2017 SE Motorhome Trip (Asheville, NC)

March 31

Biltmore today!  Iris’ knee went out just as we were leaving the motorhome so when we got to Biltmore she was driven to the front door like a Vanderbilt, then Bob went and parked the car and took a shuttle back to the front door.  

Biltmore has steps - so we did the main floor without mishap to see how the Vanderbilts lived in the late 1880’s, the enclosed atrium called the winter garden.

Then to the Banquet Hall:

Obviously there were many more rooms to see on the ground floor - breakfast room, salon, music room, loggia, library and tapestry gallery.  Then we made it up to the second floor to see George Vanderbilt's bedroom, Mrs. Vanderbilts, bedroom, oak sitting room.  Completing this we saw the stairs to the 3rd floor and Iris balked so a nice lady took us to a screening room where we saw a video of all the third floor rooms on display as well as some that were not open to the tour.  This provided a nice sit-down.  The elevator only operates between the ground floor and the 2nd floor so we had used it to get up and now we used it to get down.  A rest stop in the stables plus a snack to hold us until lunch.

Iris was unable to walk through the gardens so Bob went to make photos so she could see it that way.

We re-entered the house and walked downstairs to the basement to see the servants rooms, dressing rooms for the pool, the swimming pool, gymnasium, kitchens, laundries, walk-in coolers, servants dining room and then a short stair to the Bachelors Wing to see the billiard room, smoking room, gun room and hallway.

This house is the largest private residence in the USA - 175,000 square feet,  250 rooms, 65 fireplaces, 35 bedrooms and 43 bathrooms.  The estate is 125,000 acres including the winery.  We made our way to the Antler Hill complex of hotels, shopping and restaurants and had a nice lunch at the Bistro. 

Then we drove to one of our favorite stores, Walmart, for a few purchases before making our way back to the campground to get ready for our drive tomorrow.

April 1  April Fools Day

We left thinking this would be a boring drive north toward our goal of Elkhart, IN but found it very interesting; scenery was fantastic, flowering trees, Great Smokey National Park, Cherokee National Forest, Cumberland National Park all through the Appalachian Mountains.

Campground was at Renfro Valley KY that has a Saturday night country music show with name stars, really big name stars every week.  This has been going on for 56 years.  It is part of complex including the campground so we expected it to be loud but the show is from 6:30 PM to 10:00 PM so we heard everyone crank up to leave but after that is was quiet.  Watched the Final Four game between SC and Gonzaga and to bed.