Part 3 - Vacation

To the right of the main entrance. Behind the windows is the hallway to the English Garden, indoors

Part of Mr. Vanderbilt's bedroom

Part of the 3rd floor Living Hall - for guests

The brass/terra cotta pantry

The vase pantry. No, I am not making this up!

Other side to the vase pantry

Formal stairwell. The wrought iron is one piece that runs from floor to ceiling, all the way to the roof

Main entry is to the right

Wanted to catch the reflection of the mountains in the glass

First floor balcony

I could live out here

part of the Halloween Room walls in the basement

part of the formal kitchen, in the bassement

exterior shot

Doc, the cowboy who tends the horses, Carly, the other attendant, and me

They stop the carriage with the house in the background so we can take photos

The horses are Trace and Bo

This is the back of the Biltmore house

So there you have it. Light for taking photos was perfect the majority of the time. The camera loves cloudy skies.

If you are interested in visiting Biltmore Estate, we did everything online at their website. If you have never been, I recommend staying at the Village Hotel although it is pricey. But you have free shuttles around the estate, and that is important without your own vehicle.  For a more complete experience, we did stay at a hotel in Asheville in 2011, and I had my car. Asheville has excellent restaurants, lots to do, and is a pretty city. We did a lot of walking on that trip. It is an oasis in the south, being very independent and unlike any other southern city. Free thinking, artsy, and the people were nice to strangers. There are some fantastic nightly ghost tours in Asheville. Fun stuff.

If you do decide to stay at the estate, be prepared to spend $75 a day for 2 meals, over $100 for 3 meals. The food is excellent at all of the restaurants, but again, not cheap. Best ice cream is at the creamery, and I had a waffle cone with Cappacino Crunch. Worth every single calorie!

Thanks for stopping by.
Linda