North Carolina Part 2: Biltmore

On Saturday morning, September 5th, we got up and saw the last sunrise before loading up the car and heading out of the Outer Banks. The waves were really big still from the wind.

We headed west and stopped in Raleigh for some lunch and then went to the Raleigh LDS temple. Here is another “list” Rachel and I are working on, to go to every temple. It was my 25th. We drove the rest of the way to Asheville that night and stayed in a hotel there.

The next morning we got up and went to the art district of Ashville to visit a few of the galleries that were open. My dad loves going to the art galleries. Then we drove out to Biltmore estate, the Vanderbilt mansion. Which was amazing!!! It was crazy huge.

There are 250 rooms and 7 gardens. We walked around the gardens first.

I loved these lily pads in the Italian garden. So unique. At least to me.

These windows/doors are to the library and open up to a terrace with a wisteria canopy. You can’t take pictures of the inside of the house so there is no picture of the library, but it was awesome. It was huge, with a huge fireplace, 2 floors with a small balcony all around the room for the second floor, and a huge human size globe. A real life “Beauty and the Beast” library, which you know is kind of my dream…I loved it! (Although I would have decorated it much differently…)

This was a second wisteria canopy along the side of the Terrace. I decided I have to go back in the spring to see the wisteria in bloom. And at Christmas to see it all decorated. Too bad it is in North Carolina, and I am in Washington.

My very favorite part of house was this conservatory. I wasn’t actually supposed to take this picture, but I missed the “no photo’s” signs when I was walking in (because I was too busy pulling out my camera…) but I walked past at least 3 employee’s who all saw me pulling out my camera and none of them stopped me, so I didn’t realize I wasn’t supposed to take pictures until my whole family told me so after I took this one. But you know, I wasn’t going to delete it… I was good after that and didn’t take any others. Because I am a rule follower. Through the entire house I kept saying “This thing is my favorite!” and then I would see something else and would say “No, this is my favorite!” so I pretty much loved it. The whole house is enormous and crazy cool. I can imagine how fun it would have been to be a Vanderbilt guest here.

There is a long stone balcony along the back side of the house that looks over the blue mountains. This is the view that George Vanderbilt, the owner, was going for. He had to have the house built up high enough to get this view.

We spent that night in Asheville, then left the next morning to drive back to my parent’s house in Atlanta. We drove through the Pigsah National forest on the way back and stopped at Looking Glass Falls.