Biltmore Getaway

After being away for almost two weeks straight helping to take care of my mom and brother, David and I decided to take a little getaway!

We have always wanted to go to the Biltmore Estate and we finally bit the bullet!

We felt a little bad to leave Finley behind, especially after being away so much, but we promised to take him along next time!

We started the morning exploring the gardens and grounds of the estate. 

It was just beautiful! And check out this leaf the size of David! 

We took a trail to a beautiful lake and waterfall. 

We were supposed to get rain the day we were touring, but we lucked out and it didn't rain the whole day!

The Biltmore Estate is a 250 room 'chateau' built by George Vanderbilt. 

This is the beautiful dining room with a 70 foot ceiling and two fireplaces.

The massive organ which overlooks the dining room. 

Can you see the hidden door in the wall in the breakfast room? Finley would have loved this!

Here we are on the terrace. I've never really been a mountain girl. I've always preferred the beach, but with views like this and beautiful cool weather, I think I could get used to it!

My favorite room in the house was the library. But is that really a surprise? It houses 10,000 different volumes and is home to some really old books and even first editions of the classics!

The ceiling of the library is just as impressive!

On the left are costumes from my mom's favorite movie Pride and Prejudice. On the right is the master bedroom. I was surprised at how small the beds were!

The massive iron chandelier was also impressive and located in the center of the winding stair case. On the right is in the basement of the house where all the workers worked and slept. 

What mansion would be complete without a bowling alley? Of course, you (or your servants) had to reset up the pins yourself each time. 

And the Biltmore even has an indoor swimming pool. Although without any windows it is kind of creepy! Plus I am not sure I would trust the underwater lights/electricity situation. 

Here is the main kitchen which cooked all the meals. It reminded me so much of Downton Abbey as we were touring the servant's quarters and work areas. 

With our package we were able to get an audio tour of the house which we highly recommend. It explains a lot and gives you great details! After touring the grounds, house, winery, and village, we headed off site to eat and stay at the Grove Park Inn.

This is definitely the most we have ever spent on a meal and a hotel room. The outside and lobby of the hotel were simply spectacular!

And we had a super romantic dinner on the terrace which gave us this beautiful view. 

We walked around the hotel and grounds for a bit enjoying the beautiful weather and scenery. 

It was almost David's birthday so we counted this expensive getaway as his birthday present as well!

The huge fire in the lobby with rocking chairs in front of it was so romantic and inviting to sit in front of. We had several recommendations to stay in the old part of the hotel. It was unimpressive and super old. I would recommend visiting the Grove Park Inn and eating there, but not necessarily staying the night. We much preferred staying at the Biltmore Village hotel the night before.

There is a legend that the Grove Park Inn is haunted by the 'pink lady' who wore something like the outfit above the night she died when she accidentally fell to her death from one of the hotel balconies. Finley loved hearing about this and wants to go stay here so he can see a ghost! This kid is way braver than me! 

Our second day in Asheville was super rainy so we didn't get to explore the downtown city as much as we had hoped. Overall, it was a wonderful getaway and a much need break from the stress and chaos that was the past couple of months. We definitely plan to go back again, maybe at Christmas, and this time with Finley man!