Blue Ridge Beauty
I just returned from a fantastic trip to western North Carolina - the Asheville/Blue Ridge Mountain region, and I am still in awe of the beauty. It was a first time for me and I was not at all ready to leave. Another reminder of how beautiful, amazing and diverse the United States really are - I want to see it all! And to make the trip even more fun I got to experience it all with 6 of my wonderful fellow Theta sorority sisters hosted by the incredible Kim - planner extraordinaire!!! Kim and her husband Mike own a lovely home in Mars Hill up in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the accomodations were perfect. Plus since Kim spends quite a bit of time there she really knows her way around - and planned an action packed agenda for us to see and do as much as possible in the 5 days we were there. Watching the sun rise over the mountains with a cup of coffee and then watching it set with a glass of wine - pretty much my definition of perfect.
We didn't need an address - Kim made it super easy to know which house it was!! A Theta flag AND flying the Illini orange and blue! Let the fun begin!
Jenny arrived Tuesday and the rest of the group early afternoon Weds so after hugs and a tour of the house Kim set out delicious snacks to tide us over till dinner.
Our view for the next 5 days! The mountain peak on the left is called Bald Mountain and that's where we are headed first. Kim thought of everything - even black and gold M&M's in a Theta bowl she made in her pottery studio. Love these Theta ladies!
We change into clothes we can hike in and head out for Bald Mountain.
I felt like bursting into a chorus of "the hills are alive", so pretty as we hiked up to the top. Cindy is excited too and showed her exuberance! The picture of the trail in the middle on the right is the actual Appalachian Trail!
After our hike we headed to the clubhouse for drinks on the deck while watching the sun set. The colors are gorgeous. Blues and pinks and multiple layers. Cheers to great friends and the good times ahead!
Cindy, Bette, Peggy, Kim, me, Nancy and Jenny.
Back to Kim's for a fantastic dinner she cooked - roasted turkey, corn on the cob, broccoli and more wine!
Day 2 we are up early because we are headed to see the Biltmore House and Gardens, and Kim says we need to get there when it opens to beat the huge crowds and long lines. George Vanderbilt officially opened the Biltmore House on Christmas Eve in 1895 after six years of construction. It was a family home for George, his wife Edith, and their daughter Cornelia. In 1924 Cornelia married John Francis Amherst Cecil and they lived and entertained at Biltmore. The Cecil's opened Biltmore to the public in 1930, responding to requests to increase area tourism during the Great Depression, and to generate income to preserve the estate.
Today, the Biltmore remains a family business, with the fourth and fifth generations of Mr. Vanderbilt's descendants involved in day-to-day operations. It is still privately owned by the family. It is really incredibly spectacular and encompasses 8,000 acres in total. The home is the largest single family home in the United States, and there are 6 different gardens and a conservatory. I felt like I was at Downton Abbey!
The Biltmore House
The house is huge. I took tons of pictures but I will just post a sampling. One shocking statistic - the house has 43 bathrooms! When it was built most homes had zero!!
Top left clockwise - The Winter Garden, The Banquet Hall - small table for an intimate family dinner, large table seats 38. Bottom right is the Breakfast Room. Bottom left - The Library which contains half of Mr Vanderbilt's collection of over 22,000 books!
Some of the many bedrooms on the second floor. Rooms for the family and multiple suites for guests.
The indoor swimming pool, bowling alley, gymnasium and the billiard room.
It took about 2 and a half hours just to go through the home. In addition to the usual rooms there was a music room, tapestry gallery, servants bedrooms, vegetable pantry, pastry kitchen, rotisserie kitchen, main kitchen, laundry room, smoking room, and gun room. You could get your 10,000 steps every day just by walking through the house!
We took a little break outside at the cafe and then headed to the gardens. There is an Italian garden, shrub garden, spring garden, walled garden, rose garden, azalea garden and a conservatory. We spent about an hour going through the conservatory and a couple of the gardens and had had enough for one day. It was overwhelming and getting a little toasty - plus we were hungry! If you are ever in the area the Biltmore is definitely worth visiting - actually worth making a special trip to see it!
The conservatory and some of the flowers - perfectly maintained.
Next stop downtown Asheville for lunch at the famous Tupelo Honey and some shopping. I'm ready for some southern cooking!
Fried green tomatoes round one! Also collard greens and pulled pork sandwiches. We ordered a bunch of stuff and just passed them around to try - fun cocktails too!
The downtown area is a throwback in time. Beautiful old buildings and even an original Woolworth's which is now a venue for local art. But it still has an old fashioned soda fountain inside. Asheville is very artsy so there are lots of cute original shops, street vendors and musicians.
We browsed and shopped for awhile and then it was time to start the pub crawl. Something I didn't know - Asheville is a brewery mecca with more then 50 breweries! It is called the Asheville Ale Trail and Kim had selected 8 - yes 8 breweries for us to try. We made it to 3 - sorry Kim!!! But the 3 were great!
I'm not really a beer drinker - but they were so cool I'm thinking about starting! Something exciting happened at Green Man Brewery - Cindy's daughter called to say she was engaged!! So we are toasting to Lauren and David - congrats and best wishes always!
Day 3 starts with a beautiful sunrise and coffee on the deck!
We are up early and off for a half day of rafting on the French Broad River. Kim had scheduled us with the NOC - Nantahala Outdoor Center, and they were great!. I've only been rafting once before and the water was pretty calm then so this was definitely a new and exciting adventure for me. After watching the safety video and getting our gear we were on the bus and heading for the starting point.
The rafts hold 5 people and the guide, so Cindy and Peggy volunteered to go out in the Duckies - rafts that are for just one person. They are both really good swimmers and comfortable on the water - and they did great!
Cindy on the top, Peggy on the bottom - professionals!
This was a total blast - I had a close call as evidenced in the bottom photo - almost woman overboard!!!
Our guide was Brendan and he was great! Really made it a fun experience but also made us feel like we were in good hands. I can not wait to go again!! We worked up an appetite so headed to a town called Hot Springs for lunch and our next agenda item.
Lunch at a cute little restaurant called Iron Horse Station where we had fried green tomatoes round 2!
Hot Springs is called Hot Springs because they have actual hot springs! Kim had reserved a tub for us to experience the soothing and healing power of the water - so we headed there next. She had reserved a large tub for the whole group - but there was a malfunction so they had to put us in two smaller tubs so we had to split the group. The place was total old school - had been there forever so it was awesome. They drain and clean the tubs after each group so the water is always fresh.
Each tub is covered by a wooden shelter but the side facing the woods is open so it's the best of all worlds - very relaxing like a massage. What a great way to relax with friends!
Our day is not over yet - we head back for showers and over to the clubhouse for dinner on the deck. More wine and sunset and fun with friends. Another great day!
Great dinner entrees - trout, grouper, steak and I can't remember what the top left is - but I know it's fish! Back to Kim's for a traditional Theta dessert - peppermint crunch!!!
Spectacular sunset - does it ever get old? Nope!
Day 4 - we are down to the final 4. Cindy, Peggy and Jenny head back to Chicago and we sadly say good bye, but already have plans to get together again. Nancy, Bette, Kim and I head over to West Asheville for brunch at the Sunny Point Cafe. It's very popular so there is a 45 minute wait - totally worth it and you can have coffee while you wait. Kim says West Asheville has become a very trendy place with lots of shops and restaurants opening up.
The food is fantastic - egg scramble with grits and avocado for me, chicken and waffles for Nancy, and shrimp and grits for Kim and Bette.
Kim gives us the option of going to an artsy area or heading up the Blue Ridge Parkway and we pick the parkway. I have heard what a glorious drive it is and don't want to miss seeing part of it. The Blue Ridge Parkway extends 469 miles along the crests of the southern Appalachians and links two eastern national parks - Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains.
We first stop at the Visitor Center to get a map, and then start to drive. Every couple of miles there is a place to pull off for an overlook and in some cases to hike a trail. The road keeps climbing up so every overlook has a better view but it's all beautiful.
We stop at the Craggy Gardens Visitor Center and hike up a bit to see the wildflowers.
We get off Blue Ridge Parkway and take a short cut to Weaverville to check out a micro brewery Kim has heard great things about - and it's only open on Friday and Saturday from 1 - 6 PM. Kim's house is on Zebulon so she bought some of the glasses which say Zebulon!
Zebulon was cool, Kim and I had some kind of homemade soda that was lemony and refreshing. It was like being in someone's garage where they were making beer.
We browsed through the cute little art shops and then headed to my kind of place - a bakery!! Well-Bred was amazing - I'm dreaming about it right now! A huge case of the most delicious looking pastries I've ever seen - so hard to choose.
Cream Brûlée, Flourless Chocolate Soufflé, Shortbread, Toffee and a Lemon Bar. All fantastic and we ate it all! Worth every calorie - and we have been getting a lot of exercise.
After all that food we weren't hungry for dinner so headed back to Kim's for wine and healthy snacks on the deck. More sunset views - it never gets old!
Last day - pretty much a travel day home - but Nancy, Bette and I had a chance to make a quick stop at the famous Sierra Nevada Brewing Co located close to the Asheville airport. Kim said it was not to be missed and again she was right! The original Sierra Nevada is located in Chico, CA. The North Carolina location opened in 2014, and includes a brewery, taproom and restaurant on a beautiful wooded property.
We arrived before they opened at noon and wouldn't have had time to take the tour even if there were spots available - which their weren't. But we did a self-guided tour and headed to the restaurant along with about 100 other people when they opened the doors. We shared a couple of flights of beer and some delicious appetizers before heading to the airport. The food alone is worth a visit and the restaurant was huge with an enormous open kitchen.
It was an incredible trip to a beautiful place with amazing and fun friends. Kim was the perfect hostess and had a great and perfectly executed plan for an action-packed taste of the Asheville area. I would return in a minute as there was still plenty more to do and see.
Beautiful Theta necklaces Kim surprised us with that she had made by a jewelry designer friend of hers. So thoughtful and I now wear mine all the time.
One of the Theta sayings is "Theta For a Lifetime" and my experience has always been that it is true. This trip reaffirmed that and I can add "Memories For a Lifetime" as well. Thanks for everything Kim! Can't wait to see you all again soon!