(I've decided to post all of the Biltmore pics in one Shutterfly slideshow. I'll put one together tomorrow night, our last night. I apologize if this is sketchy, but I'm trying to get stuff out before I forget it all!)
We woke up early (with electricity surging through the outlets) and headed down to a crazy breakfast spread that was compliments of Biltmore. Our package already came with breakfast each morning, but they had the formal dining room open to everyone at the inn with a really good spread laid out. After we ate, we went out to catch a shuttle to the big house, which is about 4 miles from the inn, and a really interesting shuttle driver gave us a very good impromptu narration of things as we came across them on our drive. He also explained how and why things were chosen to be the way that they were. The man who designed the landscaping aspects of the grounds (all 8,000 acres of it) had also designed Central Park in NYC (even though Biltmore estate = about 40 Central Parks,) and it was his intention that the drive to the house (by carriage) should build up the suspense of the visitor, give them views and reflections up until the minute that the ginormous house pops into view. And by pop, I mean EXPLODES into view. It was a nice shuttle ride to the house. We met another couple on the shuttle and walked and visited with them off and on through the morning tour of the garden. We've met so many nice people here that we've sat and talked with, toured with, etc. Of course, I'll talk to a tree, so that's not surprising, I suppose.
So, the gardens. Oh, the gardens. I just can't describe it and do it justice, so I won't. You have to see them, and that is all there is to it. The man was a genius. We won't even talk about the designer of Biltmore House because there are no words for that either. I will be able to add photos of the gardens (which will not do it justice...everything is a view that was meant to transition to another view, another garden, another terrace, another wilderness walk, another, another, another,) so I'm afraid even my photos will not do it justice, but at least you'll be able to see those. The house is another story. No photos or videos allowed inside, but it's a piece of work, lemme tell you. We did the audio tour which was amazing! There was a good sized crowd today, but with the audio tour (which is the only way to go,) it was paced and told you all of the highlights that you wouldn't know otherwise. Parts of the audio tour also have sounds and commentaries added, and it added a lot to the experience. We had to keep reminding ourselves that Biltmore House was a HOME. A residence. Not a tourist attraction when it was built. The audio tour explained so many facets of the house like there were 30 dozens of eggs delivered DAILY, the indoor-BASEMENT pool was 10 feet deep, was heated, and had underwater ELECTRIC lights. A full laundry service comparable to that of any grand hotel of THIS time period, 3 kitchen areas, and at any given holiday, would likely have had up to 250+ guests. And not just any guests...these were Vanderbilts, so their friends were famous artists, authors, politicians, etc. It just boggles the mind. And this place was so remote.....and they usually spent days and days on a train and then 7 hours by carriage to get here. But oh man, it must've been worth it. I mean, the rooms. THE ROOMS...floor after floor of guest rooms and baths with indoor plumbing. It's just amazing. That's all I can say.
So anyway, after the tour, we headed to one of the 5 (I think) restaurants on the estate. It is housed in what used to be the Vanderbilt's horse stable. The stalls were made into booths, and the food was oh-so very, very good. Oh, and then we shared a gigantic strawberry ice cream cone, just for the record.
Tomorrow, PDad's birthday!!, we have our off-road Segway tours (they have mud tires!!!,) and a rooftop and attic tour of Biltmore house. We originally had scheduled an afternoon tea, but after seeing how cool the house is (the tour took over 2.5 hours,) we wanted to see more. I'm taking the Flip to video PDad on a all-terrain Segway. You'll wanna stay tuned for that!
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