Today was Biltmore day. We gave ourselves a whole day to check out the Biltmore Estate. We have been told it would probably take that long and even longer to see everything. We left the hotel at 9:00 for our 10:00 time slot. Even though the estate entrance was only a few blocks up the road, it did take almost the entire hour to park and get to the front of the building. We paid for the Exclusive Experience tour. We saw not only the main part of the house, but also the areas not open to the  general public. This included the Birthing Suite, the third floor servants quarters, the boiler room with three large coal furnaces, the electrical room, servants elevator, storage rooms, and chamber pot cleaning room.  Looking out the windows on the upper floor we noticed the strange  statues hanging from the edge of the building.  We learned they were called grotesques and were used to scare evil spirits away. We even had the privilege of walking out on the parapet which is 5 stories up and looked out over the entire estate. What was really amazing were all of the stairs we had to climb and they were not short fights since the ceilings were at least twenty feet tall. We all did it. 
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The next part of the experience was the self-guided tour through the main house. We were given electronic tour guides that told us about each room on the main tour.  The most fascinating areas were the dining room and the basement. It was quite surprising to see the basement had a two lane bowling alley, a long hallway of personal changing rooms,  a swimming pool, a fitness room, kitchen, rotisserie room, and laundry room. We exited the house and ate at the little cafe that was beside the house.  This house was so big and so ornate, it was amazing that it was originally built by a single man, George Vanderbilt.  He purchased 125,000 acres of land in 1888 and built his French Renaissance Chateau between 1889 and 1895. It was and still is the largest privately owned house in the United States.

We ate lunch at the Courtyard Market and then headed out for wine tasting at the Biltmore Winery. The drive to the Biltmore Winery took us through the front gate of the estate and through some of the gardens. What was really amazing was the 20 minute drive to the winery all while staying on the estate. Even though much of it had been sold off there is still 8000 acres of land. 

The Winery was in the Antler Hill Village of the estate.  The walk into the winery was rather unusual.  We thought we would be entering the winery but it was just the store with a tasting area.  To get there we took this path down a very long underground hallway strung with tiny lights.  Along the way were signs informing you of the process of making wine.  We then had to climb a very long flight of stairs. Once in the store, we lined up for our wine tasting reservations.  

In the tasting room, we stood at a counter where a nice man gave us directions.  Out of the twelve wines on the list, we were allowed to choose five to taste.  The wines were good but not great.  Mom and I agreed the best one was the Gewurztraminer, a german wine. Nobody purchased any wine. 

Although it was still early, almost all of us were a little hungry and a lot tired. Five of us sat on benches in front of  “The Bistro” for about an hour resting and waiting for the restaurant to open. This is one of the restaurants that had been recommended  by Linda C.’s daughter-in-law.  Linda H was not particularly hungry. She was feeling the urge to walk and  really wanted to see the gardens so she took off for the five mile trek back to the house.  When the restaurant opened, we were the first ones through the doors. We had a great dinner sitting outside under an umbrella with a nice breeze. After dinner Linda C. went to find Linda H. Feeling a little rested we headed out to see the gardens before heading back to the hotel. We got into our car and headed out hoping to get a glimpse of them before they closed. Everyone in the car realized they were just a little too tired except for me. I hopped out to do a quick photographic walk through the gardens taking a few pictures.   We then headed back to the hotel. 

Tomorrow we are checking out Grovewood Village and the Gallery of the Mountains.
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