biltmore

Greetings from Asheville, North Carolina! Matt, my youngest uncle, got married this weekend, and he was kind enough to plan the festivities around our fall break schedule (I'm only mostly kidding — "our" fall break is also fall break for Laura and Janis and their families, so that makes it quite convenient for a lot of people), so we got to celebrate AND embark on a new adventure. Anyway, we got in Saturday afternoon, just in time for the rehearsal picnic at scenic Carrier Park. It was a fun, if hot, event, and so nice to catch up with everyone. Pluto was with us, and he was a little nervous about all the people, but once he got to hang out with some other dogs, he perked right up.

 

Yesterday morning was basically the only tourist time we had, so we decided to split up. Max came with me and my mom, and we headed off to tour Biltmore, the largest private residence in the United States. The tour was really well done, and we had a great time exploring the many, many, MANY rooms. I still have questions, though, including: Why do you need a breakfast room right next door to your dining room? Why does one man need 175,000 square feet of house for himself and his mother? That's right, most of my questions are of the "why" variety. It was all quite excessive. We explored the winter garden and common rooms on the first floor (the library! oh my), the bedrooms and sitting areas on the second floor, the guest quarters on the third floor, and the servants quarters, kitchens (yes, plural!), pool, and bowling alley in the basement. We took a break for some shopping and refreshments, then took a brief drive through the gardens. A morning well spent!