Log in
Join travelers community
Your Profile
Logout
September 1999
North Carolina - Blue Ridge Parkway and Asheville
David Aaronson2005-09-23 23:13:06
Displayed times (last time: )
Monday was Labor Day which might not be the best day to visit a tourist attraction like the Biltmore Estate, but the estate as a whole is so vast it doesn't seem to matter how many people there are. Built and lived in by various member of the Vanderbilt familt, it is just generally enormous. The house contains dozens (literally) of bedrooms and over 40 bathrooms. It remains America's largest home, so wear comfortable shoes. The house was designed by Richard Morris Hunt and contains remarkable technology for the time (it opened in 1895). Among the interesting innovations are the spiral staircase to the left of the main entrance. If you're wondering why the spiral might be visible from the exterior, it's because that stonework supports the staircase inside. From the interior there is no visible means of support. The house also contains an indoor pool, a bowling alley, and the 'Halloween room' in the basement (the walls were painted by guests during a Halloween party one year).
The estate comprised 125,000 acres originally and still includes a winery, farm, and extensive gardens designed by Frederic Law Olmstead (known also for designing New York's Central Park). Here Melanie lurks in the rose garden with a evil menacing look that roughly translated means, 'you'd better feed me soon before I have to start eating these flowers'. Unfortunately, we did not feed her soon because there don't seem to be any restaurants between the Biltmore Estate and Chimney Rock.
We mentioned that Labor Day might not be the best time to visit the Biltmore. It is without a doubt not the best time to visit Chimney Rock. In fact the entire Lake Lure resort area was packed with people. The good news is that we found an apple orchard on the way there and had a quart of freshly pressed cider to make up for it. This is a view of Lake Lure from atop Chimney Rock.
Chimney rock is basically
...
See photographs from:
United States Gallery
