Saturday, January 1, 2011

Asheville vacation recap

Even with snow, the Biltmore Mansion was BEAUTIFUL. Dan and I are in love with all 8,000 acres of this place.



Of course we had to be a little bit silly, right?



These beautiful flowers were found inside the conservatory.



These, too. Nothing could have lived in the Arctic wind-swept land that we toured.



Last time I took a photo of the gargoyle he did not have ice hanging from his cold cold mouth.



See?



We decided to venture out onto the trails again, despite the snow.



Who needs dry feet, anyway?



We wondered, "Is this...bamboo? Can it survive here?"



Dan made this exact pose in this exact spot two years ago. Except, then, it was HOT. And dry.



See?



I made Dan stop so I could get a shot of his eyes.



We headed down toward the waterfall and almost slipped down the hill getting there. This was one of the only photos that survived that little adventure.



The grounds are beautiful.



Even trees that have been trimmed are beautiful. That's what Dan said when I asked him to stop the car for a photo: "But, it's been trimmed!"



We stopped at the winery for a few tastings.



And found a few wines we liked.



We explored the farm area and the new Antler's Village.



We sat atop the tractors. Again.



We did not bowl, but did you know that in 1895 George Vanderbilt innovatively constructed a bowling alley in the basement of his mansion?



The sunset was beautiful our last night there.



The grounds were decorated with Christmas lights.



And our horse riding adventure never happened because "a horse could break a leg on this ice!" We were bummed about this, but we certainly didn't want any horses to break any legs. Next time.

1 comment:

Cecilia said...

It looks like you guys had a great time! The photos are so beautiful!