The Biltmore And Grove Park Inn

My husband and I just returned from a wonderful anniversary trip out to Asheville NC. It was a rainy and overcast weekend, but none of the weather really got in our way. It was very reminicient of our honeymoon, so it was kind of fitting. 🙂

We spent Sunday evening wandering around downtown Asheville. It’s a quaint city, kind of the size of downtown Raleigh, with unique restaurants and shops. It is also littered with hippies playing music on the corner. A few of these people, in fact, broke out into chanting while some others were playing the djembe. Nearby, there was a man with a single dread lock. Nope, not just one mixed in with the rest of his hair….ONE entire dread lock composed of his hair. Can you see it?

We passed this cute little coffee/ice cream bus while walking around downtown. Unfortunately, it closed before we could get to it, but we laughed at the concept. 

The highlight of our walk around Asheville was discovering a local bar called Hairspray. Creepy, but I had to get a photo.

Monday morning came early. We wanted to be one of the first people at Biltmore. On the drive there, I kept searching through the window to see if I could see it. I caught a glimpse of it in the distance, but couldn’t really appreciate it’s glory.

And here was the first sighting of the palace!

(to try and show the magnitude, I got in the photo. The place is HUGE!)

We started out in the gardens. They were absolutely incredible. Fragrant and bright, each flower was almost perfect. We spent a long time walking around the gardens appreciating the time spent on the landscape and care-taking of each plant. It is truly breath-taking.

And here is the signature “photo in front of the Biltmore”.

If you have been, or know anyone else that has been, you know that e-v-e-r-y-o-n-e gets a photo in this spot. So we had to too. Of course, there are no photos from the inside of the Biltmore since they don’t allow it. But it was amazing. It’s hard to believe that it wasn’t that long ago that people were living there. And the same stair railing we touched going downstairs was also touched by Edith and George. Craziness. 

Later that evening, we went to a nice dinner at the Sunset Terrace at the Grove Park Inn. My parents gift to us was a nice dinner out, so it was the perfect ending to a great day. The setting of this restaurant was spectacular. It was chilly outside, but they heated the terrace so it was a comfortable temperature. We couldn’t get over the view, and then they brought out steaks out. And oh my. Best. Steak. Ever. It was the most flavorful steak I have ever had. Absolutely delicious. No food will ever taste the same now that we have tasted perfection. We cleaned our plates, and the plate of “specially ordered” potatoes. (We didn’t want Goat Cheese Mashed Potatoes, and asked for something else and the Chef whipped up some fingerling potatoes–yum!)

We sat at dinner, recalling how great the day had been and how amazing the steaks tasted. It was a perfect day!