After stopping at our hotel and dropping off bags, Travis takes us on a quick tour of the main town offering some suggestions for lunch spots. Asheville has some great Art Deco architecture that has remained intact from the 1920s and a lot of great artists live here.
We had lunch at the Woolworth Walk soda counter, which also currently holds selections of independent artists' works. After a club sandwich, Fiona and I strolled a bit through the booths, picking up a blank card from one artist's shop, in lieu of bringing back actual art.
We have plans to meet back with Travis so he can drive us to Biltmore Estate. The property is massive and as we enter the first gate, we are immediately impressed with the forested grounds. We later learned that all of this property was over-worked farm land that had to be rehabilitated and was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. The mansion itself was designed by Richard Morris Hunt. There was a wonderful audio guide describing various rooms and highlighting key pieces of art. The tour covers the main floor, family bedroom wings, guest areas, pool, bowling alley and gym, and servants quarters. We lucked out in timing our visit as the staff were decorating for Christmas and many of the rooms already had trees, mantel decorations and other festive touches.
Upon exiting the house, the stable, carriage house and repair shop are all converted into dining & shops.
We had just enough time to do a quick stroll of the closer garden areas including the Italian garden, walled garden and conservatory. Each new section was more beautiful and impressive than the next.
As we returned to the main driveway, we saw Travis and the van and our drive back to the hotel took us past some of the farm areas so we got a full loop of the estate.
The day concluded with a delicious BBQ dinner of pulled pork, corn pudding and baked beans at Buxton Hall BBQ.
Tomorrow, another early departure will take us to Nashville and we leave Rita behind to return home from here.
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