Thanks to Joyce & Stan, Greg and I were able to have a kid-free trip to the Biltmore in Asheville, NC this past weekend!! (It was a belated 5th anniversary present.) We left Nate at their house in Johnson City, TN (a little over an hour from Asheville) and spent all day Saturday at the Biltmore...wow, what a place! I had been there twice as a teenager, but never really appreciated it. And if you've never been there, you MUST go. It is simply breathtaking....175,000 sq. ft of the most beautiful, family-owned house! And so much history....George Vanderbilt built it in 1895 and the whole estate sits on 8000 acres. We did an audio tour of all 4 floors and it took over 3 hrs. I was exhausted to be on my feet that long (and actually had a near-fainting spell on the 2nd floor, ha!) but it was worth it. The house has a total of 250 rooms and 43 bathrooms (which was unheard in those days, b/c most houses didn't even have ONE indoor bathroom!!
After the audio tour of the house, we shared a pizza in the courtyard area and browsed all the gift shops before venturing on to tour the gardens. We didn't walk through all of them, b/c I was tired and it looked like it might rain. But of what we saw, it was beautiful!
After the gardens, we headed to the winery....Greg could hardly contain himself he was so excited!! I was too...b/c I decided ahead of time I was going to have a few sips of wine. (Yes, I checked with my doctor and got the thumbs-up.) It was a lot smaller than we had pictured, but nevertheless, fun. We did a quick 10 minute self-guided tour and then headed into the tasting room. Greg and I were the only ones at our table of 8 that wanted to try red wines...everyone else only tried white/blush ones. No thanks! We hit it off with the hostess and she hooked us up. I got nervous after a few sips though, and opted for grape juice instead! We did end up buying a few bottles though, and Greg promised to wait until after Dec 9th to crack them open! :)
For dinner, Bec had highly recommended trying Tupelo Honey Cafe in downtown Asheville, so we took her suggestion...and LOVED it. Super cute atmosphere and interesting people. The food was amazing too....Greg had pork chops and I had a veggie plate. The waitress even talked me into trying "sauteed greens" - kale & chard. YUMMY!! And the best part...banana pudding for dessert. I was in heaven! We tried to walk off our food coma and found the used bookstore/champagne bar Joyce & Stan had raved about. Greg bought a book and I drooled over all the champagne & wine! We headed back to our hotel, happy and exhausted from a wonderful day together. I love spending time with my handsome hubbie!!
After the audio tour of the house, we shared a pizza in the courtyard area and browsed all the gift shops before venturing on to tour the gardens. We didn't walk through all of them, b/c I was tired and it looked like it might rain. But of what we saw, it was beautiful!
After the gardens, we headed to the winery....Greg could hardly contain himself he was so excited!! I was too...b/c I decided ahead of time I was going to have a few sips of wine. (Yes, I checked with my doctor and got the thumbs-up.) It was a lot smaller than we had pictured, but nevertheless, fun. We did a quick 10 minute self-guided tour and then headed into the tasting room. Greg and I were the only ones at our table of 8 that wanted to try red wines...everyone else only tried white/blush ones. No thanks! We hit it off with the hostess and she hooked us up. I got nervous after a few sips though, and opted for grape juice instead! We did end up buying a few bottles though, and Greg promised to wait until after Dec 9th to crack them open! :)
For dinner, Bec had highly recommended trying Tupelo Honey Cafe in downtown Asheville, so we took her suggestion...and LOVED it. Super cute atmosphere and interesting people. The food was amazing too....Greg had pork chops and I had a veggie plate. The waitress even talked me into trying "sauteed greens" - kale & chard. YUMMY!! And the best part...banana pudding for dessert. I was in heaven! We tried to walk off our food coma and found the used bookstore/champagne bar Joyce & Stan had raved about. Greg bought a book and I drooled over all the champagne & wine! We headed back to our hotel, happy and exhausted from a wonderful day together. I love spending time with my handsome hubbie!!
3 comments:
What awesome pictures! I love them!
Happy Anniversary!! I didn't realize that you all celebrated 5 years too!!:)
Sounds like you had a fun day!!
So glad you had a good trip! The pictures of the flowers are great - you should frame some of them. Asheville is a fun town - maybe we'll have a girls weekend there :)
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