The Biltmore

While many of you were out shopping on Friday, my husband and I took a road trip to Asheville, NC. Asheville is northwest of Charlotte and in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. We'd been told by many people that we had to see the Biltmore Estate at some point, and that it was gorgeous when it was decorated for Christmas. We decided to take advantage of being in North Carolina for Thanksgiving and drove two hours to Asheville to do a candlelight tour of the Biltmore Estate.

The Biltmore Estate is huge - it was almost three miles from the entrance gate to the house! We were directed to a parking lot, and from the parking lot we took a shuttle through the dark woods up to the mansion. When we pulled into the driveway, lighted by hundreds of luminarias, we saw this amazing and beautiful home. The outside of the home wasn't decorated, but there were lots and lots of Christmas trees on the lawn that were covered in lights!

Grinch toured the Biltmore with us

When we walked in the home, we were immediately transported to a Victorian Christmas. They even had ballerinas in the Winter Garden performing the party scene from the Nutcracker. The rooms were beautifully decorated and all of them had at least one tree. They used fresh garland and wreaths throughout the house (they estimated at least four miles of fresh garland were hung this year), and the Christmasy pine smelled absolutely wonderful. They also made a gingerbread replica of the estate that smelled delicious! I wanted to sneak a piece - they wouldn't notice, right?

They normally have audio tours available, but they weren't available for the candlelight visit. Instead we had a booklet to follow, that gave the history and interesting details of each room. There were also docents available to answer questions, particularly in the larger rooms with historical significance. For example, the library had a chess set owned by Napoleon! We had a wonderful time learning about the history of the home, as well as enjoying the beautifully decorated rooms. My husband and I took a trip to Spain in May, and walking through the mansion reminded me of all the castles and churches and museums we toured. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but the website has a few pictures so you can get an idea of what we saw. It was beautiful, and certainly not a place I would've visited if I didn't live so close.

That's one thing I've learned since moving to Charlotte - I definitely appreciate visiting and exploring new places. When I was living in the Midwest, I know I took my area for granted and assumed I'd seen everything worth seeing because I'd lived there my whole life. Everything is new to me in Charlotte, and I love visiting places I never knew about or traveling to parts of the country I'd never visit otherwise. I can honestly say I'd never go to Asheville if I didn't live so close to it now. Plus, I'm doing all of this exploration with my husband, and I always appreciate and cherish new experiences and making memories with my partner.