The Biltmore of Asheville, North Carolina

You can't go to Asheville, North Carolina without visiting The Biltmore Estate.

It's the largest private residence in the USA.

The Biltmore was built in 1895 and was the home of George Washington Vanderbilt II. 

I loved the Wintergarden right inside the front doors.

And the Great Hall.

We were lucky as they were having an exhibit with the costumes from the movie, "Titanic".

A beautiful home and beautiful costumes.

I was attracted to the piano on the right and the wonderful Victorian paisley scarf that covered it.

I've been collecting antique paisley just like this!

It has been almost 30 years since my last visit and it was fun to share with my husband and sons.

This was Kate Winslet's dress that she wore at the very front of the ship with her arms outstretched.

After touring the house, we toured all of the gardens.

It was a lovely day for walking and enjoying the countryside.

The daffodils were blooming and the conservatory was stunning!

Once you walked inside the conservatory, you're struck by the warmth, colors and fragrance.

Big and little delights around each corner.

Such stunning orchids

And exotic flowers.

I drank up as much springtime as I could knowing that we were returning to the cold 

and that spring at home was still some time away...

I have many of my mother's needlework finishes to share and a few of my own as well. 

I'll be back soon with those!

fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

~Hebrews 12:2-3

Blessings, Patti

Spring Break in Asheville, North Carolina

Wow! You guys are good! 

Several of you guessed the area that I was visiting!

Our first stop was some hiking along the Blue Ridge Parkway 

and then a stop at the Folk Art Center and the Southern Highland Craft Guild Store ~

 you know that I had some fun shopping there!

Pictures aren't allowed in the store, but I have to share some of the center

I loved the antiques features as well.

Asheville has so many wonderful art galleries that we enjoyed.

And art in public places and

everywhere you looked.

some art in alleys 

And some that you might miss if you blinked

or walked too quickly

Like the little gnome village that entranced us.

Asheville has a wonderful history as well.

The artwork on this building really intrigued us.

The story is that many of the local residents found themselves as models for these faces.

I'm so glad that it is still standing to enjoy.

The Grove Arcade was a wonderful building.

That is still put to wonderful use.

We toured the Basilica of St. Lawrence

And enjoyed the lovely artwork.

The dome of the Basilica was absolutely amazing!

I was so glad that we didn't just walk by...

The city is very hilly for us flatlanders. 

You were either walking uphill or downhill, never flat.

My Fitbit said that we walked 20,000+ steps every day and 40+ flights of stairs 

even though no stairs were actually involved ;) 

 

But don't worry, the restaurants in Asheville were wonderful and we ate well

(Too keep up our strength of course!)

This was my meal at Chestnut - a wonderful local trout.

Thank goodness my friend, Linda alerted me to Hole Doughnuts!

They were named dessert of the year by Bon Appetit in 2016!

Each doughnut is made to order and totally worth the wait.

Lucky I took a quick picture as they didn't last but a few minutes :)

 Asheville also has some great shopping.

I found this lovely store that I hadn't heard of before ~ they have 5 U.S. locations 

and a website and I am totally enamored!

A Facebook friend suggested this antique mall and 

Wow! I have never seen anything like it.

Antiques as far as the eye could see!

Our sons said that they could have spent have spent hours there

(I guess we taught them well lol!)

I was trying to figure out how I could carry one of these baskets on the plane,

but didn't come up with a solution.

Loved the old Pepsi bottle cap sign.

 

We all also loved the Asheville Pinball Museum

We had so much fun playing pinball on old machines from when we were growing up and new machines as well as fun arcade games like PacMan, Frogger and Asteroids.

We stayed until they closed and were disappointed when they announced last call...

I think that one of our favorite parts of the trip was the Haunted Asheville walking tour. Even if you don't care for "ghosts", the tour is well worth the price and the time! Our tour guide, Brian Bloxsom was amazing. We did it the night we arrived and learned so much about the history of the city and really knew our way around it by the time that it was over. Each and every one of us enjoyed it and he kept the entire tour group fascinated the entire night.

Asheville is a lovely city and I was so excited to see blooming trees, 

knowing that we were soon to return to freezing weather.

I'll have one more quick post about our trip and the main draw of Asheville.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,"

~Hebrews 12:1

Blessings, Patti