North Carolina - It's Highs and Lows

Our visit to North Carolina began with a boom! A very loud boom! About 20 miles outside of Greensboro. We had blown a tire - an inside dual rear on the passenger side. We pulled to the side of the road and called our road service. When this truck arrived about 2 hours later, it had turned dark, but the driver had a new tire on board and all the equipment he needed to get us back on the road.
Road service called out the highway patrol to make sure we were safe. We were on the shoulder on a major interstate and the big trucks were whizzng by. The officer had the cutest southern drawl...

Finnegan supervised the entire project. Note I was wearing two layers of clothing and was still cold while our service guy thought he was in Florida in summer...

No wonder the boom was so loud....

O.K. So we made it to Asheville after a couple days in Greensboro where we had the oil changed on our "house," Ed did some research on replacing the parts of the right rear hydraulic leveler that got blown away by the exploding tire, the batteries got some maintainence, and we made a stop at Replacements Unlimited. What a trip that place was. Miracle of miracles - we got out without buying a single thing!!! But it was fun to see that place.

The biggest employer in Asheville is the Biltmore Corp. and the crown jewel of that organization is the Vanderbuilt Mansion. The front door of "Americas largest home" and us proving we were there:

We took the self guided tour ($55/person w/o audio) and thoroughly enjoyed America's homage to excess. Now I ask you: Did three people really need 4 acres of floor space, 250 rooms, 34 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces on 8000 acres? The official Christmas celebration was beginning in about 2 weeks so there were crews all over the house setting up trees and draping garlands. There was a tree in every room. We couldn't take photos inside, but we could have purchased a book of interior photos for $12.95 or bought the photo they take inside of everyone who tours the house. Don't get me wrong...I think it would have been a hoot to be there when it was up and running as a family house. The basement has a gym, bowling alley, swimming pool, and kitchens that take up room after room after room. Yup - if we lived in Asheville I'd be a guide. I think it would be lots of fun. And the guides are paid employees.

We toured the formal gardens after going through the house. Here's a view of the quarter mile path to the gardens.

A long shot of the front of the house...

...and the side of the house from the path to the gardens.

One side of the walled garden...

And the conservatory at the end of the walled garden. It's huge and displays many catagories of plants and flowers. We loved the orchid room.

Then we went to the Biltmore Winery on the property where we had the opportunity to buy wine and other stuff and learn about other venues designed to part us with our cash. It was a fun day.

We received a call about 2 p.m. on Saturday. It was Ben asking where we were and informing us that he too was in Asheville and that Galactic was playing an outdoor concert in downtown that night. We met for dinner. Here I am with my two favorite men in the entire world:

Ed took tons of photos.

Galactic's guest performer and me outside the tour bus that is home to the guys while they are on the road. This was the last number of the night featuring Stanton on drums. There were about 2000 people there on a very cold night. What a great show they put on!!!

We spent the last day in Asheville taking a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Americas Roadway. The leaves were at the peak and the scenic overlooks breathtaking.

Here's the high point at more than 5000 ft.. No more leaves up here, but the panorama is beautiful.

We stopped at Mount Mitchell State Park and hiked up to the overlook. Wow! Finn seemed most interested in another dog. He's not much for views.

So much beauty.

This viewpoint from Mount Michell looking west needed a name. I named it The Road Home.

There's a resort in Asheville on the National Historic Register. The Grove Park Inn. We stopped by to see it. This building is a private cottage used for dignitaries. It's modeled after Ann Hathaways Cottage.

The main building was covered in scaffolding while they redo the roof. The stone work is beautiful.

It's completely furnished in original Stickley furniture.

There are 2 main fireplaces - one on each side of the lobby. HUGE.

There's an auto museum on the surrounding property...

...a museum and an art gallery. Ed photographed the sculpture garden.

We really enjoyed Asheville. We both understand why people love it. We ate good food, enjoyed the lively downtown, explored the active art scene, Finn fit right in to the dog friendly mood of the the town, and loved the mountain scenery. It's a totally cool place.

We're off to visit Rory and Rick in Columbia, SC.