My second-favorite house in the world! Yesterday I took the girls to Biltmore Estate for their first time, and they did amazingly well! For those of you who have not experienced the Biltmore House, even for single people without children in tow it takes hours to experience even some of it, as the acreage is around 8,000 (takes about 20 min just to drive around the access roads) and parking the car and walking to the house takes about 20 minutes or more. We had been on property exploring for almost an hour by the time we got to the house, then went through half the tour before the ubiquitous bathroom break had to happen (Note! tell them you have to pee and they'll let you go through secret passages! yes!). That was followed by a drink break in the stable courtyard (Biltmore wine AT the Biltmore tastes even better...), then back to the house for the basement tour, my favorite part. So... some children would be seriously irritating by this point.
Ashlee and Holly did not even get cranky. Holly loudly mentioned at odd intervals, "geez mom, there is ALWAYS a line!!" but other than that, it was great. They both noticed details, which is what I hoped would happen, and my family members In-the-Know will appreciate Ashlee's favorite part was counting heads in the banquet hall. Holly made her splash with the public, no pun intended, as we were taking the basement tour. We were almost to the pool, and I said "Holly! Did you know this house was the first home ever to have an indoor pool?" to which she replied, in an echo thanks to the basement tiles, "OOHHH and we don't have our bathing suits, GREEEEAAAAT..." Those of you who have heard Holly say "Oh, greaaat...." will appreciate that everyone within hearing distance fell out laughing. And she pointed out the futility of having a pool with no water in it to everyone's great amusement.
Ashlee noticed things like the intricate carvings on the feet of the chairs, the details of the ceiling moldings, etc. Holly noticed the thickness of all the wood on the doors and windows (and how GORGEOUS, they had the upper windows OPEN which made it really feel like a house not a museum). Ashlee said once, Mom that carpet looks like ours! Bless her... I wish.
For being so good, the girls got the world's biggest ice cream cones with sprinkles and for taking two young children on that experience I got an ANNUAL PASS! Yes, I will try to come home on weekends (kidding... but I wonder if anyone has ever hidden away inside and gotten away with living there unnoticed...may ruin my chance of future employment, OR could prove my dedication lol).
Needless to say, we will be visiting regularly! Next time I will drag James :) Super good fun! Who needs Disney, when the Biltmore is real. Gardens, farms, self sufficient homesteading, carriage rides, wine tastings! :) There was even a wedding on the front lawn as we were leaving, I thought the princess-dress-obsessed girls were gonna have a fit. The icing on the cake was the tribute to Diana Goddess of the Hunt located atop the hill facing the house, COVERED in Wisteria... can't wait til ours is that big. What a great day!~
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