Biltmore Estate

     Saturday, May 25, we visited the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina.  We knew it would be very busy (Memorial Day weekend), but we found that it really wasn’t a problem since they are well organized and have good crowd control procedures in place.  Mark was not thrilled about spending the day there, but he did it for me.  Even though it cost $80 per person, he encouraged me to spend the additional $13 to get the Audio Guided Tour so I could listen to it while we toured the mansion.  I think the Audio was definitely helpful to get the full benefit and enjoyment from the tour.  We spent about 2 hours touring the house and then had lunch. 

     After lunch we headed out to walk through the extensive gardens and the Conservatory.  It was about 90 degrees and very humid.  I’ve never tolerated heat and humidity very well, so we only did the Conservatory and part of the gardens before returning to the food court for some ice cream to cool off.

     We then drove across the estate to visit the farm exhibit, the Winery (which was originally the estate’s dairy), and a small informative museum about the Biltmore Legacy.

     I enjoyed learning about the Vanderbilts and the Estate, but agree with Mark that the cost was excessive. 

Blue Ridge Parkway, Part 2

     We spent the night at Rocky Knob campground and then continued on the Blue Ridge Parkway (May 24).  We stopped at the picturesque Mabry Mill built around 1910.

     In 1944 a B-12 Flying Fortress bomber crashed in a nearby field.  School students from Grand Rapids had sold over $300,000 in US War Bonds and War Stamps to purchase the plane for the war effort.

     Our next stop was the lookout at Groundhog Mountain and the cabin of Orelena Puckett, a midwife who delivered over 1,000 babies before she died at the age of 102.

     We stopped at the Blue Ridge Music Center but their electronic audio/video system for their exhibits was out of order, so we left. 

     At Doughton Park, the Brinegar cabin was the homeplace of Martin and Caroline Brinegar for 60 years beginning around 1876.

There are some pretty meadows along this stretch of the Parkway. 

     At the Northwest Trading Post we bought a wooden sign we found — “Memories in the Making” — which reminded us of our blog “MarknRobin Making Memories”😊

     At the Moses H. Cone Memorial Park there are local arts and crafts on display and for sale in Flat Top Manor a turn of the century summer retreat. There are also 25 miles of carriage trails to explore on the estate.

     Our last stop for the day was at Linville Falls.  We got to the campground around 4:30 and were thankful to get their last available site.  After securing the campsite, we hiked to the falls.  The trail was wide and well-maintained, but there was a lot of uphill hiking.  It was hot and very humid, and later in the day, so I was pretty worn out and glad to get back to the camper.