Return to Grove Park and Biltmore

The second week of my vacation has started and it's all going by too quickly. My first week off was adventurous and festive. Mom and I went to Asheville, North Carolina to visit the Grove Park Inn and the Biltmore Estate. We were trying to remember the last time I was there and we figure it was somewhere between 27 to 30 years ago. We stayed at the Grove Park with my grandparents and my aunt and uncle during that first visit. I only remember bits and pieces of that trip so this was a nice treat. Mom got us tickets for the candlelight tour of the Biltmore. We drove up on Monday and had enough time to unpack and find a nice place to dine. We chose The Chestnut. Their menu was a little pompous, as was their service. The entire meal took two hours, for just the two of us. I ordered a first: skate cheek. Here's a description of what skate cheek is from a Google search. It was interesting and I'm glad I tried it but I have no desire to try it again. The next day we went to visit the Grove Park. It just so happened to be the 100 year anniversary of the Inn.

The stone work was throughout the entire Inn. Here's a view of the mountains from the rear of the Inn.

I can only imagine how much it would cost to have a wedding there. We had nothing but beautiful weather on the entire trip. The last day was very windy but still sunny and enjoyable. They have gingerbread contest winners on display and about a million huge, full decorated Christmas trees annually at the Grove Park. Here are some of the gingerbread house selections.

This next one was my absolute favorite. It was so adorably detailed and I loved seeing Mike Wazowski, a minion, Pumba, and Kermit, to name a few.

Several of the gingerbread houses had already started to crumble and it was near impossible to get descent photos because each one was placed in front of a giant window. The hotel itself is gigantic. You could really get lost in that place. Mom and I walked around to look at all the houses; they had the top 10 winners for children, teen, and adult categories. Here is where you could get your picture taken with Santa.

High class, right? We took a break to split a fancy sandwich and the fanciest hot cocoa I will ever have and I can't believe I didn't take a picture. It was really something with mounds of fresh whipped cream, chocolate and caramel syrup and a little salt. Just divine. After that mom made me ride in this old-time, scary as heck elevator. We didn't have anywhere to go so we just got off with the people that were riding with us. At this point the Inn started to remind me of The Shinning and I was ready to leave. We went back to our hotel to relax before our Biltmore candlelight tour. We had a yummy pasta dinner before our tour. We arrived extremely early for our tour and they would not let us in early so we just people-watched, visited all the gift shops, and bought a few bookmarks and postcards. It was finally time for our tour time slot so off we went. No pictures or video is allowed inside the house so I couldn't capture all the splendor that I witnessed. They had carol singers, gigantic decorated (real!) trees, a harpist, and huge fires blazing in nearly every room. It was a self-guided tour so we didn't really get to learn about all the history of the house. Some of the rooms had "attendants" but it was hard to hear them over the singing and everyone was pushing you along to see the next room. My favorite was probably the library. So beautiful! Everything was so elaborate and decorated from top to bottom. I really enjoyed touring the basement areas of the house where the servants lived and to see where all the food was stored and prepared. Watching three seasons of Downton Abbey certainly added another level of interest. The entire tour took about an hour and then we went back to our car. The next morning we visited again for some photos. It was pitch black when we went the night before so it was nice to return in the light of day and see the pretty grounds. 

This huge tree is covered in lights and it was the first thing we saw driving up the night before. Mom said Matt and I used to play on the stone ramps behind this tree when we visited so many years ago. 

We also drove over to Antler Hill Village to visit the museum. 

After the village tour we drove to the Inn at Biltmore for tea. We actually added soup and cookies to the meal and had a lovely time. Here's the dessert menu.

That's right, we ate at the Library Lounge. Everything was delicious and with our bellies full we hit the road back to Georgia. Mom told me a little history about my grandmother's side of the family on this trip. She grew up in the mountains and it was nice to hear stories about my grandma's life before I knew her. It was also nice because the last time I was in Asheville I was with my grandma. It was a fun and memorable trip. Now I'm home again and I just wrapped the last present and put it under the tree. Jeff and I will exchange gifts tomorrow on Christmas Eve and then it's off to visit our families on Christmas Day. I can't wait for all the good food and presents!