The Biltmore

Off to the Biltmore Estate we went after the eventful morning at the dentist's office. The Biltmore Estate House is amazing. It reminded me of a rich country home out of a Jane Austin novel. It has 250 rooms, 43 bathrooms, 4 floors, and a basement equipped with a bowling alley and indoor poor. There are formal gardens, an Italian garden, an azalea garden, and lots of trails to meander on. The estate also has a farm and a winery on the grounds. You can stay at an Inn somewhere on the 8000 acre estate or go for carriage rides or horse rides. The place is absolutely beautiful.

If you go after 2 pm, your tickets are good for the whole next day. So, my strategy with the two kids was to get there after 2 and see as much as we could before supper and then see the rest on the morning of the next day. The kids enjoyed the farm and most of the gardens. The first day we strolled through the azalea garden down to a bass pond. Payton was not too thrilled with the walk - I think she was hungry. We walked through some of the formal gardens before the kids had enough. So, after a snack in the car during the meandering 3 miles to the farm, the children were much happier. The farm had some horses, goats, and chickens. Ian seemed particularly interested in the chickens. I think he wanted to chase and catch them, but I wouldn't let him. The kids also really enjoyed the Italian garden that had the lily ponds and goldfish/koi in them.

We were going to try to make it to the winery that first night, but we ran out of time. We headed off to the hotel. Ian had to help with the luggage :)

The next day, we attempted the tour through the Biltmore House. The kids weren't nearly as impressed as the adults were.  They wanted to get in and out of there as fast as their little legs could go up and down its 4 floors. They did well considering we had to pause in hallways and in bedrooms, waiting for people with earphones or classes of students getting a tour to move out of the way. We bought a book about all the rooms, so that we could read about what we saw in the house. 

After the house tour, we ate some yummy lunch next to the old carriage house and then toured the rest of the gardens. This time the kids each had a lollipop. They were a lot happier on this trek through the gardens...hmmmm.