuttle let us off at the front entrance to the house, but to the right of the house were shops, eateries, and restrooms. I had forgotten the tickets so the shuttle driver took me back to my car and waited for me while Kelly and the girls took pictures back at the house. When I caught up with them we went to the rear of the house and walked out on a large "patio" that overlooked the Blue Ridge Mountains. (When I say "patio" picture a large slab of walled concrete that would hold a wedding party of 500 people)

The view as spectacular and breathtaking - no other way to describe it. George Vanderbilt, of the wealthy shipping/railroad Vanderbilt family, began building the house in 1889 when he was 27 years old. George loved architecture and history and he wanted to build a home that reflected the French chateaux. He was very involved with his architect, Richard Morris, and his landscape architect, Fredrick Law Olmsted. They had many meetings of the minds and the project took 6 years to complete. The house originally sat on 125,000 acres, but about 86,000 acres were sold to the United States Forest Service which turned them into the Pisgah National Forest. The house now sits on 8,000 acres which include formal gardens, the farm, the winery, an Inn and Deer Park, an area for horseback riding, trail rides, etc.

We left the "patio" area and hiked down to the gardens. I'm not much of a plant person, but the brochure told us to look for evergreens, ivy, rhododendrons, redwood, and holly. There was also dogwoods, magnolias, maples, and azaleas. There was an Italian Garden, a Shrub Garden, a Walled Garden, an Azalea Garden, a Spring Garden, and several Esplanades and Terraces. Also, a Bass Pond and several walking trails, but we didn't get through much save for the Italian Garden, the Walled Garden, and the Conservatory. 

The flowers were amazing. It was like walking into a world of color; purples, yellows, reds, pinks, whites, etc. There were tulips, pansies, orchids, daffodils, just to name a few. We explored the Conservatory, but the heat was stifling. Expecting a cloudy and cool day we were not dressed for the hot and sunny day we ended up with. The kids sat outside while Kelly and I took photos of the different orchid species and plants inside.

We finally reached the original caretaker's cottage and turned around, realizing that continuing on through the rest of the gardens would not leave us time to explore the house. We wished we had gotten here earlier, but none of the brochures had prepared us for the enormous size of the estate and the vast amount of touring and exploring involved.

We slurped down some pretzels, a hot dog and some sodas, used the restrooms and finally entered the house. George Vanderbilt opened Biltmore House on Christmas Eve 1895 and lived there three years before marrying Edith Dresser. They had one child, a daughter, Cornelia. The house has 255 rooms, 43 bathrooms, and an indoor pool. It is the largest personal home in the United States.

We picked up our tour guidebook (there was a special one for children, sort of like a scavenger hunt, asking them to search for certain items in each room) and began on the Main Floor in the Winter Garden. It is sort of like an atrium with a glass rook. Cornelia had her wedding reception at the Biltmore in 1924 and they had a wedding breakfast in the Winter Garden.

The tour took us through 62 of the 255 rooms. It took two hours to see everything. The rooms are decorated with Vanderbilt's original furniture and belongings. The house is still owned by the family and it was opened in 1930 to the public. 

Preservation and restorations have been done the rooms to keep everything authentic. Some of my favorites were the library (George was an avid reader and collector and owned over 23,000 books, many of them 1st editions by 19th century novelists), the oval-shaped bedrooms with the views of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the observatory which still hold the original architectural model of the house, and the basement. 

The basement shows the rock walls that are the substantial structure of the house. The various kitchens (pastry, rotisserie, main) were housed in the basement along with the kitchen pantry with dumbwaiters. Also in the basement was a bowling alley, a gymnasium, and an indoor pool. 

The pool was interesting. It is in its own room. Guests would change in one of the many dressing rooms off the hallway leading to the gym and pool and enter the pool through a door. Guests would climb up some stairs to the second level and enter the pool down a ladder into the deep end. The pool was 53' X 27' X 8 1/2. It ran the entire length of the room and wire seating could be lowered by ropes for those who preferred to sit and dangle their toes in the water. I picked up some ideas for when I build my dream home later in life: a housemaid closet for rinsing mops and emptying the slop jars.

We were one of the last to leave the house, but lucky for us the gift shops were open for another hour so we shopped. The girls and Kelly bought goodies from the Confectionery. I purchased a Biltmore mystery for the girls at the Bookbinders, and Brianna bought a ring at the Toymakers. 

We all went into the Carriage House, which contained all sorts of different items. Kelly and I found an area that offered wine from the winery and we spent considerable time sampling the different varieties. We left with 6 bottles of Biltmore wine. Probably good that we skipped the winery earlier in the day.....

The ride back was uneventful. We stopped off at Ingles for some odds and ends and returned home to find dinner waiting.