Don’t get me wrong…I love the beach. But when the Florida heat gets to be too much, it’s time to head to higher ground and cooler temperatures. My oldest daughter went to camp in North Carolina this summer, so we thought it was the perfect opportunity to spend some time in Asheville after picking her up. Although still warm in the summer, the higher elevation brings cooler nights and mornings, and much less humidity.
Asheville is located in western North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains and is known for its vibrant arts scene and historic architecture, and of course, the Biltmore Estate. We knew this was where we wanted to spend most of our time, so we booked a hotel right in the heart of the Biltmore property at the Village Hotel. Located in Antler Hill Village, we walked right out the hotel door to find the Biltmore winery, restaurants, historic barn, ice cream shop, live music, and beautiful views. You could easily spend the day just in the village – my girls loved visiting the farmyard animals, enjoying root beer floats on the village green, exploring the old barn on the property, and sampling “real” homemade grape juice while the adults took advantage of the complimentary wine tasting at the winery.
No visit to Asheville is complete without a tour of the magnificent Biltmore House. The home was built by George Washington Vanderbilt II in 1895 and is the largest privately owned home in the country. To say it is huge is an understatement! As a huge Downton Abbey fan, I found the tour to be fascinating. I was also surprised at how much my kids loved it as well. We opted to purchase the audio tour device (there was a special audio tour just for kids) and I would definitely recommend it when touring the home. After the tour, we had a delicious lunch at the estate’s Stable Cafe, where guests of the Vanderbilt’s kept their horses while visiting over 100 years ago.
The Biltmore Estate is a sprawling 8,000 acres and there are so many activities on the property – from Segway tours to horseback riding, biking to fly fishing – visitors could easily spend a week there and still not see and do everything the estate has to offer. Christmas time is especially popular when the home is decorated with lights and more than 70 Christmas trees!
For more information on visiting the Biltmore Estate, check out www.biltmore.com.
I lived in NC for about 3 years. I used to go to the mountains a lot but never got to go to Biltmore. It’s definitely on my list of must see places!