A Day at Biltmore

A couple of weeks ago, I got to spend a day in Asheville with a few of my favorite people. As season pass holders, my parents and I head to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville several times a year. For me, it is one of my "happy places," and its close enough that we can make day trips pretty frequently. Passholders are given two free tickets each year to share with family and friends. The tickets have to be used during January or February, which can be hit or miss weather-wise in the North Carolina Mountains! This year, I invited my grandparents to spend the day with us and take advantage of my free tickets.

View from Biltmore House architect's tour, taken Fall 2012

Since we've been in the house several times and my grandfather has problems with walking these days (here's hoping his upcoming knee replacement will help!) we arrived with plans to eat lunch on the estate, shop a little, and not try to walk through the house. Well, we arrived to an absolutely gorgeous January day, with the sun shining and temps in the 50s. Unheard of!

Our first stop was Bistro at Biltmore, one of the estate's restaurants, for an early lunch. Lunch was delicious as always! I reviewed it on Yelp- you can read about it here. After lunch, we browsed in the winery and a couple other shops before heading to the garden. Even though it was January, not exactly the prettiest time of year for the garden, it was way too nice to not wander around for a little bit. The picture below is the one shot I took all day...and of course it was snapped with my iPhone and posted straight to Instagram.

We ended the day with a stop at the creamery for ice cream and warm bread pudding. Yum!

Days like this one remind me how lucky I am to be able to create memories with my parents and grandparents.