The Biltmore Estate

Tuesday - 11 May 2004 - Asheville, North Carolina: We left Gatlinburg, Tennessee this morning, under "partially-cloudy skies" and drove south through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on Highway 441. It is a beautiful drive - and an engineering marvel. The road actually climbs by going in circles - using tunnels to cross over/under itself! Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited of our National Parks, but there is no entrance fee. The woman who donated most of the money to acquire the land (bit by bit, farm by farm) would only do so if people were never charged to enjoy the beauty. It will take an act of Congress to change this arrangement. I feel the Lady should have her wish and the promise should be kept! We also wonder if Great Smoky Mountains is the "most visited" park, because a state highway runs through the middle?!

We stopped at the Newfound Gap, elevation 5048 feet, which is the Tennessee-North Carolina border. (The highest peak in The Great Smokey Mountains is half the altitude of Our Own Mt. Hood.) The Appalachian Trial actually follows the state border along the mountain crests at this point and crosses here at the Gap. There were several hikers here, rendezvousing with their supply people. (Let me re-phrase that: there were several very wet hikers here.) FDR dedicated Great Smokey Mountains National Park during a ceremony at Newfound Gap on Labor Day 1940. We haven't seen so many butterflies since we were on Martinique! They have recently hatched, and are everywhere!

Smoky view east of the Smokey’s at Newfound Gap

We left the park and Highway 441 and began to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway. Everything was going well - it was a beautiful drive - until we came around a turn in the road and saw a sign reading "11 foot Tunnel". We have a 12 foot RV. There was no turn around. Oh-Oh. On closer inspection, the 11' tunnel was in fact an 18' tunnel - in the center anyway. So we just drove down the center... and we drove through the center of 4 or 5 more "11 foot" tunnels until we left the parkway to Highway 19 and I-40 towards Asheville, passing miles and miles and acres and acres of wildflowers along the way. RVers beware!
 
After checking in to the Bear Creek RV Park in Asheville, we drove the car to the Biltmore Estate, the fabulous home of George Washington Vanderbilt. In case you have been living on Mars for the past two hundred years, let me tell you the Vanderbilt's are rich. They are actually beyond rich, they are loaded. At the time this house was built it is estimated their fortune would be valued at around 90+ Billion in today's money. George made his money the old-fashioned way - he inherited it.

Biltmore House

The home took 6 years to complete and is four acres INSIDE! Unfortunately, photography is not allowed inside the house, so I encourage you to visit their website. The charge to tour the home is a staggering $39 per person, but they do not scrimp - you get to see basically the entire house. (Not to worry, I made my 10,000 steps today.) Biltmore is still the largest home in America and was one of the first to have electricity, hot and cold running water, and "plumbing" throughout. The joint is so grand, even the servants had rooms as large as 12' x 12'. There are something like 40 guest bedrooms and 80 bathrooms. I think we saw them all! The home has countless salons, family rooms, lounges, living rooms, etc., for all the people staying in the 40 bedrooms to gather. Each room had a button to push to summon a servant. There is an indoor pool, billiards room, bowling alley, a library with tens of thousands of volumes and 4,000 acres to hike, walk, hunt, fish, row or ride. The views to the Smoky Mountains are outstanding! I especially enjoyed touring the kitchen area. There was a separate kitchen for the pastry chef, a special kitchen for roasting meat and a huge kitchen for the rest of the meal preparation. There were store rooms for meats, cheese, canned goods, dry goods, etc. Mr. Vanderbilt had indoor refrigeration! Walk-in size, of course! The best thing about this house? They loved dogs and dogs were everywhere!

The front door of Biltmore House

 
Above the House sits a gazebo with a statue of Diana - and Diana's view of Biltmore House

After spending the entire afternoon at the House, we drove to the winery, which used to be the dairy. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, they used to really put it away... but this vineyard wasn't established until the 1970s! The building was much more interesting to us than the wines. The gardens around the dairy/winery were outstanding!

 
Peonies!

Tonight, these visitors will be in. The Mrs. has prepared a lovely Italian repast - freshly baked foccacia with basil and garlic and a spicy onion and pepper lasagna, served with a lovely tossed salad and Italian (not North Carolina) wines.

RV Park: Bear Creek RV Park in Asheville