Biltmore in Asheville, NC

Last week I visited Biltmore in Asheville, NC. This was part of the 17 day trip from the north woods cabin in WI to FL. Despite the large date on the top of my travel journal, it was actually a week prior to that...on October 16. I put the dates in later and was obviously completely traveled out and did not know what day it was!!! All I had to do was look at the ticket!!! Sigh. I decided not to change them as that would be a mess.

Anyway, it didn't rain, for a change, on the day of our choice but by afternoon, the tiny bit of sunshine disappeared and we were under heavy overcast AGAIN. And it was very crowded that day and it took almost 3 hours to do the tour of the house. We did rent the ear phones which was a very good idea. Afterwards Greg took off hiking around the grounds while I settled into the lower garden for a few sketches. I sat under the arbor. I did two sketches and then my fingers got so cold that I had to give up. My dreams of doing a ton of en plein air on this trip finally dissolved. Still, there were enough to give a "flavor" of the trip. Having visited both the Hearst Mansion and Biltmore Estate within about a month of each other gives a skewed perspective on life. And the book we rented to listen to in the car coming down (The Appeal by John Grisham) all dealt with the lives of people with WAY too much money. Indeed, there was nothing about the two over-the-top homes that would make me want to have them or live in them. Mostly, I enjoyed the "slice of a time period" if you know what I mean.