Hendersonville, North Carolina

July 2, 2010

More beautiful weather, relatively cool and mostly sunny. We are enjoying just hanging out at the park, for the most part, lazy days when not tending to chores. It's a "front porch" type of community. People sit outside in mornings and evenings just soaking up the atmosphere and scenery.

We did go to Asheville for a tour of Biltmore Estates. Huge sort of describes it, but not enough. I spent 1.5h wandering along the tour route, but could have spent far more time. Russell made it in lass than an hour, I'm sure. The thing is, you only get to see a fraction of the place: 2 bathrooms in a place that has 43, 5 bedrooms out of who-knows-how-many, but there are a total of 250 rooms! And the rooms are all large. The dinning room has a 70-ft. ceiling and of course a pipe organ. But what makes this place really special is touring the gardens and farm. You get the feeling of a "working ranch." This branch of the Vanderbuilt family lived and worked here, gave birth and reared children here. They still work here, running the tourist attraction and employing over 2000 Asheville residents.

We couldn't help drawing comparisons to the Hearst Mansion. One large difference is the atmosphere. At Hearst you stay with the guide and do not touch anything. Every item is priceless and the guides to a wonderful job of pointing out details. Biltmore is more of a free-for-all. There are guides along the way, but you have to pay extra for a guided tour, and they are roaming around with everyone else, trying to hear. There are places to sit along the way, stay behind the ropes, but no one tells you not to touch. For all of its beauty and antiques, Biltmore is not so lush, concrete floors, painted walls. Kids ran through these halls, Hearst had an adult home, I could not see children running the halls. The period of construction was also influential, Biltmore was built in the 1890's, the Castle was built 40 years later.

The big idea that I came away with was that we are among the most fortunate to have been able to see them both and enjoy their magnificence.