STAYING AT THE BILTMORE

Well, that’s what I thought we SHOULD have been doing for what it cost to take a tour.  The Biltmores still know how to turn a nickel.  When I said we needed tickets for two, the lady said it would be $44 with our AAA discount.  That wasn’t too bad.  But then she said that was for each ticket.  Gulp.  This was a “must see” insistence from Mom, so we swallowed and paid the price.  The guy behind me in line agreed that it was a breathtaking price.  The estate is located just south of Asheville, N.C., on 8,000 (!) acres of rolling hills and forest.  Completed in 1895, it has 250 rooms.  The tour is pretty extensive of both the main rooms, some bedrooms, and all of the “downstairs” (for you BBC fans) areas where the multitude of servants toiled and lived.  That was the most interesting part for me.  The 19th century kitchens and workrooms were neat.  The place sports an indoor heated pool, with call buttons to order refreshments, and a two lane bowling alley, the first in a private residence.  No interior pictures were allowed (gotta sell those pricey books), but we got a bunch of the gardens, which were designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, who also laid out N.Y.C.’s Central Park and Stanford.  He considered this the capstone of his career.  Of course, it started to rain just as we exited the house tour for the grounds, but we soldiered on anyway.

Of course, all that walking required refueling, and what better nourishment than . . . you guessed it,

with seating in one of the many stone courtyards.  This truly is the cholesterol tour.

The next day we scooted further out to Chimney Rock State Park, with it’s observation point and the 404 foot Hickory Nut Falls, which was featured in 1992 movie, “The Last of the Mohicans,” one of our favorites for the drop-dead scenery.  Well, sort of featured.  Turns out the falls that Hawkeye hid behind were computer generated.  Oh well, the place still was beautiful, if not as lush-appearing as in the movie.  There’s an elevator or a “trail” to take you to the Chimney Rock overlook.  The elevator had a half-hour wait, so your intrepid adventurers (read, “saps”) trusted the sign for the trail that said it was shorter in time.  The “trail” turned out to be 450 stairsteps, with nary a foot of path.  That’s twice as high as the lighthouse climb.  Plus, did I say we continue in a heat wave, with temps in the mid-90’s?  Woof.  We stopped many times on the way up, and I’m sure the entire elevator line made it before we did.  Was it worth the effort?

Yeah, I guess so.  We don’t look too unhappy.

Next it was on to the falls.  This time the trail was just a trail, without much elevation, and the falls were quite nice, but not the advertised 404 feet from what we could see.

After all that, failing to find an ice cream shop enroute, we returned back to the camp and its excellent 50-foot pool.  This camping life is rough business.

This was an excellent park, Rutlidge Lake RV park, which we highly recommend.