Our RV Adventures

Today was Biltmore Estate  day, the main reason we did a 500 mile jog in our trip up the East Coast to Nova Scotia.

It’s hard to realize how big this place really is.  The house is 175,000 square feet inside.  That’s FOUR acres!

It has a total of 250 rooms, with 35 bedrooms for family and guests, and 43 bathrooms.  It is/was the largest private home in the US.

It took about 6 years to build and was completed in time for its first party on Christmas Eve, 1895.

It was built by George Vanderbilt,  grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt, the shipping  magnate.  No one knows exactly how much it cost to build, but it’s estimated to be about 10 million dollars, and that’s in 1895 dollars.

The Biltmore

The Biltmore Stables

The stables shown above are to the right of the main house.  I couldn’t get back far enough to get everything in one shot.

Originally, the Biltmore Estate consisted of 125,000 acres.  Now it sits on 8,000 acres.  The rest is now part of the Pisgah National Forest.

I was also amazed at the landscaping involved.  They used over 2 million plants to landscape the grounds. 

What I found even harder to believe was this view from the loggia (porch) at the back of the house.

View from the Porch

When the house was built in 1895 this view was of scrub brush and bare hills, with eroded gullys and fire-blackened tree stumps.

So Vanderbilt decided to have this area completely re-forested. 

They resculpted the hills for the rolling look you see today, and then planted 10 of thousands of large trees and 100’s of thousands of bushes and scrubs.

It’s  amazing what you can do if you have more money than you know what to do with!

After our tour of the house which took about 3 hours, we ate lunch at the Stable Cafe, which as the name indicates, is in the old stables. 

The stalls have been converted into dining areas with tables also out in the center.

The Stable Cafe

Our Stall at the Stable Cafe

The food was very good, with Jan having a Chicken Salad Sandwich with Sun-dried Tomatoes on a croissant, and I had the Harvest Turkey Sandwich with melted brie, arugula, and blackberry mustard spread on a panini.

In addition to the Cafe, the stables also houses several gift shops and guest services.

After we left The Biltmore, we headed out about 25 miles northeast to Chimney Rock State Park. 

Chimney Rock has been a tourist attraction since 1885.  Over the years paths,  staircases, and trails have been added to make access easier.

Finally in 1946,  a 198 foot tunnel was tunneled into the side of the mountain,

Tunnel to the Elevator

and then a 268 foot vertical shaft was blasted down from the top to provide an elevator to the top.

After taking the elevator to the top, the path leads thru the obligatory gift shop and then out on a walkway to the stairs that takes you up on Chimney Rock at a height of 2280 feet. 

Jan only made it 2270 feet, but I was really proud of her. She has a real fear of heights and I think she only does things like this to humor me.  She made it to the top of Chimney Rock, but couldn’t do the last 10 feet to the edge.  Honestly, I was really surprised she made that far.  After 42 years, she still manages to surprise me.

Chimney Rock

Chimney Rock Closeup

From there you can see for 75 miles on a clear day.  Our day was a little hazy, but still a great view.

Chimney Rock View 1

Chimney Rock View 2

 After having ice cream at the cafe on top of the mountain, we headed home about 4 pm. 

A long day, indeed.

Today was our first full day in Asheville, or actually Fletcher, NC,  where our RV park is.

It’s really a great park,  on a small lake with a lot of shade trees, but not too many to shut down our Direct TV satellite.

Rutledge Lake RV

And the weather is great.  We have gotten some rain, but they need it around here. 

Plus the temperature last night was 64 degrees, and the high today was only 85.  This is a nice change from the high 90’s that we’ve been encountering. 

Being over 2000 ft up in the mountains has many advantages, besides the beautiful scenery.

We first headed out about 11:30 am looking for a place to have lunch.  A guy in the site next to us recommended a place to us, but we were never able to find it from his directions.  And although our GPS listed it, when we got there we found no restaurant, either.

So we drove in the opposite direction and stumbled across a little piece of heaven for Jan.

If you know Jan, you know anything ‘MOOSE’ is a must. 

And the Moose Cafe was a great find.  And they had a moose gift shop too.

The food was good old country cookin’, with all the favorites, fried chicken, meatloaf, chicken & dumplins, Virginia baked ham, and more.

Jan had the one of the specials, the Turkey & Dressing, with mashed potatoes, and green beans, and I had the other special, the Roast Pork Loin & Dressing, with mashed potatoes and collard greens.  We also got an extra order of macaroni & cheese to split between us.

They also serve ‘Cathead’ biscuits.  They’re called that because they are the size of a cat’s head, and they come with homemade apple butter and molasses.

Day Lilies

Jan said she had never seen ‘red’ day lilies before.  

Later we stopped at a Starbuck’s for a caffeine infusion and some directions to areas with a lot of old homes.

We were told about the Monford area and headed that way.  After a few miles we came upon the Asheville Visitor’s Center and stopped off to pick up more brochures and ideas for things to see.

We also found that Gray Line was running a 1.5 hour Trolley Tour, and that we were there just in time for the last trip at 3:30 pm.

So off we went.

One of the places we saw was this unusual church, especially unusual for a Baptist Church.  This is the First Baptist Church of Asheville.

First Baptist Church

The design was based on a Catholic church in Italy.  Certainly different.

On the Trolley Tour

While we were at the Visitor’s Center, we purchased discounted tickets to the Biltmore Estate that we’re going to visit tomorrow, and also got information on Chimney Rock Park and Grandfather Mountain, two other places we’re interesting in visiting. 

After the tour was over, we headed back to our coach and sat outside for a while with the Mister and Emma, our cats.

Emma

We keep Emma on a leash because she’s easily spooked and might run off.  Mister, on the other hand, knows who feeds him and never wanders off.

More tomorrow…