Mountain Mamas (cont.)

If you were a Vanderbilt, this was your view. Spoiled. Utterly spoiled.

Day 3

On Saturday, we started with another yummy breakfast at Early Girl Eatery, then hopped in the truck and headed for the Biltmore. Still the country's largest home and one of the area's top tourist attractions, the sprawling American mansion was on our must-do list.

They'd already begun to decorate the estate
for Christmas during our visit!

We arrived, flashed our tickets and parked the truck, choosing to make the short walk to the house from he parking lot on our own, which afforded us an expansive view of the property upon approach. We were admitted based on the time listed on our pre-purchased, timed tickets, stepped quickly through security, and then picked up our pre-purchased audio guides.

The self-guided audio tour has 39 "stops," taking you through the public spaces, the upstairs bedrooms, and even the downstairs servants' quarters and recreation areas. I loved the story about priceless art being housed at the Biltmore during WWII, peeping into George Vanderbilt's bedroom (which featured walls glazed with real gold) and imagining what it must have been like to sit and read in the heart-stopping library. I also loved the downstairs swimming pool and bowling alley. (The room directly above the bowling alley is a tapestry room. George Vanderbilt shrewdly realized that its dimensions were also perfect for a bowling alley, which he had installed directly below it downstairs. Just like a man!) What a hoot!

The heart-stopping library at the Biltmore

After the audio tour, we cooled our heels in the courtyard with snacks and drinks before taking a turn through the gardens. The formal gardens were all planted with mums for the season, with beautiful geometric patterns at work. Then we walked through the conservatory and headed for the bass pond and lower waterfall. It was a pleasant day, and the sky was reflected in the water. Just lovely.

By this time, however, we were getting a bit tired, so we made our way back to the truck and the hotel. We honestly could have spent all day on property (They have a winery, on-property trails, a shopping/dining area, everything. It's like a resort.), but we had other plans for that evening, and we wanted time to rest and freshen up first. (A note here: It will take longer than you think to drive off property at the Biltmore. The estate boasts something like 8,000 acres, and you'll drive by a good portion of it on winding roads to get off property.)

This is the bowling alley George Vanderbilt had installed downstairs.

After a quick break, we crossed the street to Grove Arcade to meet up with our food tour group. We'd booked the classic Eating Asheville tour, and we were excited to try some foods and restaurants that we might not otherwise discover. We had larger group (15 people or so), but our excellent guide had it all in hand. She told us a bit about the history of Asheville and Grove Arcade, and we were off!

Over the next 2.5 hours, we made stops at six different restaurants. We sampled falafel, masala and hibiscus iced tea, a wonderful cheese/charcuterie platter with red wine, inventive pulled pork bowls with a delightful cheer wine to wash them down, and margaritas and chicken mole at a Mexican restaurant. We finished off with a selection of chocolate, truffles and brownies at French Broad Chocolate. Just a really wide, delicious variety of Asheville's food scene. So much fun, and our guide was super-knowledgeable.

Afterward, we headed back to our hotel. Later that evening, a quick peep out the window told us the moon was full and bright, so we headed back to Hemingway's Cuba for a hot toddy by one of the fire pits at the rooftop bar. We enjoyed the fire, the drinks, the moon and chatting with other guests for a while before turning in.

Day 4

We had big breakfast plans for Sunday - giant, fantastic brunch at Tupelo Honey. We'd made a reservation via Open Table for right when they opened at 9 a.m., and we arrived promptly. They seated us as soon as the doors opened, and we got down to business.

I figured I should go big or go home, so I ordered the Shoo Mercy sweet potato pancakes (which, incidentally, also come with fried chicken, bacon and two eggs). Melanie chose the pecan pie French toast. It's worth noting that on Sundays, restaurants in downtown Asheville can't serve alcoholic drinks until 10 a.m., so we were (sadly) without mimosas or Bloody Marys at this time. We settled for coffee and water.

The food here is soooooo good. And there is sooooo much of it. We each sampled a little bit of everything. Service was quick, friendly and very knowledgeable about the menu. A fantastic choice!

After such a big breakfast, we had a bit of a lazy morning. Then, we did some walking around Grove Arcade to browse and shop. (We *may have* gone to Battery Park Book Exchange for champagne cocktails and mixed nuts at around 1 p.m.)

Then, it was into the truck for a trip to the River Arts District and our next activity - a walking photo tour! We found this great experience on AirBnB. You basically book a photographer for an hour or two, and she takes you all around the RAD - into shops, in front of all the cool street art and graffiti - and takes photos of you. (I'd had my first experience with a vacation photographer back during our girls' Paris trip earlier this year, and folks, I am not looking back. It's totally worth it to hire a photographer to capture these memories.)

We met Kristin near the Wedge Brewery, and off we went. We walked all around the area - in front of colorful murals, into awesome stores (Melanie and I thought that the Sugar Britches store was a SCREAM. Wild, unique, costumey, up-cycled fashion. Just delightful. We bought several items there and even returned to shop more there when the photo shoot was over.), into some beautiful art galleries, ending at a winery where we got a quick flight of wines to try.

Within less than a week, Kristin had sent us a link with our photos, and we love them! They are great mementos from the trip and of our enduring friendship. Guys, if you have a chance to do something like this on vacation, just do it. You can find affordable photographers online. There's no reason that you shouldn't be in some awesome vacation photos yourself, rather than being the one behind the camera every time.

After the photo tour was complete, Melanie and I did a little more shopping in the area, then stopped by White Duck Taco Shop, which we'd gotten several recommendations about. We ordered drinks

Tacos. Mmmmmmmm.

(The watermelon sangria was quite good.), queso and three tacos each. I chose the Bangkok shrimp, Korean beef and fish tacos, and y'all - they were all seriously good. We ate outside on picnic tables in the back of the restaurant because the weather was so pleasant. A fantastic Asheville experience!

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel for an early night. We had big plans in the morning, and we needed our rest! 

More to come . . .